Founded in 1998, eMusic is the world’s largest digital music retailer for independent music after iTunes and indeed is the world’s largest ever distributor of independent music tracks.

Earlier this week, they announced they have sold over 200 million MP3 downloads since they started their subscription-based model in late 2003. 40 million of those downloads have been sold since the Amazon MP3 download service launched in September of last year. The 200 millionth download was Fiery Crash by Andrew Bird.

The first 100 million were sold in the three years between November 2003 and December 2006 but the second 100 million were sold in the following eighteen months so that just goes to show the dramatic growth in the popularity of MP3 players and downloads in the last couple of years.

eMusic also emphasises how their service, and the simple workings of MP3 downloads, are helping independent artists find fans who otherwise may never have heard of them. They offer over 3.5 million MP3 music downloads from more than 27,000 artists and thousands of audio book titles.

If you haven’t joined the growing fan base of MP3 downloads, then take a look at the wide selection of MP3 players available. Prices have dropped dramatically in the last year or two and MP3 players are an easy, convenient way to take your interests with you.