I've had no problems in the past but there seems to be something wrong with the new tracks. Either you can only download a small html file or if you can actually get the files, Windows Media Player 9 tells you that the Hardware licence is 'inconsistent'. Any Mac users managed to get these latest tracks to play ok?

TT.

I purchased five of the new tracks and couldn't download a single one of them -- ended up with a 92K html file when "saving target as" on the "get license" page.

I ended up hopping on a PC and downloading them there, burned a CD and then ripped the tracks into iTunes.

Before yesterday, all the tracks I bought at the club downloaded and worked just fine on my Mac.

OS X, 10.3.8, btw.
[Edited 3/27/05 9:51am]

Do either of you have Virtual PC? I'd be curious to know if downloading to the PC environment on a Mac would work. It should... I might have to try it.

squirrelgrease said:

No -- I don't. It is much less hassle for me to just use a PC at work to download the tunes than to install Virtual PC on my Mac, so I haven't even tried that method. Would be interested to hear, too, if any other Mac users have used Virtual PC to run Explorer for Windows and download tunes from the club.

I'm on a PC and I'm getting the same thing. It seems as if its trying to save as an HTML file for some reason. It did the same thing with songs I had previously downloaded.

what's it been a year now, and instead of improving mac support like they said they would, it's actually worse.

argh - if they would just put this stuff up on the iTunes store, I'd buy it all. As it is, it's not worth the hassle.

I sent a message to the DRM help support e-mail -- will post the response if I get anything back that is helpful.

i think it's a just a bug that they didn't anticipate. i'm sure they'll figure it out sooner or later.

This is the response I got from tech support (they responded within 24 hours to their credit). I haven't spent the time to do each of these steps, but my guess is that this will not work. Read on....

-----

Greetings,

Thank you for contacting NPGMC Webcast Support!

I am sorry to hear that you are having problem with the music. It sounds like it is because you are using a Mac. All of our contents are encoded using Microsoft Media Player. All I can offer you is to make sure that you are using the latest Media Player and Internet Explorer. Or try the steps below and see if it will resolve the issue.

Please follow the steps below and then try again.

You can delete the cookies in Internet Explorer by going to Tools, Internet Options, and then click Delete Cookies and click Delete Files (put a check next to "All offline file"). And then Close Internet Explorer and try again. It is important to make sure that you close all Internet Explorer after you deleted the cookies.

Please open your media player, go to tools and click options.

Open the player tab and put a check mark against ?Prompt me to back up my licenses?. Click apply.

Click the privacy tab. Put a check mark against all three options under Enhanced Playback Experience:
- Retrieve media information for CDs and DVDs from the Internet
- Update my music files (WMA and MP3 files) by retrieving missing media information
- Acquire licenses automatically for protected content.
Click Apply. Click OK. Close the media player.

Please download the files again by following these steps:
Go to www.NPGMusicclub.com
- Go to Ur Account (first button left)
- Click on Ur Account Members ? enter username and password
- OR click on Ur Account Non-Members ? enter e-mail and password
- Right click on download
- Save target as?

If you are still having problem, please reply with your login information including password, name of songs, error message.

If you need further assistance, we suggest using our Live Chat Support system for a real-time interactive resolution of your issue. Our Live Chat button is located by clicking on Need Help? Please note that our support staff is based in the USA, and that Live Chat Support is available weekdays from 8AM to 6PM (PT).

If you reply to this email, please include the entire email history so that we can easily view our past discussions of your support issue. Please note that email support is available during our normal weekday business hours.

Regards,
NPGMC Webcast Support

Some folks over at housequake.com claim to have success downloading wma files from the club using third-party download software. The thread at housequake.com with the details is here:

http://www.housequake.com...adid=40497

The third-party software being used can be downloaded here:

http://www.versiontracker...cosx/19803

courtesy of "newbie" on housequake.com

it's just nuts - nobody on the mac uses IE and Macs are used to create the music in the first place - all mac users want their music to go into iTunes, as do many windows users. Why can't they come up with something to address this a year after the store has opened? I don't even care if they put it exclusive on the store for 30 or 60 days, at some point, also release the music at the iTunes stores so more people can buy it. It's working for Stevie Wonder.

Shoot, songs now crack the billboard top 40 primarily on the strength of sales at the iTunes store. Why do they insist on leaving all of that money/sales/exposure on the table?

alandail said:

This is exactly what the tech who responded to me (see post above) meant when he/she said "I am sorry to hear that you are having problem with the music. It sounds like it is because you are using a Mac."

I did try to take the high road when the club first opened with an attitude of "if you don't offer files I can easily download on my computer of choice then I won't bother purchasing anything." But, I've since resigned myself to the fact that Mac support will simply not be offered, and I've used the resources I have to download the files one way or another and get them lossless-ly converted into a format that I can play in iTunes and burn to a disc using my Mac. The software is out there (and it's basically free) to allow you to do this.

So, look...I did the noble thing...paid the club for the music I wanted. Then I took matters into my own hands to enable myself to listen to the tracks on my platform of choice. I'm not file sharing the tracks I paid for and I'm not mass copying CDs...I'm taking my 77 cents worth of property and making it work for me.

It's the club's loss for not making things equally easy for all members and non-members who want to buy music regardless of their platform.

i downloaded Satisfied on a Mac at work. it took me a while for the Windows media player to kick in but i finally got it.

I'm still not having any luck

I've recently tried downloading the wma files again, and it worked. The file that downloaded was still named "metagen," but it was a much larger file (6 mb or so compared to 92K the first time). I renamed the file with a suffix of .wma, and it worked.

Who knows...

it seems persistence is the key here. i finally got Strage relationship