The Saga of Shrinking Playcounts

[Adam Krebs]

http://forums.zune.net/70839/ShowPost.aspx

I've been having some issues with the Social site ever since its update in mid-December. If it wasn't bad enough that Social doesn't recognize half of my songs (even the ones that are tagged correctly), and only decides to register a play even more infrequently, it seems someone's punched a hole in my artist play count balloon.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves here.

This is a screencap from December 13, when I wrote the article:

Note: Jay-Z (26 plays), Red Hot Chili Peppers (11 plays)

Later that night:


Today:

6 of my 8 most played artists were knocked out completely.

I don't know if this specifically has to do with the update, because I recall having some issues before then. Sometimes playing an artist would make the play count go down, and in other cases, one play would count double. Very, very weird.

Maybe this has something to do with the troubles Live and specifically Xbox Live has been having recently? Come to think of it, I might have an idea where all my plays are going... I'm envisioning a massive global conglomerate dedicated to siphoning off play counts and then depositing them in Swiss bank accounts. I mean seriously, only 5 Beatles plays?

I created a forum topic about this issue, but so far I haven't received a reply. I don't think I'm the only one... I just checked Cesar's card, and it appears he doesn't have any Tokyo Police Club plays, when previously they were one of his top artists.

All in all, not a huge deal. But why do I get the feeling that it only keeps the embarrassing artists?

[Adam Krebs]

http://forums.zune.net/70839/ShowPost.aspx

I've been having some issues with the Social site ever since its update in mid-December. If it wasn't bad enough that Social doesn't recognize half of my songs (even the ones that are tagged correctly), and only decides to register a play even more infrequently, it seems someone's punched a hole in my artist play count balloon.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves here.

This is a screencap from December 13, when I wrote the article:

Note: Jay-Z (26 plays), Red Hot Chili Peppers (11 plays)

Later that night:


Today:

6 of my 8 most played artists were knocked out completely.

I don't know if this specifically has to do with the update, because I recall having some issues before then. Sometimes playing an artist would make the play count go down, and in other cases, one play would count double. Very, very weird.

Maybe this has something to do with the troubles Live and specifically Xbox Live has been having recently? Come to think of it, I might have an idea where all my plays are going... I'm envisioning a massive global conglomerate dedicated to siphoning off play counts and then depositing them in Swiss bank accounts. I mean seriously, only 5 Beatles plays?

I created a forum topic about this issue, but so far I haven't received a reply. I don't think I'm the only one... I just checked Cesar's card, and it appears he doesn't have any Tokyo Police Club plays, when previously they were one of his top artists.

All in all, not a huge deal. But why do I get the feeling that it only keeps the embarrassing artists?

[ZuneFan]

Adam, I saw the same thing and happened to stumble on the answer on the Zune page. Which I found by just clicking on the plays link on my Zune card page.

From the following link:
http://forums.zune.net/30/ShowPost.aspx

"Playing most songs within your collection will result in a play being uploaded to your recently played list, but there will be some songs that do not. We have worked hard to extend coverage beyond what is currently available in the Zune Marketplace and are committed to expanding the coverage further in the future.
Update: Playcount totals within your profile's most-played artist list only reflect plays recorded within the past 28 days. Note that this will also affect your placement on top listener lists. Top listener lists only take into account plays recorded within the past 28 days."

[Ricardo Dawkins]

it is BETA.

[onlydarksets]

Looks like you have a reply - that this is expected behavior.
http://forums.zune.net/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=70839

[ACE]

Well, that makes sense (both responses) but I've witnesses my total over-all play-count balloon and add 4,000 more plays and then, just as suddenly, reset itself over a day or two. I asked if anyone else had seen it, but no one else did. The only other person I did see do this was Cesar's ZuneCard from ZuneInsider. Shoulda got screen-shots - coincidentally it happened shortly after the update too....

Beta indeed...

[Adam Krebs]

That still wouldn't account for why I have 10 plays from Train. The only time I've played them within the last 30 days was to see who the hell they were (it's that damn song Drops of Jupiter :-P). I can see the reasoning behind this, but I'm not sure I exactly agree with the implementation...

And yeah, Ricardo, you're right. But I'm getting sick of excusing crappy quality or missing features on account of it being "beta" or "version 1". We dealt with this all last year, and I seriously hope the get this out of beta soon. Otherwise I'm going to be one unhappy customer.

[tbird]

Originally Posted by Ricardo Dawkins

it is BETA.

Agreed!
I have been having some issues as well, like songs that arent even in my collection showing up.
I think the whole Social thing is a good idea and have enjoyed for the most part the time I have spent there.
But when it slows down and when odd songs start to show up it kinda takes all the fun out of it.

[ShoopMWM]

Zunefan you posted the rules of the play counts, didn't you read them?

"...most-played artist list only reflect plays recorded within the past 28 days."


Your most-played status reflects what you ARE listening to, not some historical reference. You get some new music and play the heck out of it, this will reflect that. You get in a different mood and listen to different tunes and it will show up in the social!

As for total plays, it seems like they catch up for me. I notice when I listen to the ZUNE and then synch it responds differently then when I use the software. I hope this gets fixed