Digital MP3 Downloads = Awesomeness...When They Work

[Jason Dunn]

It's funny how things work out sometimes - I took the screen sht above to illustrate how much I like the a-la-carte approach to music. Sarah McLachlan, one of my favourite female singer/songwriters, just released a double-disc best of album. I fired up the Zune software and compared all the songs I already owned, then purchased all the ones I didn't. Seemed perfect to me - until I realized that after purchasing seven total songs, only one had downloaded. I was using Firefox 3.0.3 to make the purchases, and each time I clicked on BUY MP3 I was given a download prompt for a file that would trigger the Amazon MP3 downloader - which is a bit odd, since usually single tracks are downloaded direclty as MP3 files. I checked the Task Manager, and the Amazon MP3 downloader process was running, but it was pegged at 25% CPU use - meaning it was locked up using 100% of one of the four CPU cores.

I killed the process, re-started the application, and I still didn't have my songs - it hadn't been queuing up the download either. I emailed Amazon support this morning, and within an hour I had a response and they re-enabled the downloads I was missing - and now I have all the songs I purchased. Words can't express how much I enjoy buying MP3s from Amazon, even with little glitches like this. I'm going to use the old tried and true Internet Explorer 7 in the future though to purchase music tracks, just to be on the safe side...

[Jason Dunn]

It's funny how things work out sometimes - I took the screen sht above to illustrate how much I like the a-la-carte approach to music. Sarah McLachlan, one of my favourite female singer/songwriters, just released a double-disc best of album. I fired up the Zune software and compared all the songs I already owned, then purchased all the ones I didn't. Seemed perfect to me - until I realized that after purchasing seven total songs, only one had downloaded. I was using Firefox 3.0.3 to make the purchases, and each time I clicked on BUY MP3 I was given a download prompt for a file that would trigger the Amazon MP3 downloader - which is a bit odd, since usually single tracks are downloaded direclty as MP3 files. I checked the Task Manager, and the Amazon MP3 downloader process was running, but it was pegged at 25% CPU use - meaning it was locked up using 100% of one of the four CPU cores.

I killed the process, re-started the application, and I still didn't have my songs - it hadn't been queuing up the download either. I emailed Amazon support this morning, and within an hour I had a response and they re-enabled the downloads I was missing - and now I have all the songs I purchased. Words can't express how much I enjoy buying MP3s from Amazon, even with little glitches like this. I'm going to use the old tried and true Internet Explorer 7 in the future though to purchase music tracks, just to be on the safe side...

[Vincent Ferrari]

I emailed Amazon support this morning, and within an hour I had a response and they re-enabled the downloads I was missing - and now I have all the songs I purchased. Words can't express how much I enjoy buying MP3s from Amazon, even with little glitches like this.

Same with iTunes. Their customer service when you have issues like this are awesome.

When Viva la Vida (Coldplay) came out, I had preordered it and it downloaded as Protected AAC. A few days after it was released, it appeared again in my library, but I didn't realize it was unprotected AAC (they realized their glitch and re-sent it to all customers who paid for it). I contacted Apple and told them exactly what happened, they apologized for not warning me before hand and re-enabled the download so I could grab it again.

This is why I'm so comfortable buying digital music from both Amazon and Apple. I'm confident that the company, when presented with the opportunity, will do the right thing for their customers.

[djdj]

The browser actually has next to nothing to do with downloads from Amazon. The link you are opening from the browser just tells the Amazon MP3 downloader which files to grab, at which point the browser is no longer involved.

I had this same problem happen to me once, but once I upgraded to the latest version of the Amazon downloader all problems have gone away. Make sure you've got the latest version and you should be fine.

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by djdj

The browser actually has next to nothing to do with downloads from Amazon. The link you are opening from the browser just tells the Amazon MP3 downloader which files to grab, at which point the browser is no longer involved.

I had this same problem happen to me once, but once I upgraded to the latest version of the Amazon downloader all problems have gone away. Make sure you've got the latest version and you should be fine.

+1 - once you have the Amazon downloader installed, the browser really can't screw up the download (yes, it's possible, of course). The more likely culprit is Amazon's downloader tool. So far, I've had great success, using FF and IE.

[Neil Enns]

Thanks for the pointer to the new Sarah stuff Looks like she has a volume two of Rarities, B-Sides, and Other Stuff out too!

Neil

[ctmagnus]

Um,

"We could not process your order. The sale of MP3 Downloads is currently available only to US customers located in the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia."

So how'd you pull this off? Do you have a credit card with a US billing address?

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by ctmagnus

Um,

"We could not process your order. The sale of MP3 Downloads is currently available only to US customers located in the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia."

So how'd you pull this off? Do you have a credit card with a US billing address?

I thought I recall someone saying they used Paypal to trick Amazon into thinking they were in the US. I could be wrong, though.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by ctmagnus

So how'd you pull this off? Do you have a credit card with a US billing address?

I'll send you a PM to explain it.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by djdj

The browser actually has next to nothing to do with downloads from Amazon.

Well, sort of - when you're downloading a single MP3 file, Amazon usually gives it to you as an MP3 and the Amazon Downloader isn't involved. When you're buying a whole album, they send you the downloader object for the Amazon downloader, which then handles downloading all the tracks. What was unusual here was that I was downloading individual tracks, yet I was being given the Amazon downloader object - and because the Amazon downloader was somehow locked up, I didn't get my tracks. If Amazon had given me MP3s, I wouldn't have had this problem.

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

Well, sort of - when you're downloading a single MP3 file, Amazon usually gives it to you as an MP3 and the Amazon Downloader isn't involved.

That's not how it works for me - it always goes to the downloader. Otherwise it won't get imported into iTunes. I wonder why it doesn't download individual MP3s for you?