On the contrary!  eMusic is widely known among Indie artists as the world’s second largest retailer in music downloads.  Now that iTunes is making some headway into the Independent arena, what is eMusic to do?  You might think increasing their price would be a good move.  After all, eMusic caters to Indie artists who in many cases are in greater need of sales and promotion.  By appeasing to the artists, they could increase their product line.  On the other hand, by lowering prices, they would be favorable to the customers.  With prices right that have ranged around the 25 cent margin, many suspect that both the labels and artists should be prepared for their ship to sink.  Some suspect that eMusic was preparing to sell out, and simply doing everything possible to increase their subscriber base beforehand. In taking a closer look, that does not appear to be the case.

According to former CEO, David Pakman, raising prices would have been the worst decision they could make.  While record sales continue to decline, major labels have tried various methods to recuperate those costs by raising their prices at iTunes, and trying to get Congress to pass a "pay for play" act, in which radio stations would have to pay to play the music of major label artists. If there is any sense of desperation, it seems to be coming from the fussing and fighting of Major labels. 

Pakman’s math seemed very simple in logic and quite the opposite from major labels; lower the price and sell more. In a social network age, where the voice of the customer is becoming more dominant, and setting new trends, it would seem to make sense for major labels to be more compromising as well.  If major labels continue to ignore those voices, they may very well be turning their customers away, leading them to the front door of eMusic, or creating an increase of piracy, which tends to negatively effect sales of mainstream bands more than it does Indie artists. 

With the lower costs that eMusic has provided, Pakman claims that their average user has spent $168 a year as opposed to the average user of iTunes spending $12.  Whether it is correct or not, the concept was embraced by Pakman. 

It should be noted that eMusic’s focus has been geared towards independent music, which include high profile Indie bands, such as Barenaked Ladies, Wilco, and Radiohead.  The majority of Indie artists are not as well known.  When considering music that customers may or may not have yet heard, they are generally willing to pay less.  Which brings us to the age old question, "quantity or quality?"  To further that argument, eMusic announced on June 1st that they would be selling back catalog to Sony.  But does that mean a dip in quality and will eMusic contine on the path that former CEO, Pakman suggested?

As technology rapidly grows, Independent artists and even major label artists are able to master their product from their own home studio.  This has led to an increase of music from Indie artists, who now have more control and freedom with their music than they have in the past.  As such, the "Indie Revolution" is often talked about.  It can’t be denied that the quality is competitive with major label artists. Indie music is just as prominent in the music industry as Indie films are of the film industry. 

Newly appointed CEO of eMusic, Danny Stein, addresses the issue with Sony in an interview with Wired.

"Our existing labels, for the most part, have been asking us to raise prices for a long time. What I told the New York Times is that we were looking for a “catalyzing event” to do it. And really, the catalyzing event is adding catalog, adding more content. We used this as an opportunity to do it, but we didn’t do it because of Sony. We did it because in order to sustain the economics for our label suppliers and their artists, we needed to do it."

With the sale of Sony catalog leaving eMusic, the decision by Stein, is to increaase the sale price of Independent Music.  While this may be a contradiction to the direction Pakman had wanted to lead, it is widely celebrated among Indie artists and their labels. Although it may be a bit of a disappointment for eMusic subscribers, eMusic is still about 50% less than iTunes and Amazon.

With more artists finding success as independents, it is possible that eMusic is exactly on track.  Not only have they stuck with the mp3 format, which is the most widely accepted format around the world, but they are recognizing the growing audience of Indie music.  Should Indie artists continue to output quality music to reach greater audiences, it is more likely that customers will be willing to pay more and the "Indie Revolution" will truly be recognized.

In regards to the previous question of "quantity or quality", eMusic is going for both.