iTunes Plus, who's upgrading?

[JW008]

When I tried my upgrade, I got an e-mail quickly, and was told "Your iTunes Plus music upgrade could not be successfully completed because there is a problem with your payment information." Now, I am *certain* there's no problem with my credit card info, so I try again. Same deal. I wait a few minutes, try a third time. This time my Upgrade has been "in process" all night with no subsequent e-mails and the upgrade page no longer shows me how much is available to upgrade; and anytime I click on the "iTunes Plus" link, I get a dialog box about how I'm currently processing.

FYI - I have a *very* large upgrade to run... it was just over $300 when I tried it and seemed to be steadily growing by the minute.

I should have been more precise. This initially happened to me. I got an e-mail within five minutes saying the same thing. My problem was that I had an out-of-date iTunes credit balance (probably from buying stuff on my iPhone). As soon as I logged into my iTunes account, it updated the balance, I clicked on the "Upgrade" button again, went to bed, and woke up this morning and still hadn't received the e-mail. I tried upgrading again and it worked this time. Apple's apparently been working over night because I had about $20 worth of new stuff to upgrade this morning (it was about $120 last night and $140 this morning). I expect when I get home from class tonight, I'll have even more.

I don't know if you have any iTunes credit, but try logging into your iTunes account. That solved it for me. I also have a relatively large upgrade to run and it's currently doing it while I'm at work.

 

[evilyankeefan]

I had the same billing information issue as well. I updated it just to be 100% sure something wasn't out of whack. I did notice though that when you do this you most likely have to accept the T&C again? At least when I tried downloading some apps I was prompted for it.

Anyways, I get the same "upgrade is in process" wait for email message now so I'll just wait it out.

Just odd.

 

[BG-Mac]

Some albums that have an "explicit" label are showing up as the "clean" version in my iTunes Plus upgrade list. Has anyone had this problem? If so does it download what you had to begin with or overwrite with the other version?

 

[aawil]

I only had 1 song with the old drm on it. If it wasn't available in itunes+, I usually went to amazon myself. So my upgrade cost a whole .30.

 

[ipedro]

Apple to Remove DRM for FREE?

It's becoming clear that once Apple "upgrades" this big wave of iTunes users looking to get "iTunes Plus" tracks for 40¢ a piece, they won't want to maintain an expensive DRM system for those who haven't upgraded.

They can't just shut it down either because the iTunes pioneers are legit owners of the rights to play those songs that they legitimately purchased.

iTunes Plus is going to become the norm rather than the exception so we'll probably stop hearing the iTunes Plus term and stop seeing the plus sign next to each song because they would all have it. DRM'd songs in your library will probably show a lock instead.

This all leads to the conclusion that Apple will eventually upgrade all remaining users to non DRM tracks for free, probably with the introduction of a new iTunes version that when installed, would go through your library and update the DRM'd tracks.

While I see the benefit of removing DRM from my music right away, I've been just fine with it because I don't share my music and it works well with syncing tracks between my Mac, iPod, iPhone and tv.

So I can wait Apple out on this... it won't take long.

 

[PowerFullMac]

It's becoming clear that once Apple "upgrades" this big wave of iTunes users looking to get "iTunes Plus" tracks for 40¢ a piece, they won't want to maintain an expensive DRM system for those who haven't upgraded.

They can't just shut it down either because the iTunes pioneers are legit owners of the rights to play those songs that they legitimately purchased.

iTunes Plus is going to become the norm rather than the exception so we'll probably stop hearing the iTunes Plus term and stop seeing the plus sign next to each song because they would all have it. DRM'd songs in your library will probably show a lock instead.

This all leads to the conclusion that Apple will eventually upgrade all remaining users to non DRM tracks for free, probably with the introduction of a new iTunes version that when installed, would go through your library and update the DRM'd tracks.

While I see the benefit of removing DRM from my music right away, I've been just fine with it because I don't share my music and it works well with syncing tracks between my Mac, iPod, iPhone and tv.

So I can wait Apple out on this... it won't take long.

1) If they wanted they could shut it down, Wal-Mart, Microsoft and a few others did it
2) They will probably make it free eventually, but it aint gonna be soon

 

[Tallest Skil]

Yes, it just reviews your iTunes purchase history and offers iTunes+ song upgrades for 30¢. I've used requiem on my entire library and it still offers the upgrades.

Okay, good. I went to check and noticed that songs I had Requiemed were available. Only three albums, though, and not all of the albums from an artist (I have multiple albums from multiple artists, and not all of each artist's music was there). Does this mean that something happened, or does Apple somehow only have DRM-less rights to SOME of an artist's music right now?

And does this mean that, for the songs I've used Requiem on and have not upgraded yet (because they're not available), I can update to 8.0.2 and be able to see these songs, or will they still be broken until I upgrade to DRM-free?

 

[ipedro]

1) If they wanted they could shut it down, Wal-Mart, Microsoft and a few others did it

They could shut it down if they decided to close the iTunes store. Any other scenario and Apple would be facing a massive protest from the public and Class Action lawsuits. They can't continue to run a store DRM free while at the same time flipping the bird at the billions of DRM transactions that made the iTunes store what it is.

Apple wouldn't be that stupid. It would be a public relations nightmare and they would be guaranteed to lose in court.

I give it until the next version of iTunes when Apple builds in a tool to automatically remove DRM from all songs when launching the new player.

EDIT: Here's what happened when Walmart tried to turn off their DRM servers.

They ended up realizing that they would have to keep the servers on forever.

iTunes has a better path: upgrade your customers for a fee, with the encouragement of a higher bit rate... and then at some point, convert the rest for free via a software update. Turn off the DRM servers after that with no remaining holdouts. Click!

 

[SmartIndianKid]

It's available for users called Chris too.

And for users named Arjun.

But for $3 and change, I thought the upgrade was worth it. Delicious bit rate.

 

[thomamon]

Here is an address I have to write to iTunes and complain about having to upgrade everything. Maybe if we get a bunch of people e-mailing them, we can make some progress.

'Mswin@apple.com'

 

[whooleytoo]

Call me stupid, but what's the difference between "Songs" and "Total Songs"? For me it lists 43 Songs, 254 Total Songs.

Upgrading was a bit weird. Stepped through some license agreements, then it told me those items were no longer available, try again. Went back to the iTunes home page and I couldn't find a link to upgrade anywhere.

A few hours later, iTunes starting dock-hopping to tell me it was starting to upgrade. Weird.

Fortunately, most of my music library is already mp3 (eMusic); otherwise iTunes Plus would cause my library to double in size overnight, thus being too big to fit on my iPhone or iPod. Eeek.

 

[Nermal]

while i am excited about the lack of DRM, i am torn about upgrading.

fact of the matter is, i have never paid for a iTunes track. All of my stuff is Pepsi points or free downloads...

so do i pay to 'upgrade' free files?

Free songs are not eligible for upgrades. I have several and they're still DRM-protected.

Call me stupid, but what's the difference between "Songs" and "Total Songs"? For me it lists 43 Songs, 254 Total Songs.

43 individual songs, and 211 songs purchased as albums for a total of 254.

 

[NATO]

Damn, I've just discovered that I'm one track short of being totally DRM-Free... what's odd is that the album in question is now iTunes Plus but it's not showing as an available upgrade. I'll wait a while and see if it eventually turns up...

 

[Akira1980]

I had a problem as well. It said I need to update my payment information. But I know everything is up to date. I guess I will try it later.

 

[Nermal]

Damn, I've just discovered that I'm one track short of being totally DRM-Free... what's odd is that the album in question is now iTunes Plus but it's not showing as an available upgrade. I'll wait a while and see if it eventually turns up...

I've had at least one album listed as iTunes Plus with no upgrade, but it offered me the upgrade a few hours later. Be patient

 

[eleven59]

When I tried my upgrade, I got an e-mail quickly, and was told "Your iTunes Plus music upgrade could not be successfully completed because there is a problem with your payment information." Now, I am *certain* there's no problem with my credit card info, so I try again. Same deal. I wait a few minutes, try a third time. This time my Upgrade has been "in process" all night with no subsequent e-mails and the upgrade page no longer shows me how much is available to upgrade; and anytime I click on the "iTunes Plus" link, I get a dialog box about how I'm currently processing.

FYI - I have a *very* large upgrade to run... it was just over $300 when I tried it and seemed to be steadily growing by the minute.

same here. still can't get it to accept payment info.... bah...

 

[evilyankeefan]

I had the same billing information issue as well. I updated it just to be 100% sure something wasn't out of whack. I did notice though that when you do this you most likely have to accept the T&C again? At least when I tried downloading some apps I was prompted for it.

Anyways, I get the same "upgrade is in process" wait for email message now so I'll just wait it out.

Just odd.

Just checked. Back to as if I never requested the upgrade.

One more try and if things remain the same I will just wait a week or so until any issues are ironed out.

 

[mzd]

Free songs are not eligible for upgrades. I have several and they're still DRM-protected.

actually, a bunch of songs i got from the original pepsi promo are listed in my upgrade list. maybe the more recently run "free songs of the week" aren't eligible, but the old pepsi promo codes were for any song on the ITMS.

 

[gnasher729]

They could shut it down if they decided to close the iTunes store. Any other scenario and Apple would be facing a massive protest from the public and Class Action lawsuits. They can't continue to run a store DRM free while at the same time flipping the bird at the billions of DRM transactions that made the iTunes store what it is.

Apple wouldn't be that stupid. It would be a public relations nightmare and they would be guaranteed to lose in court.

I give it until the next version of iTunes when Apple builds in a tool to automatically remove DRM from all songs when launching the new player.

EDIT: Here's what happened when Walmart tried to turn off their DRM servers.

They ended up realizing that they would have to keep the servers on forever.

iTunes has a better path: upgrade your customers for a fee, with the encouragement of a higher bit rate... and then at some point, convert the rest for free via a software update. Turn off the DRM servers after that with no remaining holdouts. Click!

Apple is in a slightly better situation than Walmart. The only time your computer needs to talk to an Apple server is when a new computer needs to be authorized, not every time a song is played. If Apple removed the "five authorizations per account" limit then there would be no need for deauthorisation. I bet a single MacPro could handle that easily.

 

[ltldrummerboy]

And does this mean that, for the songs I've used Requiem on and have not upgraded yet (because they're not available), I can update to 8.0.2 and be able to see these songs, or will they still be broken until I upgrade to DRM-free?

I don't really understand your question, but maybe this will help. The last time I used Requiem was in 8.0.1 since there is no version for iTunes 8.0.2. I upgraded anyway and have just been putting off music purchases until they were iTunes+. Yesterday, nearly all my music that I had previously bought showed up under Upgrade Your Library.

I don't think it matters if you've removed the DRM from your music or not. I'm pretty sure the way it works is by looking at your purchase history, not the music in your library. If you've bought a song that had DRM, it now offers the option to buy it in iTunes+ format. If you opened iTunes on a computer with no music on it and signed into your account, it should show you those upgrade options even though you have no music in your library.

 

[Nermal]

actually, a bunch of songs i got from the original pepsi promo are listed in my upgrade list. maybe the more recently run "free songs of the week" aren't eligible, but the old pepsi promo codes were for any song on the ITMS.

Well in that case I'll rephrase my statement:

Apple's official stance is that free songs are not eligible for upgrades.

 

[John.B]

actually, a bunch of songs i got from the original pepsi promo are listed in my upgrade list. maybe the more recently run "free songs of the week" aren't eligible, but the old pepsi promo codes were for any song on the ITMS.

Starbucks ran a promotion last winter where you would get two free iTMS downloads with a certain type of Starbucks card (gift cards but people also use them for the free AT&T wifi in Starbucks). All of those are upgradeable to iTunes Plus and they also are eligible for "Complete My Album".

 

[evilyankeefan]

Just checked. Back to as if I never requested the upgrade.

One more try and if things remain the same I will just wait a week or so until any issues are ironed out.

4th time the charm. Got everything.

 

[zorahk]

I bought some music the other day, and it wasn't from a major label, and was already at 256kbps and my whole library is DRM free! Yay!

 

[scotty96LSC]

Nope!