eMusic Debuts Artist Download Cards That Give Fans 50 Free Songs

eMusic Debuts Artist Download Cards That Give Fans 50 Free Songs

eMusic's New Artist Cards Create Innovative Offering with Unprecedented Pricing of MP3s

Inaugural Artists Include Chuck D, Bob Weir, Mojo Nixon, RUFIO, Assembly of Dust, Otis Taylor and Kan'nal

NEW YORK, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- eMusic, the world's No. 2 digital download service selling more than two million tracks monthly, has announced a new initiative that allows artists to "give away" their newest and hottest releases while still being compensated by eMusic. The new card delivers 50 times more value to consumers than any other online music store.

eMusic's Artist Download Cards offer entire albums for free as part of a package of 50 free songs. Artists are paid by eMusic for the "free tracks" and they continue to collect royalties as consumers opt into eMusic's subscription music service.

Among the artists launching the program: Chuck D (of Public Enemy), Bob Weir (of the Grateful Dead), Mojo Nixon, RUFIO, Assembly of Dust, Otis Taylor and Kan'nal. The artists and their labels will distribute the eMusic artist cards through their websites, at their live performances and through other promotional avenues. Each card features artists' album art and graphics.

eMusic's card program is a major departure from other download card initiatives, most of which only offer a single promotional track, or require a user to prepay on a per track basis. With eMusic's program, recipients are able to download the artist's album at no cost if they proceed with a free trial of the eMusic service. In addition, the recipient gets up to 50 total songs free so they can download other albums by the artist or explore any of eMusic's 550,000 tracks. Whether the consumer remains a member of eMusic or not, the songs are theirs to keep and do not expire.

"Through eMusic's artist download card program, everyone wins -- fans, artists, labels and eMusic," said David Pakman, COO of eMusic and a managing director of Dimensional Associates, the private equity arm of JDS Capital that owns eMusic, The Orchard and Dimensional Music Publishing. "Fans win with free music from their favorite artists and the opportunity to download up to 50 free songs from eMusic's 550,000 song catalog; artists win by receiving royalties for their songs and compensation for fans who continue as eMusic subscribers; labels benefit from additional (low cost) artist promotion; and eMusic benefits from increased numbers of fans exploring the world's largest catalog of independent music."

Jerod Gunsberg, Head of Marketing and Sales at Nitro Records, an independent label owned and operated by Dexter Holland of The Offspring, said this of the eMusic download card program, "We're thrilled about this program. It gives us a cutting edge and cost effective marketing tool that allows us to actually track and quantify the results."

About eMusic

eMusic (http://www.emusic.com/) stands alone as the only digital music service that is 100% focused on serving the needs of independent music fans and independent labels. Delivering more than 2 million downloads each month, eMusic is among the top digital music services, offering a diverse catalog of 600,000 tracks from established and emerging artists in every genre from the world's top independent labels. eMusic was not only the first service to sell songs and albums in the popular MP3 format, it was the first company to launch a digital music subscription service. Unlike other services that severely restrict portability, eMusic allows members complete flexibility to burn CDs, transfer to MP3 devices and make multiple copies for personal use. eMusic also offers access to exclusive recordings from eMusicLive's network of premier music venues across the country. eMusic subscription plans start at $9.99 per month for 40 downloads. A free trial is available to all new users. Based in New York and San Diego, eMusic is wholly owned by Dimensional Associates, Inc., the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc.

NOTE: eMusic is a registered trademark and eMusic.com is a trademark of eMusic.com Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Nitro Records

Nitro Records began in 1994 when The Offspring's Dexter Holland released his friend's band, Guttermouth, DIY style, out of his apartment. Nitro soon added AFI to its roster as well as Holland's early influences such as The Vandals, T.S.O.L., The Damned, and Exene Cervenka's (X) new band, Original Sinners. The Nitro family now includes a number of up-and-coming bands such as Rufio, The Start, The Aquabats, Bullet Train to Vegas, The Letters Organize, A Wilhelm Scream, and No Trigger. Based in Huntington Beach, California, Nitro has sold well over a million albums.

Contact: Andy Morris/ Andy Morris & Company (212) 561-7465 andy@amc-pr.com

Source: eMusic

CONTACT: Andy Morris, Andy Morris & Company, +1-212-561-7465, andy@amc-pr.com

Web site: http://www.emusic.com/

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