They still don't have all of my music as being able to upgrade to iTune Plus. Funny thing is that when I look up the music they supposedly don't have for Plus, I find that it is available as the DRM free higher quality Plus format. For instance, I have the Kate Voegele song Chicago in my music library but it is shown as a 128 kbps protected file. Yet iTunes has this very song as a DRM free 256kbps music file. So I should be able to get it upgraded, but it is not listed there to upgrade. What do I have to do, buy my music all over again?
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iTunes Plus Upgrade
- Thread starter Resist
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I've had the same issue. I contacted Apple about it a while ago and was assured that it would eventually become upgradable. So far, one of the albums has since been upgraded.
The labels pull music from iTunes (licensing issues, artist issues, etc), thats why some will not show as able to upgrade - the music aint there anymore.
Some others, the ID has changed (because of the above, or an issue), and it takes time to go through the millions of albums and re-link them.
Case in point, not all of ones purchased music will be able to be upgraded.
Some others, the ID has changed (because of the above, or an issue), and it takes time to go through the millions of albums and re-link them.
Case in point, not all of ones purchased music will be able to be upgraded.
I'd like to restart the discussion in this thread because I recently exchanged a series of emails with Apple about why some of my purchased music videos are not showing up as upgrades even though the very same video is now available in the iTunes Plus format.
At first Apple said the reason they weren't showing up in my upgrades was because those videos were no longer available in the iTunes Store. Then I reminded them that they were available and even sent them the links to the iTunes Plus content.
So, now they come back and say that the "content was modified" and thus isn't eligible for the upgrade process and that I'd have to re-purchase the videos at full price if I wanted the iTunes Plus format. But wait a minute, isn't the upgraded audio and DRM-free nature of iTunes Plus a modification? If it wasn't modified why would you pay extra for the upgrade?
Obviously, this is not good customer service on Apple's part. First they responded with an outright untruth and then they claim that they can't be upgraded because the content has been "modified." They don't explain what they mean by modified but I checked the video preview and they appear to be the same content and the title, artist, and copyright/publisher are all unchanged so what has been modified? The only difference I can see is that the video durations differ in a range of from one second shorter to eight seconds longer. However, some of the other iTunes Plus video upgrades that I have purchased show similar differences in duration (probably due to changes in the encoding or added/removed frames at the start or end -- in fact one that I was able to check just added a copyright statement to the end of the video).
So, I'm wondering whether anyone else has had similar problems in getting their music videos upgraded to iTunes Plus?
By the way, BMG Music is the publisher/copyright holder for the content that Apple won't upgrade. I don't know if this is related to the problem, but it may be worth checking if anyone else has had this problem.
At first Apple said the reason they weren't showing up in my upgrades was because those videos were no longer available in the iTunes Store. Then I reminded them that they were available and even sent them the links to the iTunes Plus content.
So, now they come back and say that the "content was modified" and thus isn't eligible for the upgrade process and that I'd have to re-purchase the videos at full price if I wanted the iTunes Plus format. But wait a minute, isn't the upgraded audio and DRM-free nature of iTunes Plus a modification? If it wasn't modified why would you pay extra for the upgrade?
Obviously, this is not good customer service on Apple's part. First they responded with an outright untruth and then they claim that they can't be upgraded because the content has been "modified." They don't explain what they mean by modified but I checked the video preview and they appear to be the same content and the title, artist, and copyright/publisher are all unchanged so what has been modified? The only difference I can see is that the video durations differ in a range of from one second shorter to eight seconds longer. However, some of the other iTunes Plus video upgrades that I have purchased show similar differences in duration (probably due to changes in the encoding or added/removed frames at the start or end -- in fact one that I was able to check just added a copyright statement to the end of the video).
So, I'm wondering whether anyone else has had similar problems in getting their music videos upgraded to iTunes Plus?
By the way, BMG Music is the publisher/copyright holder for the content that Apple won't upgrade. I don't know if this is related to the problem, but it may be worth checking if anyone else has had this problem.
Actually, the music videos that are in the iTunes Plus format do NOT have DRM. That's one of the reasons why you'd want to upgrade. That and the improved audio (128kbps -> 256kbps).
Further, in my case the original videos were only 320x240 (they were quite old) and the new iTunes Plus version was in standard definition (approx. 640x480). I've updated several of the 320x240 videos before, so the format change shouldn't be what Apple is describing as "modified." In any case I payed a whopping $1.99 (U.S.) for the original 320x240 content so I've already payed through the nose. It's kind of strange, I guess BMG or Apple doesn't want my $0.60 for the upgrade, and that hurts them more than me.
You are correct, however, in that the movies and TV shows still have DRM.