Zune Pass Music on Other Players?

[davenukem]

Frankly, I'm tired of my Zune. It's a nice player but I want to upgrade to something that has bluetooth (way to fail on the lack of hardware updates to the Zune Microsoft). I have been using the Zune Pass for about a year now and love it so I am wanting to move that library over to my new player.

So, are there any players capable of playing Zune DRM? I don't care if the music will expire after 30 days and I have to resync but losing my entire collection of Zune Music (3k songs) would be terrible and take forever to replace. So, any info into this would be great!

Btw, I think it's bad if this music can't be played on other players. Microsoft lured us in with a nice piece of hardware and then killed it off after we became dependent on an awesome music rental subscription model.

[Satellite_6]

link

Windows 7 phones?

My advice would cancel and rebuy your music as CD's overtime (making a perfect FLAC copy) but that would take a lot of effort. . .

[davenukem]

Uhm.... that seems HIGHLY illogical and overwhelmingly expensive. Assuming 10 songs per CD that would mean 300 CDs, even at $10 a CD that's $3,000.... not to mention time, effort, etc.

So this means that 0 other players are able to play zune correct?

[irishzune]

i have heard that some cowon and creative players can synch via wmp 11. Can anyone confirm this?

[Lan]

According to the zunerama forums Zunespass songs can be played on any Playsforsure device.
I believe you would have to resync your collection after expiration.

Guessing from the thread players with MTP support work as well. But don't my word for it.

Links to the threads:
http://zunerama.com/forum/index.php?topic=1373.0
http://zunerama.com/forum/index.php?topic=3079.0

[irishzune]

thanks, thats pretty old info, was wondering can anyone confirm it still works

[Olley]

What MS should do is create and release a Zune Music app for android and iOS and webOS. Then price it $9.99 a month with a free song or two they can download every week.

[steinburger1109]

I don't believe so. I know it sucks, but there are other subscription services out there.

[Machiventa]

Originally Posted by irishzune

thanks, thats pretty old info, was wondering can anyone confirm it still works

I can't confirm at this moment but it worked on my wife's Zen that broke a few months ago. It should work on any PlaysForSure device. And yes you have to resync the content after it expires.

I concur about having a Zune app on other OS's, that way you could stream and get the cool stuff like bios and photos. I'm liking MOG on iOS though, it's just not as rich an experience as Zune. But their similar artist radio is better than SmartDJ.

[steinburger1109]

Originally Posted by Machiventa

I can't confirm at this moment but it worked on my wife's Zen that broke a few months ago. It should work on any PlaysForSure device.

From wikipedia (at the very end of the Firmware section):

"Zune supports the Windows Media DRM digital rights management system, which is not compatible with other DRM systems and is not part of the PlaysForSure platform or program."

I may be wrong, but isn't saying that it isn't part of the program mean that it isn't compatible? Or am assuming too much?

The reference for that statement is from a CNET review, which, while I disagree with them about a lot of things they review, they have always had info and specs right when I've read things on the site.

[Satellite_6]

Pfft, CNET.

You now have 1411 posts.

[steinburger1109]

Originally Posted by Satellite_6

You now have 1411 posts.

Thanks for the heads up?

[irishzune]

Originally Posted by Machiventa

I can't confirm at this moment but it worked on my wife's Zen that broke a few months ago. It should work on any PlaysForSure device. And yes you have to resync the content after it expires.

I concur about having a Zune app on other OS's, that way you could stream and get the cool stuff like bios and photos. I'm liking MOG on iOS though, it's just not as rich an experience as Zune. But their similar artist radio is better than SmartDJ.

thanks, looks lke it will work so

[irishzune]

Originally Posted by steinburger1109

From wikipedia (at the very end of the Firmware section):

"Zune supports the Windows Media DRM digital rights management system, which is not compatible with other DRM systems and is not part of the PlaysForSure platform or program."

I may be wrong, but isn't saying that it isn't part of the program mean that it isn't compatible? Or am assuming too much?

The reference for that statement is from a CNET review, which, while I disagree with them about a lot of things they review, they have always had info and specs right when I've read things on the site.

lots of reports from a few years back of it working, its not same as playsforsure but apparently works but is not supported

[steinburger1109]

Originally Posted by irishzune

lots of reports from a few years back of it working, its not same as playsforsure but apparently works but is not supported

I see, thanks.

[skip252]

More recent word on this from someone who really ought to know what they're talking about. If you open out to the full thread there's more info on the requirements.

[Matthias]

Zune Pass music works on my brother's Sansa Clip, which supports PlaysForSure. He has to sync monthly.

[MikeM132]

Originally Posted by irishzune

thanks, thats pretty old info, was wondering can anyone confirm it still works

Yes. Works using Sansa Clip+ and WMP11. I sync Zune HD, Windows Phone 7 and the Clip. Use Zune software for the Zune devices and WMP for Sansa. Tried on a Creative Zen----also worked.
There are a couple drawbacks, though. You have to convert your playlists from .zpl to .m3u or .pla (I think that's what they are). Otherwise they don't work in WMP. I downloaded a free "Zune to .m3u" converter that does this in less than a second.
You still seem to have the same DRM restrictions as Zune (if you sync to too many devices, WMP appears to "know"). You have to connect your player to the computer every month to update DRM rights. Some have said you have to actually transfer songs to player to update DRM----I have not found that to be the case. Obviously no "Smart DJ" on device, nor Channel support. No artist pictures and bios. You get the music, though. Works fine, as of July 2012.

Originally Posted by Olley

What MS should do is create and release a Zune Music app for android and iOS and webOS. Then price it $9.99 a month with a free song or two they can download every week.

Coming with the new XBox Music, so they say. No word yet on features for other platforms other than streaming (and that is just a solid rumor from good sources). Supposedly, per MS, XBox Music has all the features of Zune Pass (meaning you can download for offline use). They confirmed Smart DJ will be in there. Also confirmed a 50% increase in library---from 20 to 30 million tracks. So they say.

[muziklvr]

Originally Posted by MikeM132

Yes. Works using Sansa Clip+ and WMP11. I sync Zune HD, Windows Phone 7 and the Clip. Use Zune software for the Zune devices and WMP for Sansa. Tried on a Creative Zen----also worked.
There are a couple drawbacks, though. You have to convert your playlists from .zpl to .m3u or .pla (I think that's what they are). Otherwise they don't work in WMP. I downloaded a free "Zune to .m3u" converter that does this in less than a second.
You still seem to have the same DRM restrictions as Zune (if you sync to too many devices, WMP appears to "know"). You have to connect your player to the computer every month to update DRM rights. Some have said you have to actually transfer songs to player to update DRM----I have not found that to be the case. Obviously no "Smart DJ" on device, nor Channel support. No artist pictures and bios. You get the music, though. Works fine, as of July 2012.


Coming with the new XBox Music, so they say. No word yet on features for other platforms other than streaming (and that is just a solid rumor from good sources). Supposedly, per MS, XBox Music has all the features of Zune Pass (meaning you can download for offline use). They confirmed Smart DJ will be in there. Also confirmed a 50% increase in library---from 20 to 30 million tracks. So they say.

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna find this zune to .m3u converter

[Machiventa]

Originally Posted by MikeM132

Coming with the new XBox Music, so they say. No word yet on features for other platforms other than streaming (and that is just a solid rumor from good sources). Supposedly, per MS, XBox Music has all the features of Zune Pass (meaning you can download for offline use). They confirmed Smart DJ will be in there. Also confirmed a 50% increase in library---from 20 to 30 million tracks. So they say.

Hmmm everything I've read about XBox Music says it's streaming only, no downloads. To my knowledge MS (Zune) is the only service that allows downloads on a computer. MOG (and maybe some others) allows downloads only on a mobile device so I would imagine MS is going to take that route. I sure hope that's wrong though.