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[Rob L]

Hi,
I'm a Napster subscriber, and have all my Napster music imported into MC (of course!)

Periodically, they delete stuff from their database, which means the downloaded version I've got no longer works (which is really really irritating, but there's nothing I can do about that).

The trouble is, I don't know about it until I either try to play it, or transfer it to my handheld.

I previously did this by setting MC into preview mode and getting it to play an extract of all my Napster music.
The trouble is, whilst this sort of works, it just fails after it's hit three tracks it couldn't play. (It also doesn't come up with a helpful error message - just a numeric one, but I'm not too bothered about that myself)

It also doesn't actually tell you anywhere (e.g. Playing Now) which ones actually failed!

Is there any way to get MC to tell me which files actually do have a valid licence? It would be really handy, as otherwise I just have a load of dead files filling up my disk unnecessarily.

And it's even more annoying when I then try to transfer it to my handheld - MC just says that some of the files can't be transferred and asks me if I want to remove them from the queue. I have to say yes to continue, but then I lose the information about which files it wasn't able to transfer! It would work a lot better for me if it could somehow just leave them in the queue but flag them in such a way that it's obvious which ones weren't able to be transferred. (There's obviously already a concept of status in the transfer queue, so it would just be an enhancement to that)

[JimH]

I can see the problem.  I'm not sure what we can do.  We'll talk about it.

[Rob L]

I never really know how unusual I am in being quite a big Napster user - I guess Rhapsody is likely to be the same kind of thing? (which we don't have in the UK)

I'm still quite cynical about using it, to be honest - I like the subscription model up to a point (it's a great way to get to know new music), but I'm beginning to think the hassles (like music suddenly becoming unavailable with no warning) mean it's not worth it.

Which isn't to say it wouldn't be nice to see what you can come up with - I won't be ditching Napster for a while yet, if at all :-)

Thanks :-)

[hit_ny]

Hi,
I'm a Napster subscriber, and have all my Napster music imported into MC (of course!)

Periodically, they delete stuff from their database, which means the downloaded version I've got no longer works (which is really really irritating, but there's nothing I can do about that).

The trouble is, I don't know about it until I either try to play it, or transfer it to my handheld.

I might be missing something here, but you have paid to download these tracks, right ?

So how do they magically stop working if they are removed from the vendor's database ?

which would imply you are streaming them instead

[Rob L]

Napster has two ways of downloading music: buy per track, and subscription.

I'm talking about the subscription service, but it actually applies equally to the buy-per-track downloads too, because they're still DRMed in exactly the same way. Every time you play a track, it has to check the licence against the Napster database.

You can stream the files from Napster too, but then if they've removed them from their database, you wouldn't be able to find them to stream them :-) (and indeed that is what happens).

For the subscription service, though, you still download the tracks. They still live on your hard disk. And you're entitled to play them for as long as you stay a subscriber. But it still has to check the licence.

A recent example is Shiny Toy Guns - supposedly the record company have removed their album for sale in preparation for re-releasing it. However, that means that Napster have also removed it from their database, so although I have the files downloaded, I can't play them any more...

It's actually surprising how many of them do get removed, and you have no idea why.

[hit_ny]

The trouble is, I don't know about it until I either try to play it, or transfer it to my handheld.

How is it possible at all to play them on a handheld then  ?

or does it do the check before transferring which, if successful means then, so long as its on the handheld it will never expire at least till the next sync

[Rob L]

it does a check when it transfers to the handheld, yep, but you need to connect the handheld to the PC regularly for it to renew the licences, because they expire. Connecting it to the PC somehow refreshes the licences, but don't ask me how! And I don't even know how long the licences last either...

[wickesy]

And I don't even know how long the licences last either...

I think the licences last for a month, which would make sense on a monthly subscription model.  I have come across this problem as well and it is really frustrating when you lose one of your favourite tracks.  I didn't realise the same problem could occur with the paid for tracks though.  I suppose the only solution there is to burn paid for tracks to CD so at least you could re-rip them to standard mp3 tracks, but then you lose quality. 

I would love to see what JRiver can come up with.

[hit_ny]

I suppose the only solution there is to burn paid for tracks to CD so at least you could re-rip them to standard mp3 tracks, but then you lose quality. 

Is it not possible to copy the file to optic media just like any other ?

..then when you re-copy back there is no loss.

[Rob L]

you'd have to burn them as an audio cd, then if you wanted them back on the PC, you could convert them using a lossless format, but that seems a bit annoying since they'll never be better quality than the original WMAs, but much bigger... :-/