For many years now I haven't been able to buy any music MP3s from the iTunes store in Singapore (does anyone have any updates? Has the situation changed?) This is another case of customers wanting to give money to companies but they just don't want to take it. Then customers need to try extra hard to make it possible!
Fortunately, everything changed this past week when Amazon launched their new Cloud Drive and Cloud Player for Web. The first major breakthrough is that I'm now able to buy MP3 in Singapore with a VPN. (I couldn't do this previously for some reason.) The second advance is of course the way Amazon has magically revolutionised content delivery when it should have been Apple who's supposed to be doing this. Cloud based music means you can play music anyway with an Internet connection. Buy once, play anywhere. Here's how to buy music in Singapore. Disclaimer: Your milleage may vary, buyer beware, your account could be terminated etc.
Preparatory steps
- Buy a VPN. I'd suggest AlwaysVPN who has a very attractive one-off US$8.50 fee, it will last you for years.
- Run the VPN. Go to the Amazon MP3 store and register for the Cloud Player service.
How to buy music from the Amazon MP3 store
- I'm using the gift card method as I cannot test the alternative. This method means you buy a gift card, and then send it to your email address. You may use a local credit card. You'll then apply this gift card funds to your Amazon account.
- Switch on the VPN and buy the music you want.
- If they ask you for a credit card, you can use your local credit card. For the billing address, use any US address. This will be quite okay as your credit card will not be actually used. Money will be deducted from the gift card funds instead.
- Your music will show in your Cloud Drive. You may switch off your VPN (so that you don't waste it) and then use the MP3 Downloader application to download your music into your PC. You also don't need the VPN to listen to your music using the Cloud Player.
- Here's a simplified walkthrough.
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| Buy your music! |
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| You will be thanked! |
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| You'll see the music you've bought in the Cloud. Play them anywhere with an Internet connection. |
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| Naturally you may want to have a local copy of your music in your computer. The Downloader does this quickly and you'll see your music in iTunes or Windows Media Player. |
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| Everything is seemless! |
Happy listening! There're 15 million songs in Amazon's catalogue! Well done Amazon, this is the ideal way to sell music!
How to buy music from the Amazon MP3 store
Comments
Finally I can buy my music online - you made my day :)
I forgot about using gift cards and actually purchased a book using my own CC. will this raise any red flags with Amazon?
the book was delivered vis Whispernet too but I used a VPN
Thanks
aaa_1188
I just read another how to buy VPN online that it's very informative too.
Just to let you all who have not tried that know that
1)Paypal doesn't work for the gift card ( Yes you need a credit/debit card )
2)It takes times to process your gift card ( <15mins )
3)For the U.S address, you can go http://www.zip-area.com to find a U.S address. For the road, go google some house location in that area )
However when I'm purchasing the mp3s I'm getting the following error.
We could not process your order. The sale of MP3 Downloads is currently available only to US customers located in the United States.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Im already using alwaysvpn and even verified with whatismyip to check that my vpn is working and Im using my US ip address.
Headache.. not sure whether to buy the gift card at all or not.
anyone else has the same problems recently?
We could not process your order. The sale of MP3 Downloads is currently available only to US customers located in the United States.
Any idea what went wrong?I just bought a gift card and also a alwaysvpn plan this morning to try out.
Thanks,
George
It is working ok now. I think it is due to the Singaporean billing address that is causing an issue so I went ahead to create another new account and after that the purchases which was paid with gift card, went thru ok. I think as a standard procedure when setting up a new account, there will be a need to enter credit card details first but can be deleted after that.
Thanks again,
George
I tried your method (using my company VPN) and managed to download a few songs from Amazon yesterday. However, when I tried the same method today, I got the message "We could not process your order. The sale of MP3 Downloads is currently available only to US customers located in the United States. "
Do you know what is causing this?
Thanks,
Andrew
Thanks for your quick reply.
I tested my company's VPN and it is working fine. I wonder if there is a possibility that Amazon has somehow found out that I am located outside the US.
Is AlwaysVPN a very user friendly programme to use? After installation, do you need to do any settings to your PC? How many songs on average does the 5GB (USD 8.50) VPN get you?
Have you tried the Nokia Music Store Singapore? How would that compare to Amazon if I want ransfer the songs to iTunes?
It's quite easy to use, and doesn't involve any settings to the PC.
The 5gb of bandwidth will last you forever because you're not going to actually utilise the bandwidth much, just at the point in time of clicking 'buy'. You'll download the songs using amazon's download software, and at this time, you can switch off your vpn, and download the songs normally.
Strange why Amazon still thinks I am out of the US. It worked perfectly fine yesterday.
I will give it a few days and try again. If it fails again, then I might give AlwaysVPN a try. Just hope that does not end in the same outcome if it is Amazon that is blocking me.
Thanks for your help anyway.
If it does, I think it makes sense to consider Kindle Fire in the future (bigger version of course).
I think the ipad is better if we're looking into LCD-based tablets...
I guess what you can do is using their option of giving the song to the recipient (yourself) instead. works for me
As for the reason why we can't buy music from Amazon, it has probably more to do with local regulations than Amazon...
Have you noticed that Singtel launched their music shop?! That would have been a shame to have to much competition before they started their own venture...
Another way to get music nowadays is through iTunes. There is a Singapore store now.
i chanced upon today's Amazon MP3 albums offers ($1.99) ... particularly keened on Led Zep CELEBRATION DAYS!
1) i already had a free VPN (HotSpot Shield ac)
2) i chose to create a new Amazon ac than to risk screwing up my present one. this new one specifically for MP3 purchases only.
3) registered for Cloud Player ac (just hantam US address as u would for US iTunes ac) and your local cc (initial fears of this being the giveaway were unfounded)
4) bot gift card (can choose any amt, i started with $10 in case cannot work lol) ... recipient email : my own
5) redeem gift card to my new amazon ac
6) DELETED MY LOCAL CC <>
7) so after step 6, only got US address left ... plus the gift redemption (which i at first couldn't locate lol)
8) bot my Led Zep album ... and finally found the link to my "View Gift Card Balance"which was right next to the "Manage Payment Options" link ! hahaha
so hope these helps those who still wondering if Jeff's method works since then ...
cheers
no show ...
luckily i CTRL C b4 posting lol
6) DELETED MY LOCAL CC
[Payment ... Manage Payment Options ... Delete]
cheers
Thanks Jeff (again)
jazz
BTW, wonder if you know Amazon Cloud Player (online) is available in Singapore. I tried to register an account, failed, so wonder if the service is not available in Singapore.
David
just in case anyone else has the same problem, can try turning off 1-click
whatever I do, i keep getting this
" We were unable to process your order with the current payment information. Please click 'Continue' to select a default payment method and 1-Click address"
Yes, I am getting the same message. So something must have changed.
"We were unable to process your order with the current payment information. Please click 'Continue' to select a default payment method and 1-Click address."
I tried using a proxy, entered a valid US address based on the proxy settings, and purchased a gift card. Sent the gift card and applied it to my account. My CC is of my local country since it requires a card setting for the 1-click.
When I tried to purchase, I got the above error.
Any ideas on how to make this work?
Just wanted to let you know that I tried a different proxy - for some reason mine had traces of Europe. Thanks.
You'll just have to remove all your existing Singapore addresses and credit cards details (setting default to us address and turning on and off the one-click etcetcetc just didnt work)
Using AlwaysVPN
Only 1 address left, that's comgateway.
No credit card
Using Gift Card
Same error, and when I went to google, google thinks I'm in Thailand.
Just can't buy songs from amazon anymore. GRRRR.
Check your IP address> http://www.iplocation.net/
I realised you don't actually need a VPN.
You just need to add an address, set it as the default address for payment, and make sure that no Singapore credit/debit card is tied to that address.
Then, use the gift card and it should work.