Like many music lovers I decided to buy my music online, and I chose to buy from a company named BuyMusic.com. The experience seemed ok. I downloaded my songs after buying them and that was it. All was fine until I had an operating system reload. This can be necessary if: a) your computer crashes b) want to improve performance of your system c) your hard drive fails d) you upgrade your computer.
I restored my backup of the dozen or so songs I purchased and they would not play. I was confused, I purchased these songs legally and I even made a backup to protect my purchase. Now when I try to play my songs, I receive the message that I do not have the right to play them.
So I did some research and it seems that the technology protecting the music of artists is now preventing me from playing music I purchased legally from BuyMusic.com. This technology is called digital rights management or DRM for short. DRM is a system that encrypts digital media content and limits access to only those people who have acquired a proper license to play the content. I read the BuyMusic.com site and found nothing explaining my options. I did find references to the term "primary system" and "secondary system". I did research just to be able to ask for what I needed properly. Here is what I wrote them.
Original Message Follows:
Name: B.
Order Number: xxx & xxx
I have purchased several songs from BuyMusic.com and downloaded them to my primary system already. The problem is that my primary system died and I had to get Windows XP reloaded. Now I have downloaded my songs again but I can not play them on my primary system now. Please help.
A few hours later I received this response from BuyMusic.com customer support.
Original Message Follows:
Hello Mr. B,
Thank you for writing to us.
We are responding regarding your orders #xxx and #xxx.
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
I found out some interesting problems with purchasing from BuyMusic.com. If my computer is reloaded or upgraded with a new system, even if I have a complete backup of my system, I will not be able to download my license to play my music. Sure I can download the songs as they suggest I do, but what use is a song on my computer if I can not open it to play it?
This was a bad experience that I would like others to learn from and please avoid supporting a company that does business in this manner.
I will add the following note: I also had songs from Napster that I purchased as well. As soon and I logged into Napster I was able to download my previously purchased songs and play them within seconds. Go with Napster if you buy music and are afraid of losing it if your computer dies or is upgraded.
P.S. I am not affiliated with Napster in any way. Please email me if you have any questions about this report. I will be more than happy to chat!
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