Comments on: eMusic: Now it’s universal

By: Billy Halsey

Billy Halsey — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:40:59 +0000

@Joe — In your system preferences, go to the QuickTime preferences. Then in the Advanced tab, click the ‘MIME Settings…’ button. Scroll down to the line for MP3, expand that with the triangle to the left, and then make sure that the box for “MP3 playlist” is checked (it’s not by default). Then click OK and close preferences. You may need to restart the eMusic Remote and QuickTime (and iTunes) if running.

This should fix the issue, but if not, there’s a great Preference Pane out there called RCDefaultApp that definitely will.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:52:32 +0000

@Bill - Can’t get it to work. I’m using eMusic Remote and can’t find a way to add a new file type. They File Types pane has only png and tiff entries and no button to add a new entry. I also looked in about:config, the preferences folder, and the plist in the package and didn’t see any file type entries at all. Any ideas?

The more I use eMusic Remote the more I like it. But if I was stuck using the original browser interface with Download Manager I would have given up (and did until I went remembered you said to try out the remote instead). Anyways, I have long ignored eMusic so thanks for the post. I’ve gotten a bunch of cool stuff already.

By: Billy Halsey

Billy Halsey — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 09:56:38 +0000

@Joe — I’m not so fond of that, either, but that’ll happen with any streaming M3U playlists by default. Try setting your browser to have QuickTime handle the .m3u files instead of letting iTunes (the default). When I do that, Firefox opens the playlist inside the QuickTime plugin quite nicely, and no littering of the iTunes library.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 07:55:41 +0000

I tried it with the 100 free tracks. iTunes it ain’t. But, for the price it is a cheap and easy enough way to beef up my collection. The most annoying thing is the way eMusic litters my iTunes library with preview streams.

By: Matt J

Matt J — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:21:16 +0000

If you want to try eMusic, go to ,emusic.com/cowon. This gets you 100 free tracks. The music selection these days is pretty good. They have White Stripes, Interpol, Bloc Party, so not just unknown indie bands. That said, I’m not going to purchase a subscription. And also, the remote thingy is UGLY on a Mac.

By: Billy Halsey

Billy Halsey — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 04:05:23 +0000

@Graham — I think, supposedly, you could install the XPI extension (which is really all that eMusic has added) into your own favorite ‘Fox and have the same functionality. Or, hey, hit ⌘T and pop open another tab inside eMusic Remote!

By: Graham

Graham — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 03:06:05 +0000

Hmm, so I liked the new app at first, but after actually using it to download some stuff, I’m kind of wondering “so what?” There isn’t really any more convenience using it than using Firefox and letting the .emp files open in the download manager automatically. In fact, there’s the extra step of having to switch gears from my normal browsing in FF to open up a different browser. Oh well.

By: Billy Halsey

Billy Halsey — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:20:27 +0000

Free Download Requests — I’ve sent links to everyone I’ve received emails from so far. If you emailed me requesting a link and haven’t received an email back, first check your spam folder, and then post a comment here. Thanks!

By: Billy Halsey

Billy Halsey — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 22:57:26 +0000

@Andrew — That sounds like a good setup, actually. While I consider myself an advanced Mac user, I’ve never really bothered with Hazel or Quicksilver enough to make them work for me. I’m more of a low-level guy: I used to be a Unix kernel programmer, and my terminal window is still always open in OS X.

@ComicDork — I’m not sure what you mean by horrible interface; you mean the web site or the download manager? I do agree with you about rollover being frustrating, but once you realize it, you plan accordingly, like meals. At least that’s how I do it: my “saved for later” list always has something in it. The selection is sometimes hit or miss, but I would fault the record companies, not eMusic, for that; most of them (especially the Big Four) don’t want to agree to open MP3 downloads, and eMusic won’t do it any other way. As for the standalone app: Here it is. iTunes does set the bar high, and eMusic is trying. The eMusic Remote is a ginormous improvement over the previous interface, lightyears closer to the iTunes interface (without having to reinvent the wheel, thanks to Gecko). I like open music, and I like indie music: eMusic is not perfect, but they’re a great complement to iTunes.

By: ComicDork

ComicDork — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 21:50:59 +0000

The thing is eMusic sounds great and it should be great… but it isn’t. It’s annoying. Super crazy annoying.

Let me count the ways eMusic bugs:
- horrible interface (it’s been at least 3 years, time for a refresh)
- spotty selection of music
- no rollover of monthly credits
- needs stand alone app… it’s either a web-site or an app: they really need to pick one

I’ve used it and quit twice and it will talk a lot to get me back as a user (and I like the music they offer). iTunes set the bar high and eMusic just isn’t trying.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:23:07 +0000

I definitely prefer the standalone app to download from eMusic. It does one simple thing and does it well.

I’ve got Hazel set up to open the .emp files as soon as my browser’s downloaded them, then to Trash them; so I’ve got a nice downloading setup already.