Los Angeles - Digital music service eMusic, the nation's second most-popular behind iTunes, is changing its terms to lower the number of unprotected MP3 format songs that subscribers may download each month.

While monthly prices will remain the same, starting Nov. 21 the company's $19.99 premium subscription option will allow just 75 song downloads per month, down from 90. An intermediate option will fall from 65 to 50 songs per month, while the $9.99 per month basic service will now permit 30 songs, down from 40 per month.

The company defended its move, saying that it has added hundreds of new features and grown its catalog from 250,000 to 1.7 million tracks since the previous pricing was set in 2003.

"We still offer the best value out of any download service, 25 cents a track," an eMusic spokesperson told The Register. "We're offering people more so we feel can we can charge more for it."

To encourage loyal subscribers, eMusic has offset the lowering of monthly download caps by also lowering the cost of its annual subscription plans. Originally launched in 1995, New York-based eMusic was acquired by Dimensional Associates in 2003. When it relaunched in 2004, its new owners eliminated the service's popular "unlimited" downloads per month option.

Related Links:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/31/emusic
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061101-8129.html
http://www.emusic.com