Naxos, which made its reputation as a pioneering budget classical label, has been an early proponent of digital music distribution. The label already sells music through Apple's iTunes Music Store, Rhapsody, MSN, and Napster. It also makes music and audio books available through public library web sites and streams music through NaxosRadio.com and NaxosMusicLibrary.com.

Unlike iTunes and other prominent online music stores, which sell music in proprietary formats, eMusic offers downloads in the universal MP3 format. That means that downloads from the store can be played on any digital music player, although it also means that they can easily be shared. The eMusic site also differs from iTunes in that it sells monthly subscriptions allowing for the download of 40 tracks each month rather than charging for individual tracks or albums.