Eminem's latest album, The Marshall Mathers LP2, is yours to own for free, courtesy of Xbox Music (US only)

Are you a fan of Eminem? If the answer to that question is yes, you'll be pleased to hear that Microsoft has made it possible to grab the artist's latest album, The Marshall Mathers for free on Xbox Music. We're not talking about the included streaming, which is free anyway, as you'll be able to download, own and enjoy this album for absolutely nothing at all.

So what's with the deal? Microsoft is simply offering the album for free to show some appreciation for the custom they've received with the popular music service. If you've already got the album, or are interested in Eminem's earlier work, fear not as other albums are just $0.99 to purchase, which include all seven of his previous chart topping hits.

Unfortunately, there's a catch. This offer is for US residents only and you'll need to have either Windows 8 or a Windows Phone. That said, you can stream the entire catalogue of Eminem content for free on the web or supported platforms.

What are you waiting for? Head on into your Xbox Music app to take advantage of this offer! Explicit version / edited version (QR codes below for your smartphones). It's worth noting that we've experienced issues when attempting to download the album, specifically "something interrupted your purchase. Please try again later".

Source: Xbox Music

Rich Edmonds is Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

196 Comments

Nice!
No. Why this trash? If anything, give people a choice other than some 40 year old, clown acting like he's 15. Rap and hippity hoppity are the worst things to ever happen to music.
He is the largest selling artist of the DECADE!! And who the fuck are you? Papa smurf??
Get off my lawn!!
I agree... but I'm still downloading it. lol I want some country albums for free!!!
You do know that Eminem is without a doubt one of the greatest artist to ever exist? You do know that his type of hip hop is beyond music?
Your opinion is no longer appreciated anywhere in the modern world.. Please euphonize yourself because we don't need any more closed minded, oppressive, racist, communistic, selfish, self-righteous, insecure, religion extremist, bigot terrorist 1 percentile devils like yourself telling us what ART/MUSIC is, or is not.. DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT NOW❕
Amen,
While I'm not an Em fan I am a HUGE Hip Hop fan, well I'm an even BIGGER Music fan. Pretty much any genre. I encourage you to not just base "hippity hoppity" on a hand full of artist. If Poppin' Bottles and bagging chicks in a clean whip aren't thing I think you should check out something from Mos Def(Yasin Bey) just to start with. Check out Deltron 3030 for something pretty different.
Don't forget Q-Tip's solo efforts. Nice stuff!
That guy is hopeless.. He's a devil. A snake here to segregate real people.. He'd never try listening to any of the artist you named, or listening to logic... People like him have no value to society until they fix whatevers wrong with themselves. It's not our job to fix what his parents obviously broke in his mind..
And rap music's been around way longer than bigots like you think.. Musicians like Bing Crosby, and Sammy Davis Jr were rapping long before what your tiny mind perceives as "rap music".. You feuding family backwoods yokel..
Haha silly DaveGx obviously u don't know what good music is
Eminem is one if the most talented musicians in the past 20 years.
Awesome indeed. (^_^) But I keep getting the "Something interrupted your purchase. Please try again later" error.
Nice gesture, but this album isn't very good, just like CoD ghosts that it has tracks for.
Well i got nokia music !!
Yeah.. Because there are so many Windows Phone users in US.
Windows 8 as well.
Jealous much?
Yes, I'm jealous, can't deny that :)
YEAH I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I!!!
Changing my marketplace region to U.S. to see if it works. I already got the album but still wanna try. Anyways "Legacy" is an amazing track. :)
nope it didin't :) Still shows 16.99$. Switching the markets back now.
Sorry to hear that
Did you try the non-deluxe version? The "Deluxe" explicit version linked to above is NOT free... EDIT: when I click on it on my phone, when I do it in Windows 8, it IS free...
Right, so just ignore the largest consumer nation in the world.
I'm sure sales will improve without any intervening.
Not a fan and you couldn't pay me to listen to it.
Listen to it? You couldn't if you wanted to. That's not real music silly ;)
Phew, now I can save all that money I was going to pay you to listen to it! I'm so relieved.
+2520
Didn't say I wouldn't accept the cash...feel free.
Lolol. Here comes the supporters.
Thanks, I'm sure we were all wondering.
Awesome . . . oh wait. I have a Music Pass.
Music pass will allow to listen as long as your subscription is valid after that you'll either have to renew or buy the album
Umm . . . this I know . . .
Or just convert all the songs you've downloaded, removing the DRM.
Of course, that's theft though.
Tempting, lol. But I need CD's if I decide to buy the album. I can't live without physical media.
Ms really annoy me that they ignore the rest of the world so much!
Yp. Why do we even use their phones?
Its an American company of course they would be more towards their own... That being said I got it and I'm Canadian any other Canadians try?
Not only that, but Americans consume more of everything than anybody.
Not catering to America is bad business.
Except for Windows Phones. I've said awhile back MS should cater harder to where their market share is. Like Italy, the UK, France, Germany, etc.
I would try but it's Eminem.
They are a global company actually, I live a stones throw away from their European HQ in Reading, England
Blame international trade law.
You're annoyed that they don't give you free things all the time? Oh yea I remember that time I got this free thing from Apple... oh wait, no I don't....
No that they seem to not do much in the EU, bing for example, have you tried bing shopping? Sorry should i say ciao, what shite. I live my wp bit being with a uk account and still often being overlooked is bloody annoying when the top 2 do it a lot better!
They are US centric for sure but Microsoft has brought affordable pcs to emerging markets like india. So im ok with some of their services are us only specially as Xbox music is a really pricy service. Im annoyed about bing search though. Still hasn't updated..
was also going to bitch about this but i downloaded it for free in canada with no problem lol.
The price is about right for him
Almost, they should actually pay people to download it.
Kids got some jokes haha
Doesn't work. It says something has interrupted the download.
+1520
There is a second listing in Xbox music hub, that works. Don't care about eminem but had to try it.
I was having the same issue for 24 hours so I opened a chat with support online. Supposedly all they did was look at my account, but magically I was able to download it without issue. I suggest trying the same if you are still getting the "Something interrupted your purchase" error. Hope this helps others experiencing this error too.
What's with the US exclusiveness always
Its because they need stuff to make then feel important
International trade laws.
@Robborboy +1,000,000
Le butthurt much?
Damn it
I get an error message when trying to download. :-(
Same.
The explicit lyrics download doesn't work.
Go to torrent, it downloads without errors
When you download outside of Xbox music, there is a high probability that you won't get the artist picture which pisses me off.
That's what MPATool is for
Yea but I'm too lazy. :P
MP3tagit on PC
MPAtool on WP8 :)
Lol
It took me a could tries, but I got it. Used my NL925.
There are two listings. Second one works.
None explicit probably. Who wants that!?!?!? ;-)
Uffff I want it (Israel) I will buy it from ITunes because it's working here! Not like damn Xbox store.
Remember to get the "Delux" instead of the regular album.
The deluxe edition is not showing as free on the explicit version but the edited version is?
Yea
Same for me. Edited version was free. Explicit wasn't.
They are all showing free...wp8
They all show up as free on WP8 but has anyone actually gotten the Explicit version to go through without an error? On WP8 they both show as free but could only get it to confirm the edited version.
Just got off with tech support. They have finite licenses to hand out. So all explicit albums are sold out. Only deluxe edition clean version is free while it lasts.
If this is true that sucks. Not wasting the storage on a edited version.
Same here, got the Deluxe Edition and the download is as smooth as cucumber. Microsoft finally stepping up the pace.
Same here... Deluxe edition downloading fast as hell.
Glad I don't live in the US
Me too... glad that you don't live here that is.
Not that I'd care much about Eminem and his creations, but because of that parenthesized section: fcuk U (US only)!
+920
Sorry, we do the fucking around here.
Now, bend over & take it.
Great tip! Downloading! :)
Says it's $16.99 on my phone. Hmmm. Edit: NM, went through the link and it's free. Downloading now!
Same
Eminem is my favorite artist... So this truly is great. Even tho I can get it free anyways (I do buy his collectors editions... U shud support artists you care about at least). Thanks MS but business is business and publicity will always be publicity.
To add... I think Nokia is the only company I really appreciate when they do things like this... I feel like they do care. Idk.
Artist. Lol
K.. He's an artist. Dont see what's amusing about that
Hahaha . . . nice catch.
I like how it works in Canada... Its like they think were muricans
Its might have something to do with Canada and The US sharing the same continent, North America, just a guess though.
Not working in Canada for me.
Woot nice
Lol cool but already downloaded it for free off kickasstorrents.com
If you like an artist's work, please consider paying for it.
I never understood why people won't pay for so-called music if they like the so-called artist so much . . .
Honestly who gives a shit music artist just like actors are incredibly over paid. They make literally hundreds of millions of dollars.. I'll keep my $10 - $20 per album and pirate the fuck outta the entertainment industry
You obviously have no idea what a "real" music artist is or how the industry works. Do you even like music?
Lol why because I don't listen to some Indy pop bullshit I don't like music? Typical hipster talk right their. I like what I like if you don't like that suck my nuts.
Not hipster talk. Just one of the few with a healthy respect for music.
There's at least one of "you" on every forum from video games, tech forums to automotive forums... I see it everyday, maybe it just boiled over an I had to snap on ya but w/e I'm gonna chill and pump some Kid Cudi... If that's not "Real" music I don't want to know what is.
Some artists are millionaires, sure, but the vast majority are not.
✔✔✔✔
I only pay for Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko music everything els can get downloaded
Got it! :) Eminem is a awesome rapper
It looks like its going to charge me $16.99, how did you bypass that?
There are two. Look for the one in the store not the one you already got.
Its called The Marshall Mathers LP 2 not The Marshall Mathers.
Any idea how to get it in the UK?
Download the free torrent on kickasstorrents.com
Thank you so much for letting me know about this! Seriously, this is amazing. Time to use my $20 Nokia credit ;)
I subscribe to Xbox Music. How do I "buy" this album vs just "downloading" it like I usually do, to play using the subscription? It says "download" on it, just like it does on any album. Will I have automatically bought it if I download it? When I hold down the title and select "buy" I get to the next screen that says it's $16.99 and qwill be charged on my T-Mobile bill...
click on in collection and it will take you to the purchase screen.
Nope. Found what the problem is: WP Central was linking to the wrong explicit version. The "Deluxe" explicit version is NOT free (the one linked to in the QR link above), only the regular explicit version. After I download the "Deluxe" version though (not buying it, just downloading using the subscription), it shows in "in collection" as being WITHOUT the "Deluxe" title, even though it IS the deluxe version. And when I try to "buy" the regular version I get the "Something interrupted the purchase, please try again". Ah, the joys of XBox Music...! LOL. Microsoft, Xbox Music sucks. We already knew that, no need to show us...
it shows free but how do i download it to my phone
I'm wondering the same thing
Click and hold down and it will give you the option to buy
I had to view links and select the 2nd link
Click free and download.
And another one is $.99
Announce a good metal band then im listening
Lumia 920 atnt. Can't download says download interrupted. Anyone else having this problem?
Me
Me as well
Its not letting me. It always says something interrupted your purchase
Same with me :( I tried both the deluxe and regular verion: "Purchase not completed. Something interuppted your purchase."
Went to download for my wife, found that you can download clean version but explicit version says an error occurred.
Yep, same here. Probably because nobody wants the clean version. :) Same problem there though, after you download it doesn't have anything marking it as "Deluxe". That's not just this album, all Xbox Music albums are the same, "Deluxe" or extended editions are never marked as such after you download, it's really annoying.
I got the dirty version only one song is clean for some reason.
Hum.... Show as $16.99 for me on my 1520 on AT&T.
Because the article links to the WRONG explicit version. Only the non-deluxe is free. I hope they correct it now that I've mentioned it three times. :p
I tried downloading the deluxe explicit, non deluxe explicit and the edited non deluxe and got the same error message numerous times with each album version. I am using 920 on ATT. Any ideas what the issue may be?
Explicit Deluxe shows $16.99 on phone, Explicit non-deluxe shows free but get download error. On my Surface RT Explicit Deluxe is free (now in my collection) and Explicit non-deluxe is $0.99, go figure.
Also, "Recovery" is supposed to be $0.99 according to the Xbox Music webpage linked to in the article, but it shows as $12.99 on my phone when I click on their link. Their link for "MMLP2" is also the Deluxe, full price version that this WPCentral article links to. EDIT: when I go to the "Deluxe" explicit version in Windows 8, it IS free! But not when I go there on my phone. Grr... Promotion fail...
Microsoft must not be planning to sell many Xboxes outside the US for sure.
Yeah, not making an Eminem promotion global dooms the Xbox One.
(sarcasm, btw)
I bought it a few weeks ago thru Nokia :) just do away with Xbox Music and use Nokia as it's much, much better!!!
What am I waiting for? The day I like rap, of course.
(Pow!)
Is not working for me
What a mess, I'll wait till later
very cool!
Hell yeah. Great album
GO ON LANGUAGE+REGION, CHANGE IT TO UNITED STATES, RESTART PHONE, GO ON MARKET SEARCH THE ALBUM THEN HOLD THE FINGER ON THE ALBUM AND THE "BUY ALBUM" MESSAGE WILL POP-UP
Just tried from Australia, definitely didn't work for me, both albums were around $16.
and I tried from Romania :) and worked
Too bad we cant use those $20 gift cards. :/ Also, deluxe is listed as 21 songs, while non deluxe is 16?
Can't do it, says something went wrong and the download was interrupted.....
US Only is annoying but lets be honest, we ALL know how to get this album for free if we really want it for free
Who wants this wigger "music" anyway???
Some moron was bound to go there.....
Can i get this using a VPN some how?
If you're going to get it illegally, why not just download it with bittorrent?
Nice!! Just got the Explicit Deluxe for free. Took a few tries but downloaded finally!!!
I got in Romania also for free ,not US only !
Eminem is one of the greates to ever have done this. Anyone who can not see that is ignorant.
Awesome. Thanks MS!!!