Today I said goodbye to Emusic.  It’s strangely symbollic that exactly 5 years ago today, I signed up for emusic.  For most of you that don’t know and have been living with a 14.4 modem since the mid-90s, emusic was a pay service for music.  You pay them $10 a month and you were allowed to download 40 songs a month.  Over the years it changed…it went to $12 a month for 30 songs.  A little stiffer price but still cheaper than anywhere else on the net.  And as time went on, the site’s catalog grew. 

 Recently, the site ended the pay-for-credits method in lieu of…pay-for-money method.  Don’t ask…I still don’t get it.  Now, you pay a monthly fee, let’s say $11.99 and you get $11.99 in credit to the store.  Makes no sense.  Isn’t that just the same as buying the tracks?  Which is identical to every other site on the net, right?  Only on Emusic…if you don’t spend your money by the end of the month…you don’t get to roll it over.  You don’t get it back.  They keep it.

 Why the change over?  Well, they added 250,000 new tracks by major label artists while dumping great indie labels like Merge.  So, basically, they dumped the music I wanted for the music I already owned.  I have no reason to stick around.  It’s like breaking up with a girl.  The kind who were super cool in the first few months, then as the years grew on, they stopped trying and got fat and lazy.  It’s hard to walk away…but it’s sadly the right thing to do.

 Here are the best albums of 2010 (23-33):

 23. Jonsi – Go

 24. Broken Bells – Broken Bells

25. Minus The Bear – Omni (Your Private Sky)

26. Gaslight Anthem – American Slang (Acoustic)

27. John Legend & The Roots – Wake Up

28. Bad Religion – Dissent of Man (Cyanide)

29. Free Energy – Stuck on Nothin’

30. Girl Talk – All Day  (FREE!)

31. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot

32. Jenny & Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now

33. Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard

 Buy these albums and more now!!