Yahoo Music to offer refunds, what about MSN?

Yahoo Music is offering refunds to anyone who bought songs from the service. Is it time for MSN Music follow Yahoo's lead?

Yahoo announced last week that it would no longer issue authorization keys for the digital rights management, or DRM, software on its songs. This meant that anyone who bought songs from the service would still be able to hear their songs through its service but would be unable to move them to other devices or computers.

This did not play well with Web users. Now Yahoo Music plans to issue refunds and is trying to go one step further. If a customer would prefer music over a refund, Yahoo is looking for a way to give the customer copies of the purchased songs in the DRM-free MP3 format, according to a Yahoo representative.

Yahoo Music is transferring customers of Yahoo Music Unlimited to RealNetworks' Rhapsody service. These are both subscription music services, so Yahoo users who choose to make the move are unaffected. But those who purchased songs would be out of luck after September 30.

The question now is, has Yahoo Music raised the bar? Is it time for Microsoft to pony up with a refund for MSN users?

MSN Music shut down and announced that it would stop issuing DRM keys, only to change its mind last month and say it would continue issuing keys for another three years. As noted by Michael Spiegelman, Yahoo's senior director of music, Microsoft just delayed the withdrawing of support for songs.

A Microsoft representative could not be immediately reached.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for Internet users, has called on both Yahoo and MSN to issue refunds.

[Calisurfer]

Well that's something else! I always found it useful, never bought songs yet, but I was hoping to see if I could use it to find songs for my phone. Well I guess we'll just have to stick to the free ringtones on The Hotel Cafe

[catch23]

Wonder what is going to happen when Apple, at some future point, stops authorizing machines? That should be fun.

[sparrowhyperion]

These big companies crack me up. They put draconian DRM in their music downloads, then stop issuing keys. At least Yahoo is trying to be fair about it. This kind of hassle is why so many people get sick of dealing with music bought on subscription services and instead DL music in MP2 format illegally. These companies have no right to whine when their stifling policies are one of the major cause of the problem of illegal music downloading. They have an awfully weird concept of fair use. It's like buying a book at a web bookstore and then being only able to read that book in the house you were sitting in when you bought it and only under a pre approved reading lamp. WAKE UP RIAA! You can sue folks who will never be able to pay you for years, acquiring enormous legal bills that you are going to end up paying. And the only outcome is going to be bad press for you, lost time and money and negligible results in actually putting a dent in online music downloading. You need a reality check...

[Zen-Masta]

The issue is only relevant because yahoo music and msn music are closed/closing. iTunes isn't going out of business anytime soon so this issue wont rear its heard for a long time.

[angeljeanne]

I know this is going to sound stupid but what happeed to the so called "Copy Right laws"? I remember the sixties with rock and roll and all that went on with great groups of like the supremes, and all that never were given dredit for what they wrote and sang. Gee maybe I am just confused or have gooten the wrong information. Can someone correct me or tell me I am thinking wrong or what?! thanks Jeanne

[JCPayne]

To angeljeanne:

Yup look up the "DMCA" a.k.a the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act"....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act

It changed the whole way Copyright law is carried out for you all in the United States. Brazil's on the other hand is sweet. It

[shahnyboy]

I started buying my music off Amazon soon after i found out how restricted my iTunes songs were.
Glad to know yahoo is taking notice of this nonsense.

I understand the piracy problem but honest, paying customers shouldn't suffer.

[Nighteye19]

You are right. Paying customers shouldn't suffer. But, what the music industry really wants is paying customers that pay, pay again, pay again, pay again, and pay again for the same song.

[crookedtoez]

ever heard of limewire!

[AppleSuxLeo]

I always did like the smiling yellow head icon...Good Yahoo !

[kelmon]

Well done Yahoo! for taking the correct action. MSN's current attitude is indefensible and I can only hope that Yahoo!'s policy will make MSN re-evaluate their own. Given that neither stores had much in the way of customers a compensation policy won't cost that much.

[jypeterson]

What everyone here is forgetting that Yahoo, MSN, and even iTunes are not the ones behind DRM. These companies are merely retailers abiding by the packaging rules set by the producers of the product. The record lables required all of the retailers to wrap the music in DRM to protect their own interests, not the consumer.

The only reason why Amazon has DRM free music is because of Job's pressure on the record lables. The labels realize that there will be narrowing choices for music online since the only ecosystem that is easy to use from end to end is Apple's solution. All of the others failed to live up to consumers' expectations, and therefore have fallen by the wayside and closed up shop.

As soon as the labels open all of their music in all of their stores, consumers will continue to suffer with the draconian DRM rules.

[yudansha]

I have not seen any evidence that Yahoo really is offering a refund. The only place this idea even appears is here at cNet, but there is no link or anything. As someone who purchased a number of songs and albums from Yahoo Music Unlimited, I would certainly be interestd in finding that this is true. So far, though, this appears to be just a cNet-started rumor.

[yudansha]

Following up on my comment from yesterday, I contacted Yahoo Music Unlimited, both through the burnable download billing help contact and through general Yahoo Music Unlimited help contact, and posed a simple question:

"How do I secure a refund for the songs and
albums I purchased from Yahoo Music Unlimited?
Thank you."

Just so you know, they make you sign in and confirm your birthdate and other information before even allowing you to pose a question to billing help, and they even ask permission to access your billing records, which I gave.

Nonetheless, here's the response to my rather straightforward question about refunds for burnable downloads:
--
"Hello [],
"Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Music Unlimited. It will try to resolve this for you as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there was not enough information in your email for us to provide you with a detailed answer. If you still need assistance, please write back to us explaining the exact issue that you are concerned with so that we can assist you as soon as possible.
"We look forard to your prompt reply.
"Thank you for contacting us about your concern.
"Regards,
"Roger"
--
So, if they are indeed offering refunds, noone told "Roger" in billing.
Yahoo does seem to be suffering some rather serious problems across the brand. I wonder if we are witnessing the end of was once a great company?

I will update if and when I ever actually get a refund. But I'm not holding my breath. Thumbs down on Yahoo!

[cmwillman]

Yahoo raising the bar? Have you *tried* to get a refund? I was charged $149 for yahoo unlimited and have exhausted every effort to receive a refund for this defunct service. There's no customer service number and there's no way to cancel. Yahoo has LOWERED the bar in customer service if you ask me.
-CMWillman