Emusic: love and loathe

Okay, so I was one of the email advertising haters during Wednesday's lecture. I even stumbled through an explanation of my proclaimed hatred. The truth is while I do hate email advertising, I have responded to offers, therefore I'm proof that this method actually works.

The standout example would be emusic. I was a member of emusic about four years ago. For those not in the know, emusic is a song downloading program that enables you to download a specific number of songs each month based on the price of your subscription plan. The problem with Emusic is that it does not have every song or artist; it specifically caters to the lesser known. Another issue is if you don't use all your allotted downloads for the month, you lose them. I hadn't been using the program so I deleted it and thought I was no longer a member. I thought this for several months. Well the joke was on me. If I had checked my expenses more regularly I would have noted that I was still a paying member. Apparently, I didn't go through the correct unsubscribing process. After a lengthy conversation with emusic they determined that the error was mine and I'd have to eat the cost.

After this interaction, I swore to never resubscribe. Well, a few years passed. I was unemployed and stll receiving email updates. I had an outstanding library fee that stopped me from checking out cds. I was bored and I wanted music. I received an email from Emusic that said come back to us and receive seventy-five free songs with a trial membership. I opened it and thought: "Kaza, I'll just unsubscribe before the trial runs out and free music will be mine!"

Well, I signed up, downloaded, went through the process of unsubscribing and discovered that all my music would be lost unless I burned it to disc. I didn't have any discs at the time and so I kept the subscription for another month. Well, it's a year later, I still don't have any blank cds, but I do still have the subscription.

I'd say that their email marketing strategy is pretty freaking effective. They lured me with the promise of free stuff, they give me free music per holiday, and they keep me based on fear of music loss and my extreme lack of motivation to buy cds. They know their consumer that's for sure.