Why marketplace disappeared on zune

The Zune forums are alive with complaints that a bunch of music has suddenly disappeared from Zune devices. The reason: it appears that Microsoft has pulled a bunch of music from the Zune Marketplace.

If users downloaded this music to their devices via the subscription-based Zune Pass service, then it apparently disappeared when they synced their device. I'm talking about subscription-based "tethered" downloads, of which users get an unlimited number per month. The Zune Pass also offers 10 permanent MP3 downloads per month, and those downloads have not been affected.

I'm not a Zune Pass subscriber, but I did a quick check of the Zune Marketplace on my PC this morning and was able to confirm that a lot of music is no longer available, including songs and albums from high-profile artists like the Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, and REM which still has some albums available, but is missing hit records like "Green" and "Out of Time". If you want a more comprehensive list of what's missing, scroll through this thread on the Zune forums.

A quick spot check of Amazon's MP3 Store and Apple's iTunes Store revealed that these albums are still available for sale there, so it's not like content owners have suddenly pulled them from online distribution. Assuming this actually happens, such a client almost certainly would do only the simplest of tasks, allowing you to manage what's already on your Zune and nothing more. And that depends upon Microsoft making the data accessible.

Perhaps that small beacon of hope is enough for you to hold onto the device. If you're finally ready to surrender your Zune and go with an iDevice, then connect your Zune to your computer and import everything into iTunes. Only the music you paid for or used music credits to obtain will be allowed in, of course.

Android and other devices are a bit messier, but essentially the same process. In these dark times, you might find comfort knowing 15 people are watching a Zune 30 GB on eBay right now. You are not alone. Same here, I've been a Zune player and software user for many years subscribed to whatever they were calling the subscription music service that year. It all disappeared with an update to the Zune 4. I'm waiting to see if someone can fix this problem. When I started my Zune software this morning on a second authorized Windows 10 computer, it first prompted me about restarting Zune software to complete some "features have changed" upgrade.

At first downloading proceeded successfully and the Marketplace was available. After restarting the Zune software, the Marketplace disappeared! My Windows 10 computer is fully updated. There are no third party firewalls or AV running. When I try the Update process in the Zune software, I get an error.

I can't recall what it says right, now, but I will update this message. I could never stream music in the Zune software after November and end-of-year migration to Windows 10 PCs capable of still downloading marketplace music and syncing my Zune devices.

I always had to use Groove to preview music. When will the music that's already stored on my Zune devices 3 currently, although only 2 were officially authorized disappear? After I stop my subscription, if then? The devices still seem to go through a sync process with the Zune software, and will load purchased MP3s, but it's a very short process of syncing. When will the music on my computer in the Zune software's collection stop playing?

Is it possible it's a temporary thing? Doubtful, but I've engaged in two separate chats with Microsoft, one through general chat, the other through Xbox Maybe something will change for the better, but I'm not hopeful.

I have a subscription until February ! At first I could have up to three PCs, three Zune players, then four total, now just the two computers though I could add Windows phones, Surface tablets, etc. We may be the only people on the Internet who are discussing this problem, but I intend to keep at it.

I have a couple older posts that gave suggestions I tried but to no avail. I wish I could turn back the clock on the Zune software so it didn't update and cause this loss. I'm hoping this information will help. AvuSankaralingam, are you sure the Groove marketplace is weaker or watered down compared to what you're used to? Seems like it's always been the same and a match to Zune Marketplace no longer working.

So I discovered how to bring back the working Marketplace, but it's not permanent and it involves modifying the Registry. After doing this change, you can start Zune it prompts you about "features have changed" , plug in your Zune, search and download subscription songs from it provided your signed in with a valid subscription AND sync them with your Zune! If you're comfortable editing the registry, and want to take the potential risk therein, here's how to test this.

Repeat steps 3 and 4 for Features key called Music. Not sure if this is necessary, but not taking any chances. Start Zune, click OK to make the feature prompt go away, plug in your Zune if not already I'm not sure it's required unless you plan on syncing , then search and download from the marketplace.

When you restart Zune, the Marketplace feature goes away as does syncing, I assume. So one "permanent" solution is to always leave Zune running. Put your computer to sleep and leave it open. A Zune error may pop up as a result sometimes hidden on my system until I click on the running Zune app in Windows 10's taskbar , but it works! Before you quit Zune, take a look at your Settings. Under Devices, voila! You'll see your authorized devices. Also right clicking on downloaded songs and choosing Properties, and you'll see the DRM right are now present including sync permissions.

Perhaps this is a more permanent way to keep the marketplace until it disappears from GB , but I'm not yet willing to take the risk of a possible cascade of unintended events. I could keep this to myself and fly under the radar, but I doubt if anyone cares enough to change the registry every time you want to Zune.

I'm hoping someone can find a more permanent solution. I tried changing permission on that registry key through Regedit's Edit menu, but ended up preventing Zune from starting until I changed it back.

If I could only change that specific subkey's permission then I might be on to something. I don't know if the Groove marketplace is better or worse or the same as the Zune Marketplace I just know that when I browse the marketplace, it lists only the new albums or the top albums. There is no listing by year which the Zune marketplace had.