Google Play Music deleting cached songs on SD cards, but not on purpose

google play music playlists


Google Play Music All Access users might want to avoid storing songs on a MicroSD card for offline playback, at least until Google fixes a bug that wipes those files out.
The bug causes cached songs to vanish whenever users power off their phones, reboot the system, or pull out their MicroSD cards, Android Police reports. The issue only affects downloads from Google Play Music All Access, a $10 per month subscription service; it doesn’t delete any music files that the user owns.
A Google support representative originally blamed the issue on copy protection, saying the files are deleted to prevent users from bringing them to another device. But in a follow up conversation, another representative said this is not the case. Google Play Music should not be deleting files without explicit user permission, the rep said, and the issue with MicroSD cards is just a bug that Google is now fixing.
Android Police notes that the support representative’s statement doesn’t completely add up, as it claims incorrectly that Google doesn’t store All Access songs as MP3 files. In fact, Google does store actual MP3s, but in a protected private folder that’s supposed to shut out all other apps. (Samsung’s stock music player can apparently access the files, but with scrambled titles and no other metadata.)
In any case, users who’ve spent a long time downloading songs to an SD card should avoid rebooting for the time being, while everyone else should stick with local storage until this issue gets worked out.
Why this matters: It’s surely a coincidence, but subscription music has been causing some headaches for Apple users as well. The latest update for iOS, which enables the new Apple Music service, also disables streaming music to networked devices through Home Sharing. Users have also found that for music they own, syncing through iCloud Music Library adds DRM to those songs when downloaded on other devices. As convenient as these streaming services are, the DRM required to keep rented songs on lockdown can often cause problems.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learn which startup programs are safe to remove

Image
The longer you run your computer, the more clutter it accumulates. This takes the form of programs you no longer need, bloatware you never wanted in the first place, and/or adware you didn't intend to install. The result: slow booting, slow operation, slow everything. To improve the situation, you can uninstall unwanted, unneeded programs. And if you're a little more tech-savvy, you can venture into msconfig to prevent system-dragging software from running at startup. Ah, but which programs are safe to uninstall and/or block? The last thing you want to do is remove some essential Windows element, which could do more harm than good. Should I Remove It? is a free utility that helps you answer exactly that question. The program analyzes everything installed on your computer, then helps you determine what's safe to remove. It does so by displaying both a rating for each program and a crowd-sourced removal percentage (i.e. how many "users and experts&
Read more

WhatsApp gets rid of annual subscription fee

Image
WhatsApp   has announced that it will axe its $1 annual subscription fee starting today. The Facebook-owned messaging service is nearing a billion users, and will start exploring alternate business models. WhatsApp failed to monetize in emerging markets due to low debit and credit card penetration, which led to the service being   offered for free. Today's announcement reflects a change of strategy that will see the platform acting as a facilitator between businesses and customers: Naturally, people might wonder how we plan to keep WhatsApp running without subscription fees and if today's announcement means we're introducing third-party ads. The answer is no. Starting this year, we will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organizations that you want to hear from. That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight. We all get these messag
Read more

Second-gen Chromecast tipped with faster Wi-Fi, Spotify support, and more

Image
Two new Nexus phones aren’t the only items expected at Google’s press event on September 29. Google’s also gearing up to introduce a second-generation Chromecast, according to 9to5Google. The new streaming device is expected to come in a round shape loaded with improved Wi-Fi, a new feature called Fast Play, support for audio systems, and feed integration with the device’s main screen. That’s about where the details end, however, as specifics are in short supply. The current Chromecast uses 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, so it sounds like the next version will support the newer 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, but that’s just speculation at this point. The Fast Play feature apparently means the next Chromecast will connect faster than the original version when you “cast” something from your mobile device. As for the feeds, there’s no word on what this is. 9to5Google figures it means you’ll be able to integrate social media feeds when the Chromecast flips to its idle backdrop mode. Backdrop
Read more