MP3Tunes - is there still a premium trial?

[roll - gybe]

I have just set this up and it looks like I have a free trial with a 2gb limit. That's kinda weak, bc it would require me to do another upload if I decide I like it.

I read about 20 posts regarding the specifics of the free trial, but the posts were really convoluted.

Is there a way for me to try out the premium service on a free trial basis with SN?

[pounce]

I can't answer you specifically, but I can tell you how much I dislike mp3tunes. I did have a 1 year free premium account as a result of buying a squeezbox last year. I did upload a lot of music, but only after validating with mp3tunes that after the term is up and I did not want to pay for premium services that the account would revert to a free account with the functionality and limitations of a free account.

Well, seems mp3tunes changed a few things in the last year and now my account cannot be reverted to a free account and all of the music is going to be deleted. I can't access my account to get the music unless I pay.

There used to be a lot of potential with this service, but they have lowered the storage size from "unlimited" for premium accounts.

I vote thumbs down on their service/product. I can do without on principle.

[doug]

roll - gybe:

Through a special relationship MP3tunes has with Logitech we offer a free trial through SN that gives you access to Premium 50 account features in a free account for 60 days. This trial begins the on the first access to your MP3tunes locker through a Logitech device.

If you decide not to become a premium subscriber after that 60 days, the premium account features stop and you go back to a 2GB limit. If you have more than 2GB of content in your locker, nothing is removed -- you just won't be able to add any more music to it. You will also not be able to stream to a Logitech device from a free account. The free trial is offered to give Logitech users 60 days to experience accessing an MP3tunes locker through a Logitech device.

pounce:

Sorry you are so unhappy with your MP3tunes experience. Your account was a full premium account with no restrictions -- a different promotion than the free trial I just described. It was essentially the same as signing up with a 100% off coupon. Only the first year was free.

We have never offered the ability to revert a full premium account back to a free account. I apologize if you understood otherwise. We send out renewal notices two weeks before your account expiration date, at which time you would be free to download all your content if there was no plan to renew the account for the second year. There is also the option of purchasing a monthly premium account if you are within 30 days of your account having expired.

So again, sorry if there was any misunderstanding.

And yes, we no longer offer unlimited premium accounts.

dr

[pounce]

Doug, Why don't you offer the ability to convert premium accounts to ad supported free accounts? Why do you force people to pay or create new accounts and re-upload their music? Seems like something that can be solved with a little programming.

My account was created the beginning of August 2007. At that time I scanned your forum and read this post:

http://forums.mp3tunes.com/showpost....48&postcount=7

I got an email in April 21 2008 stating that free accounts that are ad supported would have 25GB limits. However, now it seems this has since gone to 2GB without any sort of notice.

Why should any of the squeeze network users trust your company with their business if you keep reducing your services? Unlimited has gone to 2GB.

Will your company even be around in a year? A person has to wonder if you are going to have issues since some of the mp3tunes infrastructure is on former Linspire assets according to DNS records. I've seen in the news that there are some legal issues with your CEO:

http://kevincarmony.blogspot.com/200...linspires.html

[doug]

Doug, Why don't you offer the ability to convert premium accounts to ad supported free accounts? Why do you force people to pay or create new accounts and re-upload their music? Seems like something that can be solved with a little programming.

An ad supported free account is something that might be viable in the future.

My account was created the beginning of August 2007. At that time I scanned your forum and read this post:

http://forums.mp3tunes.com/showpost....48&postcount=7

There was a correction to the post you reference, just a few days later.

http://forums.mp3tunes.com/showthrea...=2148#post2148

If you missed that in the 14 months between the post you reference and when your premium account expired, apologies. We strive to be as timely and accurate as possible in answering user questions on our forum.

I got an email in April 21 2008 stating that free accounts that are ad supported would have 25GB limits. However, now it seems this has since gone to 2GB without any sort of notice.

Not sure about the email -- I am not involved in marketing. Mentions of an ad supported free account were obviously premature. We do not offer ad supported free accounts. Changing the size of a free locker is within our terms of service, agreed to by everyone that creates an MP3tunes account. Sorry if this caused confusion. This change in size of free accounts would would not have affected the use of your premium account.

Why should any of the squeeze network users trust your company with their business if you keep reducing your services? Unlimited has gone to 2GB.

Free accounts went from unlimited storage space to 2GB. Free accounts cannot be accessed via SqueezeNetwork after the 60 day trial, so ultimately this does not affect SqueezeNetwork users who wish to continue accessing a locker from a Logitech device by subscribing to a premium account.

Will your company even be around in a year? A person has to wonder if you are going to have issues since some of the mp3tunes infrastructure is on former Linspire assets according to DNS records. I've seen in the news that there are some legal issues with your CEO:

http://kevincarmony.blogspot.com/200...linspires.html

MP3tunes initially shared some infrastructure with Linspire since it was spun out of Linspire almost four years ago, but that is no longer the case. I cannot comment on the legal issues you mention. They do not involve me. You are free to form your own opinions about what you read on the 'net.

Again, I am sorry you are disappointed with the free year of MP3tunes service you received as part of your Squeezebox purchase and do not think a premium locker is worth the money.

dr

[pounce]

Please see the attached email I got from mp3tunes in April of this year.

Why don't you offer the ability for premium accounts to revert to free accounts? Seems like this would help your bandwidth usage since you wont force users to download and upload to another account.

I'm sorry, but at least one of your current IP's is registered to Linspire. Maybe it's just an oversight.

[doug]

pounce:

I am not denying you received the email back in April. All I am saying is it does not accurately reflect today's subscription offerings. Please refer to our registration page for current subscription options:

http://www.mp3tunes.com/signup

The Linspire and MP3tunes corporate offices are both in the same building (well, it's not really Linspire any more), and multiple offices in the same building share an internet connection that was originally in Linspire's name. Perhaps that is what you are referring to.

The MP3tunes locker services run off a separate infrastructure.

Please, feel free to send me email (you can probably figure out my mp3tunes.com email address) or a PM if you have more questions regarding MP3tunes that are not related to Logitech or SqueezeNetwork. This thread is veering off topic.

dr

[pounce]

I'm good. I think others can read the above and make their own choices. My interactions with you and your staff put me off to giving you any money. I like(d) the service, but don't like your company. Your reference to TOS and making flip remarks about reading posts in your forums etc is a real turn off.

Your company has made pleas to the community to help it, but you fail in actually instilling any sense of community with me and from what I see in your own forums others see this as well.

We all make choices about who's kitchen we eat from...

[doug]

Please don't interpret my apologies as anything other than sincere. I generally have two goals in posting on this or any other public forum as a representative of MP3tunes:

1) Help ensure user experiences with MP3tunes are as good as possible.
2) Make sure MP3tunes services and polices are represented as accurately as possible.

It seems there is nothing I can do toward #1 in your case. Your mind is made up. You dislike us and I am sorry we have not been able to satisfy your needs enough to keep you as a customer.

If I have caused offense or put you off in my efforts to accomplish #2, I am sorry for that too.

If you are ever in San Diego, please allow me to buy you the beverage of your choice in the establishment of your choice. It actually does bother me when someone decides they dislike me without having ever met me. You may still end up not liking me, but I'll take that risk.

Actually, the free beverage offer applies to any MP3tunes customer or member of this forum that happens to be in San Diego. Online forums are a great resource, but call me old fashioned, I still enjoy communicating face to face.

dr

[pounce]

Lets be honest. We are wearing the hats of customer and supplier. In a social setting dynamics are different.

You still never did answer the question as to why you chose not the allow premium accounts to revert to free accounts. Is it intentional for paying customer lock in?

From this exchange I see there there are huge disconnects inside mp3tunes. If the CTO in a ~13 person company isn't aware of what marketing is doing or states that an email communication going out about 25GB ad supported free accounts is pre-mature then wearing my consumer hat I have to say this raises some questions about company stability or direction.

The reality is that this entire exchange is about a service that might be $40 a year. It's nothing really. In fact I qualify for an additional year based on a Boom purchase. After reading posts from mp3tunes employees in your forums, information about your CEO and the frustration around the service level moving targets etc I'm just not interested. I'd pay a little more to have a similar service elsewhere. I think it would be good for the slim customers to see another competing music storage service.