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Question

What is up with Windows Media?

May 27, 2016 1:46PM PDT

Is Windows Media really going to shut down on June 30, 2016? My internet stream has been in the Windows Media directory for 15+ years and suddenly I receive an e-mail purportedly from them reading as follows:
Dear licensee,


Please know that a hard copy of the following notice was postal mailed to the license agreement contact on your License Agreement for WindowsMedia.com Internet Content Providers. We understand that your mailing address may have changed so we are providing an electronic copy of this notice for your convenience.

Thank you for your participation in the Windows Media Guide content licensing program. We regret to inform you that the Windows Media Guide http://www.windowsmedia.com/radioui/home.aspx will be retired June 30, 2016.

Pursuant to Section 7.2 of the Microsoft Corporation License Agreement For Windows Media.com Internet Content Providers (“Agreement”), Microsoft hereby gives notice to terminate the Agreement effective June 30, 2016 (“Termination Effective Date&rdquoWink and remove your Company Content from the Standard Windows Media Guide.

Thank you and kind regards,

WMLA Licensing Team | PlayReady Licensing
Microsoft Corporation
Email: wmla@microsoft.com

AM I THE ONLY WEBCASTER TO RECEIVE THIS? What's going on??

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I see more on the web but
May 27, 2016 4:00PM PDT

Licenses are not in perpetuity and then court cases make some apps or features vanish. I can cite some I keep handy but here's a thing. There are some that cry FOUL! when a license deal or such falls apart.

Not much to add here.

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Not crying foul
May 27, 2016 4:16PM PDT

I'm not really crying "foul",but......Windows Media kicked web casters like me to the curb some time ago...for the longest time, when a listener would click my stream Beatlesarama.com , they'd hear dance music...I didn't supply them with that URL...the past two weeks it was simply dead air...I have been e-mailing them regularly for months to get it fixed...with no response...and then THIS response...would just like to know what prompted the shutdown and why now?

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That I might have an answer for.
May 28, 2016 9:24AM PDT

If this system required say Microsoft to keep staff and servers running then let's look at the revenue stream. The old system I knew of didn't create revenue to pay for those staff and servers so it eventually would have to end. No company I know would continue losing money like that.

So the very short answer is "it's the money."

For internet radio there are so many other solutions that I'll pause here.

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The latest I heard...
May 28, 2016 12:23PM PDT

MS lay off another 1800. All about money.

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Answer
you will need to find something else
May 27, 2016 4:22PM PDT

a simple google search will tell you what is going on. try using windows media discontinue as keywords.

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I'm talking specifically WM Internet Radio
May 27, 2016 4:36PM PDT
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Microsoft is discontinuing internet radio
May 27, 2016 5:00PM PDT

and it's they're right to.
If you want to podcast , bust a move to YouTube or something.
If I want to listen to internet radio, I just go to the station's site anyway.

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Yip,
May 28, 2016 12:27PM PDT

I am listening to a couple internet radio station now...no problem.

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June 30
May 28, 2016 12:52PM PDT

It ends on June 30

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Ok, I'll just wait ...
May 28, 2016 12:59PM PDT

and see what happen. There's really not much I can do about it anyway.