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iTunes owns digital music and is the biggest music retailer — end of story, right? Well, eMusic has been around since 1998 and, though it generally doesn’t get many headlines, has put together a DRM-free catalog of more than 6-million tracks and a subscriber base of 400,000. In two weeks, both of those numbers look set to grow again.

It’s been over a year since eMusic last made a splash with the addition of Sony’s back catalog. However, the ever insurgent online music seller is about to make a big noise as it fattens its offering with 250,000 Universal Music Group songs from A-list artists like Jay-Z, U2, 50 Center, Guns n’ Roses, Feist, The Who and hundreds more.

“It’s all part of our overall mission to offer our members a full banquet of musical choices with room at the table for the hottest names, inspiring independent artists and rising upstarts,” the company wrote in a letter to affiliates. “In addition, we’re also launching a multi-million dollar TV and print media campaign in December to let everyone know.”

Beginning November 16, the company will be adding the new tunes and switching over to a new subscription scheme that replaces credits with a flexible pricing system. Like iTunes? No, because most tracks are and will be priced at $0.49 with a top price at $0.89.

The time is now…

Thereupon, eMusic’s popular 25-free track offer for new subscribers will be going away, to be replaced by $5 account balance on setup. So, with millions of songs to choose from, now is a really good time to take advantage of this expiring offer.

Getting the songs is super easy and, because there’s no DRM, you get to keep them even if you choose to cancel your account. Seriously, there’s no reason to leave this money on the table…

What’s your take?