Purchased video content won’t work on Windows Phone 7 after February 2014

The desktop Zune client could easily go down as one of the greatest desktop applications of all time. It was loved by many for its modern interface, features, and operability with Windows Phone 7. Unfortunately, Microsoft decided to unify its entertainment offerings under the Xbox branding, which is why we now have Xbox Music and Xbox Video. Zune still lives though, it’s essential to users who are still on Windows Phone 7.x or those hanging onto their legacy Zune devices. Sadly, video won’t work after February of 2014.

Emails are going out to customers that don’t bode well for anyone hanging onto some old Zune devices. Here’s what it says:

“This email is to notify you that in late February, 2014, Xbox will be making an update to our video catalog. This update will allow us to more quickly and efficiently add the highest quality video content to the Xbox Video service.As a result, beginning in late February 2014, any Xbox Video content you own as of then, will no longer be playable through the Zune PC client, Zune devices, or Windows Phone 7 devices. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

That’s a big bummer if you regularly used your device for video. They go onto to say in the email that you can enjoy your video content at through your browser, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows 8 and 8.1 PC, and Windows Phone. Hopefully we’ll be seeing Xbox Video on Windows Phone before late February.

Earlier this summer, Microsoft phased out rental support for the Zune Marketplace.

Does this impact you?

Thanks for the tip Zack W!

Source: Microsoft (opens in new tab)

103 Comments

It was "loved by money"! :)
Lol... You seen that too ***Many***
Saw that*
This site is full of the grammar police
It was meant to be humorous, he was commenting on a mistake in the article. Somewhat ironic to have a mistake when correcting someone else's, no?
What's wrong with that? Bad grammar should be corrected.
That sounds like a PR disaster
Really? I think it would be hard to find anyone that's effected by this even on this site...
I just want wireless synch back.
+7
Actually, it's just worded weird. It gave me the impression that any previously purchased content would suddenly stop working on a WP7 or zune device lol.
Yeah, only on the Zune desktop client. Which isn't a real biggie because you can use a browser instead.
Far from it.
Glad I just got myself a 920, or I'd still be on my 710
This is why I still buy discs and do not pay for downloads from any marketplace.
So you can watch your disc on your wp7? You can still watch your marketplace videos on most devices.
Yes you can. Most disk will allow you to download a mobile version legally. For those that don't, you can still legally make your own soft copy.
Indeed. Gives me pause. Nevermind why I bought Green Lantern, I wasn't able to watch it on any device for months because "rights" were being negotiated after I had already bought the film! Sigh, but the convenience of watching anything when available is nice. Dunno, a platform retiring wasn't something I had considered... This is not nice. Ok, I'll tell you why: I heart Ryan Renolds.
i still do too. However, I get Discs with Ultraviolet support, so you have a copy in the cloud!
But is there ulta violte for wp8?? I have yet to find a solution to this???
Nope, no support on Windows Phone. I've resorted to ripping my blu rays.
Oh boy. 2 Downloads then fuck you. Ultraviolet is terrible.
Huh, I don't think it's terrible at all. I have VUDU and it's connected through them. VUDU as you know is Everywhere...well, almost. I have it on my desktop, Roku, PS3, and XBOX 360. I can download them to my desktop and PS3 fo'sure. I think it's the best idea the Studios could come up with. I have(had) Batman Year One in some proprietary format. When I reinstalled my OS, it ask me to check the "Rights" and I put in the code and its no longer valid. So, I lost that. Ultraviolet, I have no issues with, everything is in the cloud and if you don't want it there, you can download through the VUDU app.
Wait, there is a VUDU app for WP8 (or W8) that lets me download my Ultraviolet movies? No, I didn't think so....
Damn
At least it sounds like you still have rights to the content, just the DRM won't be compatible with those devices/software and the licenses will expire so you'll have to use something newer to download and play...if i'm reading that right. Not that it doesn't suck for people who have video content via zune, but, could be worse :S
Truly evil for Windows 7 users. I can see them saying so matter of fact that they support Windows 8
From the linked email, "*Streaming on the web at XboxVideo.com requires Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or Mac OS 10.6.8+ with Safari 5.1+.". So Windows 7 still has support at least for streaming.
Ahh, good catch. I only saw this in the email when I got it. "You can still enjoy all of your owned content at XboxVideo.com on your PC or Mac*, or on your Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows 8 & 8.1 PC and tablet, or Windows Phone 8. "
More MS suckage.
Please don't post if you have nothing constructive to say.
So... why did YOU post then?
Lol they're trying everything in their power to kick ppl off wp7 and onto newer hardware
To me this means by Feburary they'll have the xboxvideo.com site up and running which will support those users still on Windows 7. Plus, we'll hopefully have Windows Phone 8 support by then as well.
We are supposed to Xbox video support for WP8 by the "holidays", so I would expect end of Nov. or December by the latest.
Valentines day
Holiday"s"
New years lol. How about Ukrainian christmass lol
I feel really sorry for Zune Video users with Windows Phone 7.
Me too. All nine of them will be pissed.
LOL!
Wait, XBox video is coming to the browser too? 1. About effin time! 2. Effin sweet! But that begs the question that if video stays in the cloud and is accessed via a browser are the dumb ass "expirations" going to continue to plague Xbox video purchases?
Browsers that support the DRM standard in html 5. So IE 11 and maybe chrome by now.
Man windows phone 7 never had problems with other storage.
+920!!!
+Samsung Focus
Never had other storage problems on my L925.
I'm going down kicking and screaming. I don't want to talk about it. Well, I'll say this much; you can't even sort columns on the Music App, and you can't exclude a genre like Christmas, can't edit a genre, can't Play All.
I'll back you up on that: the metro-style Windows 8 Music app blows chunks.
Don't use it dude. I'm thimking about removing Xbox Music from my life forever. But I'm afraid MS next move may be to not allow music through Zune, then and then Only will I be extremely upset. I'm currently looking at alternatives. Zune is and always will be better than Xbox Music Period!
I use my Samsung Focus just for my downloaded music. I have the lumia 928 but I only stream on that. I have never really messed with xbox music. I love the Zune software and everything it is. How hard is it to keep the same software?
Not hard at all actually. I use XBOX MUSIC to match my music to the cloud, that's its purpose. Truth be told though, I don't really think I needed. I could just sync my music via the Windows Phone App. I guess my biggest issue would be with MS slowly but surely killing off Zune... It seems extremely likely they will get rid of the music streaming on the Zune software. But you're right, I should just worry about it when it actually happens.
One thing i realize about Microsoft is that they have a history of abandoning their work. One reason why I am skeptical about embracing the Surface or a Windows Phone.
If you think Microsoft has a history of abandoning products, I suggest you never switch to anything Google. While I can't say these recent events are an encouraging sign, Microsoft actually has a history of supporting legacy products far longer than anyone else. I, and many others, have been screwed countless times by Google abandoning support for some service or another, regardless of popularity.
Tell me about winxp is how old now
This is why I never buy digital content thats tied to a specific service or is in some proprietary format or otherwise DRM locked.
"The desktop Zune client could easily go down as one of the greatest desktop applications of all time." I can't even begin to imagine the thought processes behind this statement. Truly mind-boggling.
Aside from it being heavy on system resources from time to time, it had a wonderful UI, clean, intuitive, awesome marketplace and most importantly could multitask unlike iTunes. In other words, Zune Client > iTunes
It may have been better than iTunes, but that certainly doesn't make it the best thing ever. Sure, it looked snazzy, but whoever did the UI on it really didn't make a lot of things very intuitive.
I absolutely agree with his statement. What would be mind boggling is if he replaced "Zune" with "Xbox Music" in that statement.
I hope I don't have to podcast with a third party application.
Another step away from a great PC software experience.
"...one of the greatest desktop applications of all time" Seriously? I hate to say it, but what kind of crack have you been smoking? Sure it looked pretty, but man, there was some serious usability issues with it. Exhibit A: The number of convoluted steps in order to save the Now Playing list as a new playlist. Better than iTunes? Yes, but not even near perfect.
By far better than Xbox Music; and I am not even,getting on the pathetic apps to interact with WP 8 devices available on W8...
It's pretty mindboggling that we still can't buy/rent videos on our phones from Xbox Video.
It is supposed to be coming by the "holidays"
+1
What the heck... anyone else notice a bug in the commenting system? I replied to one comment, then replied to another, and it manged both the replies together. Something fishy is going on here...
Did you do it in the browser? It's been doing that for ages. If you respond to one comment, you need to reload the page before you respond to another, otherwise it either won't post or will overwrite the previous post. It's a mess. But I got used to reloading... And using the WP Central app instead.
Yeah, it was done in the browser. I'm on a desktop right now, so no app. Good to know abotu the refreshing thing. I'll have to remember that for the future.
As long as I can still sync music and podcasts to my Zune, im good. I have not found a comparable MP3 player WITH physical buttons that works as well and is as tough as my little 8GB Zune. I know it was made by Flextronics but judging by its durability, you would think it was made by Nokia.
Oh how I wish they would bring podcast support to Xbox one.
As long as it still plays my music pass... Zune dtop still better than Xbox music
Reminds me of when they shut down the marketplace for windows mobile 6.x Microsoft needs to realize that extended support for exisiting users is important, they would probably shut down the app store for wp7 too if it weren't for its link with wp8
Yup. ... Funny I was in a store yesterday still selling the 610. I pitty the customer that buys it and doesn't know its nearly dead....
The End is Nigh.
Lol, doesn't work on WP8 either. Movies, tv shows I had bought through Zune... No go on WP8.
This is just more DRM Bullsh*t. If you got a DRM free MP4 when you BOUGHT the video, it would play on any damn thing you wanted.
I still use my Zune 30. Love it and the Zune software spanks iTunes.
No I hope it brings the video to our phones faster...
They should have kept the Zune name. Xbox music and video sounds so dumb smh
Makes more sense to call it Xbox Music & Video, since they're pushing the same service onto the Xbox too and it has far more users than there were ever Zune owners. But they should've kept the Zune software functionality...
While it might make sense for continuity, they are essentially dropping a developed brand name that was quite unique and was designed and developed quite well. I guess they might want to get rid of it because it wasn't as successful as they hoped (for the masses) but nonetheless it was considered exceptional (by those who actually used the software & hardware) considering the alternatives.
Possible WP8.1 announcement/release timeframe?
I wish Microsoft would make the zune software open source, so people can work with it (and implement the ability to scroll with touch screens) if Microsoft can't spend resources on it, they will find a lot of loyal supporters willing to... Well.. Support it.
I want a Metro version of Zune with the listening stats, library management and auto playlist creation tools back. I still hate how playlists are managed in Xbox Music 8.1 and its so different from web to phone to metro. I really hope to see more consistency in regards to music in 2014.
This.
So we had a perfectly good system that when replaced by the new one still has Windows Phone 8 owners waiting to gain the ability to view purchased content on their phones? I swear I love Windows Phone but if I wasn't a diehard I'd skip town in a heartbeat. If it's not broke....break it.lol
Has anything been said about Microsoft shopping the music pass on Zune any time soon as I still own a Zune and we use Zune pass to get all our music for it as my other half can't use her phone in work for music but can a MP3 player and with having 2 wp devices already I'm happy to pay for Xbox music as it includes Zune too.
Well, this sucks....stuck with my Lumia 900 (bought a couple of months after it launched) until june, unless I want to pay full MSRP. And I love my Zune, 100 times more than my ipod (only apple product i own due to car radio compatibility) Thanks MS :(
Unless I'm reading this wrong it would be similar to buying things on iTunes then no longer being able to watch it. This is why an all digital world is an awful idea. Any time a company gets bored with its current offering it can just change names and you no longer can use your files...that you paid for.
I believe you still have access to the content just not via the Zune software, Zune device or WP7. When I moved to WP8 it redownloaded all the MP3s I had bought.
I absolutely loved Zune! I never had one of the devices though, but the program was fantastic! I only purchased a few songs during the time so I'm not missing out on anything. RIP Zune.
If the songs were an outright purchase you may be ok. Everything I have purchased is DRM free MP3.
I think this great
"One of the greatest desktop applications of all time" Lmao that has to be the most stupid things ive ever read on here. Seriously, is the writer of this article for real?
I still hate MS for getting rid of Zune. It was so damn good, why the hell would they replace it with such inferior software. Ridiculous!
Wouldn't be a problem if MS offered to decrypt the devices
At least by that time most Lumia 900 owners should be able to upgrade.
I will miss the software and device support. I have 3 devices and love the sync with the music pass. The Zune HD was an awesome piece of kit.
Can anyone recommend a decent music and video management software client for folks with WP8? The Music and Video apps along with the Windows Phone app are terrible, and I still can't get my Windows 8.1 PC to even recognize my Lumia 1020.
I think Windows Phone 7 should get Xbox Music and Video when Windows Phone 8 gets it as well because, if Microsoft launches Xbox Video only for Windows Phone 8, I don't even know what to think. Windows Phone 7 users will be left out and that for them is bad and I think Windows Phone 7 users has to have the same stuff as Windows Phone 8.
Too bad not enough people use Zune. Too many people will see this as a "Zune" issue without realizing that the same will someday happen to iTunes videos, Amazon Videos, Ultraviolet, etc. No service is safe from this.
Case in point - if you buy one of those Blu-ray videos that comes with a digital copy, they are valid only for a certain time. Just the other day I tried to activate a Digital Copy for a Harry Potter movie we have on DVD, and the code had expired last year. No matter that I paid for it. THANKS HOLLYWOOD!
At least the music industry figured out the solution eventually: just charge more and sell it without the frikin DRM.

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