At the instigation of Robin, I just joined eMusic. Grabbed an old Tom Waits album (Mule Variations), which I’m enjoying very much. I imagine this technology could be addictive… So if anyone is looking at eMusic, drop me a line for a referral link. I also signed up with Last.fm, if you’re using it drop by. I’m “tikitu” on Last.fm, and (due to a signup problem) “Tikitu” on eMusic.

I don’t fileshare — at least, not via a network. I do copy CDs and happily accept copies, but I try and make it the exception rather than the rule (modulated by financial status, of course). But the convenience of a download service is a great selling point, as is the possibility of discovering new and interesting music if the site designers have done their jobs right. (It’s too early to tell yet, but it looks promising. I’m reserving judgement until I see what sort of people it decides are my “neighbours” in musical taste space.)

So I’m willing to pay for downloads, but not too much. $10 per month suits me, and gives me 40 downloads — a bit pricey per track, but good per album (it’s all down to attitude). And I already have more tracks on the “probably download” list than download space, which is a good sign.

The good thing about eMusic is that you’re downloading straight MP3s, no DRM or weirdo licensing. The downside is, this means they don’t have any tracks from big pro-DRM labels. So if you’re looking for something in particular, check first before signing up. They’re marketing the service as for when you know what you want to hear, but not who. I’m a little sceptical; so far the algorithm looks a little like the Amazon recommendations, where each one is prompted by a specific album you marked, rather than doing real cluster analysis. But it might just be that I haven’t given it enough data points yet (five albums plus a few individual tracks).

There isn’t any option in eMusic to leverage your existing collection for this sort of analysis, so that’s what I’m using Last.fm for. I use the amaroK player, and that tells my Last.fm profile each track that I play. Give it long enough, and this should start giving me good reliable recommendations (I gave it a test run with some Kiwi bands and was highly impressed with the results). And Last.fm is free, which is a good price any day. (They also offer customised radio, I haven’t looked into this yet but it looks good.)

So if you feel like recommending me something, go for it. And if you’re considering eMusic, let me send you a referral link. You’ll get 50 free downloads anyway for your trial, but if you end up signing up I’ll get another 50 as well.

Update: Last.fm only calculates your neighbours after you’ve listened to 300 tracks. I suppose this is more reliable in the long run (eMusic is struggling with my paltry 60-some downloads, and showing some nasty recency effects) but it’s a hurtin’ waitin’. Now at 119, and counting.