Comments on: Review: Bigpond Music DRM-free mp3s

By: Corinne

Corinne — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:30:21 +0000

I just used the site for the first time because I was given a voucher. Never again! I’m glad I didn’t pay for the voucher and I certainly won’t be using it now my money has run out. You name it, I had problems with it. My cart, downloading, songs not working, all on top of an extremely slow site. My advice is to avoid it.

By: Shane Perris

Shane Perris — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:22:00 +0000

Interesting you had problems in Firefox.

I recently revisited the site because I had a voucher. The searching experience and the available content were both still woeful. I had no download problems this time around. I was using Google Chrome this time (last time I had problems in Firefox and ended up using IE 7 to download the files).

The one improvement I did notice was the ability to download all tracks in one zip file.

I didn’t notice the lack of SSL, and I should have. I have become lazy int online purchasing.

Overall though I agree: the experience is still so half-arsed I wonder why they bother at all. I won’t be back without inducements like a voucher, that’s for sure.

By: Stewart

Stewart — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:53:40 +0000

After using it once, I am horrified by how technically inept the bigpond music website is. My first shock was noticing the payment page wasn’t even secure https! Credit card details were being transmitted over an insecure connection (http not https). Youch! That is so negligent it ought to be a CRIME! Needless to say, I chose to pay via my phone bill. My second shock was that the download buttons on the bigpond website didn’t even work on FireFox. So I could not download the music I had paid for. After a lot of fuss and bother with bigpond technical support, it became apparent that Telstra has designed the site to use non-standard download protocols which only work with Internet Explorer 6. There is no technical reason whatsoever for that sort of stuff and nonsense. It is just plain ineptitude on the part of the bigpond web designers. In fact, Telstra has done such a poor job of implementing this service that I wonder why it even bothered in the first place. I never managed to download my files in the end, I opted for a refund instead.

By: PohocheMict

PohocheMict — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:11:23 +0000

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By: Louryifunny

Louryifunny — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:47:47 +0000

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By: Shane Perris

Shane Perris — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:39:50 +0000

Rob,

It looks like you’ve bought some Windows Media DRM’d files, which I can’t say anything about as I only focused on using the mp3 side of things.

My main advice would be to email support. As I’m sure you noticed, I also experienced problems downloading some of the tracks I paid for. After emailing support, I was able to get the final two tracks with a minimum of fuss.

I’m no Bigpond apologist, but I do feel that every service should be given an opportunity for its Support to kick in and see if it can help.

By: Rob Pilgrim

Rob Pilgrim — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 08:30:10 +0000

Well, here it is over 24 hours later and I have managed to download the grand total of 3 of my 68 purchased tracks. Bigpond recommend using IE, but I have had no success at all – it simply opens up a window and says’ waiting’. of the three that i have downloaded – two were using Firefox and one using Chrome.

Thanks God I only wasted $15 on this excercise.

By: Rob Pilgrim

Rob Pilgrim — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 05:52:30 +0000

Half an hour later – I have actually managed to download 2 tracks. Then found that I have had to upgrade WMP to v.11 – whichmeans that my DRM protected talking books now won’t work.

And, not surprisingly, neither will either Bigpond track. I will persevere as, obviously, I only bought these from Bigpond because I couldn’t get them anywhere else – you know Russian Mafia sites, Torrent sites – in fact almost anywhere except Bigpond. I almost purchased the CDs in preference – but 41 UK Pounds for them, so the $15 risk with Bigpond was worth taking.

By: Rob Pilgrim

Rob Pilgrim — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 05:19:01 +0000

I really cannot recommend this service. It took me seven attempts to log in – that included a three hour wait because of three failed attempts to login – note my login is a macro that works with every other log in, and eventually worked with Bigpond music. Once logged in, the payment stage stalled and returned me to the start where … you guessed it, it took several attempts to log in.

Eventually logged in found that I had my music to download and now, as I write, I am attempting to do so and after several attempts have not actually got to the point where I can download what I have bought.

Someone said you should try everything once except folk dancing and incest – well, I’ve tried … and I certainly won’t make that mistake again.

Just like everything else that Bigpond touch, it’s expensive, poorly executed and a time waster … come the revolution!

By: Shane Perris

Shane Perris — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:12:50 +0000

Hi demmy,

I’m not sure what you mean by Bigpond MP3 player. I wasn’t aware there was a “Bigpond” player. All the mp3 files should play in any mp3 player as they don’t have any DRM attached to them.

Can you provide me with some more detail?