Please don’t tell Steve

You know how much I love the iTunes Music Store. iTunes saved my life. iTunes destroyed my marriage. iTunes gave me Dengue Fever. Anyone says anything bad about iTunes they’re going to have a stern talking-to.

Other music sites have tried to catch my eye. They’re funny and quirky, but not in a good way. And I’ve never made a secret of my infatuation with Pandora and Last.fm. And buying real CDs is OK because it’s another medium altogether. And buying directly from the musician is practically sacred.

So why do I feel like I’m cheating?

Because I just signed up for eMusic.

I resisted. Really, I did. I had all the reasons: it’s a monthly subscription model, the old deal used to be much better, download credits don’t roll over month to month, what if they don’t carry anything I like. Then one day when I was out with the boy, I picked up an eMusic trial: 65 downloads for $15. I’m not good at match, but I’m guessing that’s about $0.23 per track. And I had two months.

eMusic had the Buttersprites. And Masha Qrella. And my favorite band so far this year: Electrelane. Plus I could download the music again if I lost it. And no DRM.

I went through my allotment of 65 tracks in about, uhm, 90 minutes.

I love the iTunes Music Store. I really really do. It has that spiffy interface. It handles all my podcast needs. I suppose I could get TV shows from it. And I’ll never give up the iTunes player. It synchs with my iPod like they were made for each other, and it carries my 30 gigabyte music collection without breaking a sweat.

But eMusic…. he said all the right things. Odd bands I like. No DRM. Really cheap. Yes it’s not as seamless as buying from iTunes (so smooth!). Yes, he wants a commitment, but it’s only month-to-month, but I can get out of it pretty easily when I’m through. I think.

I’m sure that this is just what the poly community calls New Relationship Energy. I felt this way when the iTunes Music Store was brand new. Things won’t always be so steamy with eMusic. I’m sure that I’ll be able to love both iTunes and eMusic.

Pretty sure.