Previously Purchased Music

[shhardyme]

Sorry if this has been answered already. My searching didn't really find an answer.

I'll be getting an iPad 2 by 4/7 (already ordered) and in preparation, I've been downloading apps, etc. to iTunes getting ready to sync when Tab arrives. In an email I received today I discovered I have credit left in an iTunes account from 2004.

My question is, can I recover those songs that I previously purchased? They were on a different computer that is long dead and gone.

Thanks for any help.

 

[twerppoet]

No, sorry.

Unfortunately music is not like apps. You can't download it again without paying. Apple is rumored to be in negotiations with music labels to make it possible to buy music once and download it forever, but for now it's 'you lose it, it's gone.'

After hanging out here for a while and hearing several sad stories about lost music, I finally shelled out the money for a new backup drive. My old one had been dead for more than a year.

 

[wnaylor]

Don't forget that you can also back up purchased music on CDs (in iTunes) as well as DVD. Back them up on CDs or DVDs because even external hard drives fail. Un less you lose the CDs or DVDs they will last you practically forever.

 

[twerppoet]

The last time I looked, and it was a while ago, the standard CD had an estimated life span of about 10 years. When CD's were considered 'the' backup solution they were selling premium CD's that had estimated lifespans up to 50 years. The difference was in the backing materials, I believe.

Even plastic degrades eventually.

Hard drive are riskier in a way, because it's all there so you lose it all. That is why you use it strictly as a backup, not an off computer storage device. The odds are that you won't lose both at the same time. The advantages are speed of backup, and not having to sit around swapping out disks all day.

It should also be noted that there is a trend away from CD's and DVD's as recording media. While they may last longer than you expect to live, you could easily find yourself in the same boat as the guy with a box of 8-tracks. Perfectly good music that you can't get to.