July 28, 2003
Buymusic.com the sucking begins
USATODAY.com - BuyMusic's downloads strike a sour note
The problem: Unlike MP3 music tracks plucked from the Net from pirate sites such as Kazaa, music on BuyMusic is encoded in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio format. The "digital rights management" coding limits what can be done with the files. The files will be recoded to allow for transfers, Blum says.
It's an early embarrassment for BuyMusic, which rushed to be first to offer song sales without subscription fees to users of Windows PCs. The Net retailer made a splash with a 160-foot-high Times Square billboard featuring a near-naked Tommy Lee. It sells MP3 players by Creative Labs and others.
"It's unfortunate they had this glitch," says Creative's Craig McHugh, adding that many customers have been calling seeking help. "We've been really excited about BuyMusic and its potential."
BuyMusic.com's tech support staff was of little help when contacted Thursday. An e-mail response read: "We are unable to provide technical assistance after you have downloaded the music ... to your primary computer. In addition, we are unable to credit you back for failed or damaged copies once you have successfully downloaded the music."
Apple has sold 6.5 million songs since April; BuyMusic won't release figures, but "it's not millions," Blum says.
I think that they are just a victim of there own idiocy and general attitude of trying too hard to direct the consumer.
Comments
You know I have tried it and it really is not that bad. It is really getting roasted and it has pissed off Apple users who think that Apple was the only one who had the same idea.
Posted by: Jake | July 29, 2003 12:49 PM
I did read your review, Jake, it was informative, and I absolutley agree with your comments about the DRM, and that this is a preview of what is to come, in a number of forms in the era of electronic content, not just music. But, for one, that does not mean that is has to be painful and treat the consumer as a criminal from the inseption of the standard. As you point out the Kazaa process was much less painful, and I know you are a appreciator of creator rights, which I agree with, but as long as the systems itself cannot create worthwhile option there will always be a black market that is stronger than the above board solution.
Beyond that though, my trouble with buymusic.com so far, has been what I see as a terrible launch attempt full of contempt and egotism that is the spawn of the current downfall of the music industry. Continueing to try to force consumers to follow falsely ridgid structures, instead of presenting viable options.
Truth betold, I don't have Mac OS X so I can't even use iTunes, and I have an iPod so I don;t really want to use buymusic.com. I have though used emusic.com and was pretty happy with the experience, save for its lack of selection.
Posted by: Anthony | July 29, 2003 01:38 PM
The service is really a no no from get go.
If you read the fine printes (user agreements, privacy policy, etc.), you will find some very troubling things.
First of all, you do NOT own the music you pay for. You only lease/rent it. Most tunes are tied to the one hard drive, and when you purchase a new computer or when your current one gets fried, then you lose all of your licenses (translation: you lose all of your songs). Don't take my word for it. Here is what buymusic.com has to say, "All downloaded Content is sublicensed to End Users and not sold, not withstanding use of the terms “sell,” “purchase,” “order,” or “buy” on the Site or this Agreement."
Second of all, buymusic.com SELLS YOUR PRIVACY INFORMATION to advertisers. Do not be surprised if you get spammed to death after you set up an account with them. Here again in their own words, "Except as otherwise limited in this Policy, we may disclose, sell, trade, or rent your Personally Identifiable Information to others without your consent."
The digital management is really confusing and hard to keep track of. Some songs can be burned onto a CD 5 times, 10 times, or only one time; while others cannot be burned at all. Some can be transferred to a portable player, while others cannot.
The quality of the songs are really inconsistent. Some are good, but others tend to be on the poor side.
Vast marjority of songs are NOT 79 cents, but are a dollar and up. Many many albums are priced same as CDs, at 14 bucks or up.
All my songs failed to play on my portable, even though it is supposed to be supported. Two of my downloads broke up and I never got the complete songs.
Their customer support is just sh!t. I emailed them twice regarding the problems, all I got is that once I downloaded the songs, I'm on my own. No refund, no nothing!
I was mad as hell, and I fired back an email demanding action. Two days later, I got a message stating that my problem has been "escalated to a expert queue to be reviewed". That was 6 days ago! I have not heard back from them as of now.
Oh boy, if you are thinking about signing up with them, please save your hard-earned money elsewhere. I am through with those con artists.
Posted by: Bo | September 22, 2003 03:46 PM
Like so many other customers I have purchased a product (songs) that cannot be played on my primary download machine and when I have complained to technical support they always come back with same-formed response. I am truly disappointed with this service even though the features they offer are what attracted me to them in the first place.
Posted by: anon | October 5, 2003 10:17 AM
After downloading their buggy software and finally getting it to install correctly, I found that my network (located overseas, a government intranet) would not allow in buymusic's traffic. Well, Buymusic decided that this wasn't their problem, and made me pay for downloads I never received.
What's more, after some complaining, I was told I could receive a small refund. However, I never got a penny, and every email I've sent them since then (maybe a couple months ago) has been ignored. Don't use Buymusic if you desire fair customer service and a product that works.
Posted by: Josh D. | November 24, 2003 02:34 PM
I too have had bad experience with BuyMusic.com. After upgrading my machine to WinXP (clean install), none of the licenses for the music I backed up on CD transferred to my computer again. Here's their response to an email I sent requesting help in getting my music to play again:
From: "BuyMusic.com Customer Support"
To:
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: Customer Support (KMM6223963V56874L0KM)
Hello Mr. Hale,
Thank you for writing to us.
We are responding regarding your order #17883987.
We apologize for any confusion. Due to license restrictions, we are unable to allow for extra license downloads in the event of a system
upgrade or computer crash. In addition, the encryption technology that we use is not intended to be compatible with system backup software. We are also unable to assist if songs have been mistakenly deleted or files become corrupted. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.
Please note, however, that in all of the aforementioned cases, you are able to download your music again if your license still has downloads available. To verify how many downloads are available, please log into your BuyMusic.com 'My Account' and click on 'View My Downloads'.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at support@customerservice.buymusic.com.
We appreciate your business.
Sincerely,
Customer Support
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Now seriously, why would anyone want to spend money on something that definitely won't work at some point in the future? If you upgrade your computer or harddrive, or if your system crashes or harddrive fails and you have to back up your files, the BuyMusic files are pretty much toast, depending on how many computers your license allows a song to be downloaded on (in my case...1). This is a future Class Action waiting to happen.
If you haven't tried BuyMusic.com yet...DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Don Hale
Posted by: Don Hale | January 31, 2004 08:07 PM