Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Accessing Zune Marketplace from Australia
As I read more into my Zune (opening it on Christmas Day!) it’s becoming clear I’m going to need to pull off some tricks in order to circumvent the isolation policy on the Zune Marketplace operating in the United States and recently Canada. As of writing this I’ve successfully signed up for a 14-day unrestricted trial of the Zune Pass with complete access to Zune’s Marketplace and content. Find out how after the break.
Already from my few minutes of exploring Zune Marketplace I am confident at the end of this trial I will attempt to purchase Zune Pass credits in order to continue this service, all while I’m an Australian and without a U.S. credit card!
Here’s how I did it:
- Create a new Microsoft Passport account (e.g. a Hotmail account) and set your location to Alaska and provide a legitimate postcode, there are Alaskan postcode lists available.
- Download Zune 3.0 software
- Sign in with your newly created ‘Alaskan’ Microsoft Password account
- Open Settings > Account then click on My Account
- Click on Get a Zune Pass
- Select the Zune 14-day Trial Pass
- Provide any Visa credit card for age verification (I had no problem using my Visa Debit card)
- Complete the transaction and close Zune
- Download and install zInternational
- Open Zune and sign in
It’s that simple.
-
- Zune Chanel Playlist
-
- Zune Channels
-
- Zune Downloads
-
- Zune Music
-
- Zune Music Album
-
- Zune Podcasts
-
- Zune Video Clip
-
- Zune Video Publisher
-
- Zune Videos
I’d be interested to know how this goes, as I plan to do this sort of thing myself. While the Zune is cool, the real action is the Zune service, and in particular the Zune Pass, IMHO. Before I drop some cash on a pre-paid Zune Pass card on ebay or something I’d love to hear your results.
Thanks for your comment EmphaticShark. I’m with you unfortunately, the Zune Pass is an unknown and untested gem. Hell, it hasn’t even been officially released in Australia so there’s no guarantee your paid service will continue!
My 14 day trial expired today and with it went my continued access to close to 200 songs and 10+ podcasts collected over the past fortnight, I subscribed to a few Zune channels (the top releases, new releases and a great electronic and fitness playlist which I’m now missing) as well as video podcasts (Best Ads on TV stood out). I have an 8GB Blue Zune and while it’s not ideal for films for short video (video podcasts and short series) it suits me fine.
I got used to these new songs being in my library and until I checked the file path of many of the new songs did I realise the songs that I would soon lose. This Christmas has been pretty expensive so I’m not in a capacity to shell out for an annual subscription but would I otherwise… absolutely.
I hope this helps, I look forward to revisiting this post after I have used the paid service for a few months.
Did you say the Zune Marketplace was available in Canada? That’s news to me.
Thanks for the post, it helped me get going with a Zune Pass subscription!
-Vito
Hi Vito, I’m fairly confident that you can access the Zune Marketplace just by purchasing a prepaid Zune Passport, hopefully you don’t have to jump through as many hoops as I do!
I’m able to confirm that with the steps outlined above and using a prepaid card the Zune Pass will work. My problem now is managing my bandwidth. I’ve downloaded so much content it’s eating into my monthly quota.
Zune Pass = teh awesome. If it was ‘legitimately’ available in Australia it would be even better.
EmphaticShark, you beat me to it. Not surprised, just wait until HD and surround-supported content hits the Zune. Look forward to hearing how you’re going after a months usage!
Unfortunately this does not work when trying to get Videos from Marketplace. I have tried everything and I still get the message Zune Marketplace is not available in your location. Music and everything else I can get no problems.
Hi Martin, that sucks if Video is not supported. I haven’t tried downloading videos from the marketplace yet… maybe for videos it does indeed check your local IP address so you’ll need Hotspot Shield or SecureIX to spoof your IP as a local American IP address.
I haven’t subscribed as yet, I will do this after my move to Perth in a week! Will know more then… try the above and let me know Martin.
Hi Michael,
Yep, already tried HotSpot Shield and no luck! I use it to access Hulu which is awesome. lol
Cheers,
Martin
Hostspot Shield or other ‘web-proxies’ don’t seem to make any difference. the video marketplace seems to be much more stringent in it’s IP/location checking.
I’ve not tried SecureIX though, so YMMV
I’m mainly in it for the music anyway, and the Zune Pass doesn’t allow the same subscription model for video anyway so I haven’t spent ages testing this.
hi i wanted to try this before going through with buying the new zune hd but i cant get the visa debit card to be verified. any sugesstions?
Will, I never had any success getting a credit card to subscribe to the Zune Pass, like Michael described; no matter though, I just buy the pre-paid Zune pass cards (from ebay, or Amazon.com, or whatever and use those. Thats been working perfectly for the last 10 months or so.
That’s weird, I’ve been running my card for over 6 months now and all is well. I’m amped for the new Zune to come out, I’ll be picking mine up in the States then pulling down a new copy of the Zune software as it comes out.
Hi Emphatic Shark,
Does the Zune pass from ebay/amazon allow you to access videos on Zune Market place? I have a Zune HD on its way and really want to learn how i can access videos on the market place.
Thanks!
Hi Chris,
No, is the short answer. You need MS points to buy videos – they are not available on the Zune pass subscription. I haven’t even bothered to try with a US sourced MS points card, as even the free videos pop up an error indicating that videos are restricted to US customers. The ‘location check’ appears to be much more stringent for videos than it is for music.
While I am on the subject, has anyone using Michaels method above upgraded to Zune 4.0 successfully who can confirm the Zune pass still works? I’d hate to lose access to all this content….
Thanks Emphatic Shark!
Hi Everyone
Thanks im gonna go with buying a zune pass of ebay or somewhere, but just today i haven’t been able to access the market place at all.
Has anyone else had this same problem?
Thanks
Hi Guys,
I downloaded the new Zune 4.0 software and followed the steps above regarding setting up an American email account to access marketplace. unfortunately i have been unsuccessful in accessing marketplace. I have tried to sign into marketplace both from the website and zune app but no luck.
Cheers
Hi Chris,
I am ran the upgrade from Zune 3.0 (that was working with marketplace) to Zune 4.0 an i can access market place but am yet to try downloading anything. hope that helps
Thanks
Hi again,
Curse my inability to type, I can download free stuff using Zune 4.0, but since i haven’t got a zunepass yet i cant get any music.
Cheers
Hi, I’m keen to try this. Where can i get zune passes online where they will email me the code? I use a site maximuscards.com for my xbox points this way.
Hey Stubey, check out eBay.com (American site) or even Canadian stores that sell at auction or fixed prices, they can then e-mail you the coupon code to redeem 1 month Zune Pass.
I’ll do some digging into becoming an reseller for the American device when I’m over (fly out in 2 weeks), there’s a good chance I’ll buy a heap of 1 month passes and then sell them to Aussies to keep things going!
Awesome! Just trying to sign up to free trial but it’s not accepting my CC info. If I have a zune pass code can I skip cc verification? Cheers
Ok I got a zunenpass code but it didn’t work for me! I’m expecting another code in a few days and I will try that. If both don’t work then I guess it’s not going to happen for me
hey everyone, im pretty late in the piece here…i wanted to know if i purchase an 8gb zune on ebay (im australian) if i can do all the normal stuff like sync my current songs etc. with the zune software, and not worry about the zune pass and zune market place?!
Andrew, absolutely, this will work fine. The Zune software is freely available and will sync your current music to the old Zunes with no notable issues.
Hey Stubey, feel free to e-mail me directly as I’ll buy a Zune Pass for you from BestBuy in the United States and send you the code within 24 hours.
Andrew, I gave my Zune 8GB to my little brother, he’s laughing as the bugger’s also got access to my Zune Pass due to Zune supporting up to 3 Zune devices; I think it’s 3 anyway… 3 Zune’s and 3 PC’s.
You also have to change your region on your PC, on windows 7, vista and XP go to control panel, then click on REGION AND LANGUAGE, select the Location tab and change it to United States, that way youll be able to check out the marketplace subscribe to podcasts and even get the zune pass. the only thing you wont be able to do is buy and download videos from the marketplace.
Hi. Just thought I’d update this with my experience. I have just come back to Sydney from a 2 week business trip in the US. Spent some time with a mate in Seattle who works for Microsoft and he brainwashed me about the Zune. The Zune Pass model is perfect for how I like to find new music. All you can eat plus 10 credits each month. All I’m committing to is buying 10 songs a month.
Anyhow, I bought the Zune HD in NYC plus a 1-month Zune pass card. I created my account from my machine in Australia with a Windows Live ID. The ID has been set up for a while with an Au location but I changed it to US and it worked.
I tried to get the 14 day trial to work but it required a cc and it wouldn’t validate my Au credit card. I then redeemed the code from the Zune Pass card and it worked fine. I’m up and running. Now all I need to do is get a supply of the cards but I’ve got a month to sort that out!
Loving it!
Hi Nick, I’ve just sent out a batch of e-mails to customers interested in Zune HD models and Zune Passes. Visit the Shop for pricing, all Zune Passes (1,2 and 3 months) are dispatched electronically within 24 hours of purchase. All the best!
http://www.visser.com.au/shop/?ptag=zune-pass
Have used the alaskan zip code to get my pass and worked ut the market place still wont register on my zune
any ideas?