This is why I didn’t buy a Zune, because who knows what problems will develop in the future.
I bought a iPod because I have more protected files with the iTunes store. Not to mention, protected files are transferable to five computers, and your iPod alllows for the easy transfer of protected iTunes music/video files to other computer. Plus, its DRM system is less problematic than Microsoft’s. Although for some odd reason, it doesn’t allow you to use your iPod to transfer other songs on your iPod.
The best place to buy music legally is now Amazon.com MP3 Download store. No DRM restrictions there.
Paying for DRM content is insane. Just buy the CD and rip it, then it’s yours forever.
Considering their history of lies, theft and fraud, if you trusted Microsoft you deserve what happens to you.
For those stuck with PlaysForSure DRM’d music, SoundTaxi is available online and it will remove the DRM so you can actually continue to use your music. I think it is 15 dollars US.
I have also switched to purchasing music online from Amazon because they do not use DRM and their downloads are not 128kbs , which to me sounds thin, but rather are generally a minimum of 256kbs which is near CD quality.
Indeed.
Me and my 40Gb Creative Zen Jukebox are sitting here laaaffing....oh how we laugh.
I wouldn’t laugh so too hard least you make a fool of yourself. Microsoft sent out email to all accounts telling them to burn the music to a CD, which will remove the DRM. Users can then rip the music to any machine they desire. Here is the email:
MSN Music is constantly striving to provide you, our user, with the most compelling music experience that we can. We want to tell you about an upcoming change to our support service to ensure you have a seamless experience with the music you’ve downloaded from MSN Music.
As you may recall from a November 14, 2006 mail, we entered into a new partnership for music downloads. The Zune Marketplace can be accessed directly from any MSN Music artist page and offers users thousands of tracks for users to download individually or with a season pass subscription. You can still come to MSN Music to find all the latest news and previews of your favorite artists and songs, but in order to buy music, we’ll take you to our partners at the Zune Marketplace.
With the launch of our partnership with Zune Marketplace, we closed the MSN Music store and stopped selling music directly from MSN Music. However, we have continued to offer assistance and support for existing songs that you’ve purchased from MSN Music, including help to transfer songs that you’ve purchased to additional computers and MSN Music compatible devices.
I am writing to let you know that as of August 31, 2008, Microsoft will change the level of support to be offered for music purchased directly from MSN Music prior to November 14, 2006. As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers. License keys already obtained as of August 31, 2008 will continue to allow you to listen to songs on all the computers that you previously authorized for service.
We wanted to send out this notification well in advance to remind you to backup your music and to provide you sufficient time to confirm license keys for the songs you’ve purchased from MSN Music.
This is also a good time to remind you that you can back up and secure your music by burning your purchased songs and playlists to CD. With Windows Media Player, you can burn your own Audio CDs from the music stored in your library. Complete instructions for this can be found at MSN Music online help.
Please take this opportunity to make sure you have the licenses you need to access your music. As a friendly reminder, please remember that the MSN Music service allows you to authorize up to 5 computers for songs purchased from MSN Music. You must have licenses for the songs on each authorized computer, in order to be able to play the songs successfully. If you have already played a given song on a computer, then you have successfully obtained the license key for that song. MSN Music keys do not expire. If you intend to transfer a previously downloaded song to a new computer (or an existing computer with a new operating system, such as an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista) within the maximum allowed limit of 5 computers, please do so before August 31, 2008. You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play.
If you have additional questions about this process or any other questions about playing your music, please visit MSN Music online help for more information or feel free to contact our Technical Support representatives for assistance, prior to the August 31, 2007 date.
I’d like to personally thank you for your continued support of MSN Music and encourage you to send us your feedback and suggestions about how we can continue to improve the MSN Music experience.
Sincerely,
Rob Bennett
General Manager, MSN Entertainment & Video Services