During 2007-08 several prominent indie records labels pulled their product from eMusic. Epitaph, Anti, Victory, Urge, Red House, Silva America, Tzadik and others left siting lower payouts - 30-35 cents vs. 65 cents from iTunes.
When Epitaph and sister label Anti left, then eMusic CEO David Pakman felt compelled to rebut the departure on the official blog: "Epitaph has been a notable supporter of eMusic for many years, back to when eMusic was just beginning. Unfortunately for all of us, they have decided that we can only continue to sell their music to you if they receive the same amount per track that they receive from iTunes."
This week Epitaph and Anti were back for sale on eMusic via distributor WMG who had just finalized a deal to sell downloads there. No reason was given for the return, but eMusic and its subscribers were clearly pleased. This time the message on the Emusic blog read simply: "Epitaph and Anti return to the fold today".
