I just got a rather bland email...

My first instinct was to delete it. But it did say something about being a music service by mp3.com, about unlimited mp3 downloads and cd burning. I resisted the second urge to delete after reading "high quality, crystal clear mp3s," and went for it.

Emusic. Benefiting from the mistakes of the competition, mp3.com puts together a system where you can download as many mp3s as you'd like, with no security system in place to stop you from doing pretty much the same thing you do with Kazaa. Hey, they're the ones saying it. It's "very simple -- we trust our customers. We believe that if downloadable music is presented in an inexpensive and flexible way, most consumers will do the right thing."

In fact, their terms of use are so ridiculously simple that it basically makes it clear that you're free to do whatever you want.

Is this some form of controlled chaos? An attempt at a realistic, "legal" and broadly appealing alternative to Kazaa and co.?

Ok, they don't say they have the "largest music catalog," and that's basically because they don't. In fact, they offer approximately the same amount of songs as iTunes does. Still, no bootlegs or hard to get versions of songs, like you'd find on P2Ps.

What really got me was that "EMusic splits all of the profits from membership fees 50/50 with the label or artist." No flat, per song rate? What a deal for Emusic.

Ok, so I test it. I hit search for "The Flaming Lips." I get a long list of cool bands that sound like the flaming lips... but no flaming lips. At the bottom of the page, an explanation:

"Still can't find it? Here's why:
EMusic has partnerships with hundreds of established labels and artists who want to offer their music inexpensively and conveniently in the MP3 format. Since downloadable music is still relatively new, many artists and labels have not released their music in this format."

So it's not perfect. But it still blows away most, if not all, the competition. This is sooo close to what I (and you) really need... it actually causes some thought on the issue of "illegal downloading" because now the benefits acquired through payment are close to those you get for free. And it's ten bucks a month.

Will I subscribe?

I'm thinking about it...