How to make your North download play

[Gillibeanz]

OK gang well Ive managed to get my free download of North and get it to play courtesey of my beloved!!

I e-mailed the support on the Elvis download site and they reset my code for me. I downloaded this time ok, but couldnt get it to play - I got the message that it couldnt play on my computer!! My partner who ius a computer whizz fixed it for me so heres how he did it....

Right click on the file

Chose 'Open with'

Then select 'windows media player'

This will check to see if you have a licence to play it and if the key is valid will let you play it!

Hope this is of help.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Can he tell me how to play it on a Mac?

[Who Shot Sam?]

Can he tell me how to play it on a Mac?

I'd like to know too, Otis. The cover boasts of an exclusive digital download but does not say that it's for Windoze users only. You only discover that when you open the CD. Sure, I can get my wife to pull it down for me, but I shouldn't have to ask her. Tsk tsk Elvis.

[BlueChair]

You guys should write Island Records and see if they'd send you a CD with it on it.

[Poppet]

couldn't get it to download. don't wanna bother w/ requesting another code.

good idea, poor execution.

[noiseradio]

I don't thik the free track is compatible with Macs. My cd came with an insert that said as much. Score another point for pc's.

[PlaythingOrPet]

I haven't even tried to download it yet. Too lazy.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Yeah, the insert card is quite categorical: NOT COMPATIBLE WITH MACINTOSH COMPUTERS. Way of the world, I know, but still: ARSEHOLES!

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

We've all had problems - whether macs or pcs. Truth is, we're all guinea pigs in corporate experiments in contoling our music experience.

PIN coded downloads that can only be played by MicroSoft software are just part of it.

Fortunately, there are just now alternative sources for these songs, but for how much longer?

[stormwarning]

I don't see why this is a Microsoft problem. The record company could have chosen to release this track in multiple formats, but didn't. Sure, Microsoft may have offered them a better deal in order to obtain exclusivity, but that's a very (and increasingly) common business practice. It is the record company who were at fault, maybe you should write to them and demand a Mac compatible file. Who knows, maybe they're legally obliged to. Is there a lawyer in the house ?

[wolfcat]

I got the free track using VirtualPC 6.1. This software emulates Windows 95 through XP on the Mac. VirtualPC is now owned by Microsoft
and comes as part of their new Office suite for OSX.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Storm, it's simple economics: it costs more to make a disc or file PC and Mac compatible, and the numbers of Mac users (certainly in Europe) just don't justify it. No legal issues involved. Virtual PC sounds goo, maybe I should check it out.

[The Macintosh Man]

Otis, normally I'd agree that making software for both platforms does increase development costs, but in this case a file is a file. I have Windows Media Player on my Mac and I have internet access, so I don't see why Universal couldn't make the download Mac compatible. This happened with the Sunday Times promo EC put out with When I Was Cruel, too.

I think it particularly sucks that the file isn't cross-platform when one of the points PC users usually concede is that the Mac is used by artsy types to do their graphics and music on. That should count for something, shouldn't it?