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[Jonathan DA]

Let me just start this by saying I recently upgraded to Windows 10.  And now I think I'm screwed...

I've had a Zune Music Pass for a couple of years, which I always preferred over Spotify because the downloaded tracks used Microsoft's WMA DRM, which JRiver could play without trouble.  However, after "upgrading" to Windows 10, none of my Groove downloads will play in JRiver.  I just get the error "Something went wrong with playback." 

Does anyone know if Microsoft changed something with their DRM that may have kicked in when I went from Win 7 to Win 10?  Up until two weeks ago I was still downloading and using Zune downloads without a problem.  Presumably, a Zune download and a Groove Music download should be the same, right?  It was just a branding change, I thought.

Any ideas apart from DRM as to why this isn't working?  I would make the switch to Performer Store, but it's almost twice as much per year vs. Groove ($100 vs $192).

Thanks!

[Spike1000]

I'm no expert on Zune (which I believe to have now been killed off by Microsoft and users moved over to Groove). . .

Question: Can you successfully play your tunes outside MC on your upgraded Windows 10 machine?

Spike

[Mitchco]

Hi Jonathan, on Windows 10 you can still use the Zune desktop software to download DRM music and it will play on JRiver MC.  That's what I do today.

However, it is my understanding that if you use the Groove Music app to download music content, it's DRM is different than Zune and only the Groove Music app will play the DRM software downloaded in this way.

If I look on my Win10 PC in the Music library:
For Zune, the content is in the Subscription folder.
For Groove, the content is in the Music Cache\Subscription Cache.

I stopped using the Groove Music app when I first tried it as I ran into the same problem you did. I deleted all content in the \Subscription Cache folder and continue to use the Zune desktop software to download and listen through JRiver.

How long that will last... don't know.

[Jonathan DA]

Following up on this just in case anyone else ends up in the same situation.  It appears that MS has starting shutting down Zune services as of Nov 15th, 2015 (according to MS FAQ).  If you're still able to download tracks with your Zune desktop app and play them back in JRiver, that probably won't last long.  I went through multiple subscription services looking for an alternative, and it appears that Rhapsody is a viable replacement.  Rhapsody downloads appear to use the standard WMA DRM, and JRiver can play them just fine.  The only downside I can see is that the tracks are 160kbps WMA instead of the 192kbps WMA that Zune used.  Whether that is even audible has been debated ad nauseam elsewhere on the net.
 

[blgentry]

Do yourself a favor and find some alternative that doesn't use DRM.  If there was no DRM in the first place, you wouldn't be in this situation.  Going with another DRM based service will just make you vulnerable to this happening again, at the whim of the provider.

Brian.

[Jonathan DA]

Brian,

Philosophically, I agree with you.  However, pragmatically, subscription services win for casual listening.  Looking at my Zune library, I downloaded 310 albums in the three years I used the service.  At $10/album, that's $3100 worth of music, that I paid $300 to "rent" for three years (and I do prefer to get albums, not tracks).  Most of what I listen to via subscription is casual listening; for critical listening, I still buy CDs and vinyl (haven't gotten into hi-res downloads).  I'd certainly prefer a legal DRM-free alternative, but that doesn't seem to exist at a similar price point.  So my current approach is an acceptable compromise, even if I do have to rebuild my library of "rented" music every few years.

Cheers,

Jonathan