Zune Marketplace disappeared today

So I discovered how to bring back the working Marketplace, but it's not permanent and it involves modifying the Registry. After doing this change, you can start Zune (it prompts you about "features have changed"), plug in your Zune, search and download subscription songs from it provided your signed in with a valid subscription...AND sync them with your Zune! Yeah!

If you're comfortable editing the registry, and want to take the potential risk therein, here's how to test this.

1, Open the registry by typing in Regedit into the run/search bar.

2. Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Zune\Features
3. Expand the key and find the Reg_SZ called Marketplace. Double click on it.
4. In its value, add the following (if you're in the US), to the end, or alphabetically I guess just before ,ZA: ,US
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for Features key called Music. Not sure if this is necessary, but not taking any chances.
6. Start Zune, click OK to make the feature prompt go away, plug in your Zune if not already (I'm not sure it's required unless you plan on syncing), then search and download from the marketplace.

When you restart Zune, the Marketplace feature goes away as does syncing, I assume. So one "permanent" solution is to always leave Zune running. Put your computer to sleep and leave it open. A Zune error may pop up as a result (sometimes hidden on my system until I click on the running Zune app in Windows 10's taskbar), but it works!

Before you quit Zune, take a look at your Settings. Under Devices, voila! You'll see your authorized devices. Also right clicking on downloaded songs and choosing Properties, and you'll see the DRM right are now present including sync permissions.

To give credit where credit's due, the above "solution" is discussed in this reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Zune/comments/15i55n/miss_your_zune_hd_apps/

...specifically in this post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Zune/comments/15i55n/miss_your_zune_hd_apps/cb0100v

One suggestion that I found in that thread was changing the country/region in Control Panel settings. I did this, choosing United Kingdom (GB), but when I started Zune, then I got the following prompt:

Not prepared to change my Windows Live ID to United Kingdom in its settings, I opted to change back to US. Perhaps this is a more permanent way to keep the marketplace (until it disappears from GB), but I'm not yet willing to take the risk of a possible cascade of unintended events.

I could keep this to myself and fly under the radar, but I doubt if anyone cares enough to change the registry every time you want to Zune. I'm hoping someone can find a more permanent solution. I tried changing permission on that registry key through Regedit's Edit menu, but ended up preventing Zune from starting until I changed it back. If I could only change that specific subkey's permission then I might be on to something.

I don't know if the Groove marketplace is better or worse or the same as the Zune Marketplace....I just know that when I browse the marketplace, it lists only the new albums or the top albums.  There is no listing by year (which the Zune marketplace had).

Also not having the "picks for you" section means I discover less.

Additionally, not having saveable playlists is a big disadvantage for me.

so the Groove marketplace is less attractive that way...not so much in the actual selection

I see, I thought you meant what was actually available, not what you found promoted through their advertising features. With Zune software, you can use the link "Related" when you have one artist's album page up, then find related artists that either influenced or were influenced by the artist (not available for all artists, just like "Bio" is not available for all artists). That's what I like about Zune. I think they have a Smart DJ function which is not too bad, too.

Don't know much about Groove; I just haven't taken to it yet. I'm not sure about playlists, but I'm surprised it's not available with Groove. Have you tried the web version of Groove vs. the app? It seems to have "New" and "Recommended For You" features here:

https://music.microsoft.com/

I received notice of a reply to this thread from Marchingknight, but don't see it appearing so I'll copy it below and try to answer the question. Marchingknight wrote: "I tried this but wasn't able to get my Zune to connect.  The software just never registers the device and the device never enters connected mode.  Were you able to actually sync the device when you did this?"

Yes, I have been able to sync my Zunes (three of them!) using Zune software now. Two are listed, one is a guest but still seems to be able to play the music resident on them after a sync (not transfer lately). I can remove one Zune every 30 days I think.

Not sure why you can't connect your Zune. Of course, you'd know if the software is showing it as connected, that is a solid black in the shape of the player you have and player name.

• When you say, you tried this, be specific? Did you add US (assuming that's your country) to the string of counties in the registry settings for, as I recall:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Zune\Features\Marketplace

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Zune\Features\Music

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Zune\Features\Picks

(If you don't have those selections, it could be related to version of Zune software or Windows you have.)

• Have you tried another USB port?
• Have you tried a different cable, or different connecting hardware if you're using a dock?
• Are there signs that the device is physically connected, such as charging from the USB, or showing messages like "connected" or "syncing"? Is there a way for Windows to be forced to load drivers for the player? You'd have to look around the web a little bit for answers to that one.
• What player do you have, is it up to date? What version of the software do you have? Have you had other issues with it? What version of Windows are you using?

I don't believe this is a related issue to the solution for my case. I've always, at least lately, been able to connect my Zunes to the Zune software, I just haven't always been able to sync DRM music downloaded from the subscription service (do you have the subscription service?) with my Zune or browse the Marketplace until I discovered my "fix".