On the playlist, or I wish the eMusic account hold were a bit more flexible
I’ve complained a few times already that the eMusic "use ‘em or lose ‘em" policy forces users to think quantitatively about their download quota, rather than qualitatively. Some months, I just don’t want to get anything, and they’re usually interspersed with other months where I know an anticipated new release is going to appear on the service soon.
A few days ago, I logged into my account information to see when the next expiration date of my quota would be, when I saw an option for "Account Hold". It’s what I wanted from eMusic — a chance to put my account on hold without having to cancel it outright. But it comes with a few strings.
First, you can only put your account on hold twice a year, but you can put it on hold for up to 90 days (three months) each time. If I had the will power, I could put my account on hold for six months, then go hog wild afterward. I can end the hold anytime by logging in, but it’s unclear whether the act itself deactivates the hold or if I have to disable it from the options. If I were evil, I would make it the former. (And I am evil.)
eMusic developers must read my blog, or they know enough about user behavior to craft this feature in that way. I want to be able to spread this deactivation throughout the year at any time. But it would really fly in the face of a subscription model. In that case, I should move over to Lala completely.
So I doubt I’ll be using it, since there’s a few centuries worth of repertoire — and still much music from the 20th Century — to explore. I can imagine at some point, my eMusic will be my exclusive conduit to classical music. As such, I used up December’s quota two weeks ago. January is waiting.