Microsoft to Stop Authorizing MSN Music

Microsoft will stop supporting MSN Music keys August 31, 2008, meaning customers won't be able to (legally) move purchased music to new computers.

In an email message to customers, MSN’s general manager for entertainment and video services Rob Bennett informed customers that Microsoft will cease supporting retrieval of license keys for songs purchased via MSN Music as of August 31, 2008. Users can authorize new computers to play music purchased through MSN Music up until that date—but after that, users will not be able to transfer the music.

"As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers," Bennet wrote in the e-mail announcement. "You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play."

Microsoft shut down MSN Music in favor of the Zune Marketplace when it launched its Zune portable media players. Although MSN Music customers will effectively be able to play purchased music on authorized PCs forever—or as long as those systems are useable—they will be unable to authorize new PCs or upgraded operating systems after August 31.

Former MSN Music customers may be able to salvage their music by burning it to CD and then re-encoding it using a DRM-free format, or by using various software tools to capture the music’s digital audio stream.

Some industry watchers point out that Microsoft’s decision to stop supporting MSN Music DRM keys highlights a key problem with DRM systems: if the company (or companies) running the system fold or decide to shut it down, customers lose access to paid-for media. In the last year, most major music distributors have begun distributing digitla music in DRM-free formats through various distribution channels, including Amazon’s MP3 Store and iTunes.