Having in frustration and annoyance closed my Amazon account two weeks ago, I've opened a new one with them. (Interestingly, they treated me as a completely new customer. My old account had truly been wiped off their system)
I'd set up an account with iTunes, but had not got on well with the Apple way of doing things - and, once apparently set up, I wasn't able to purchase any music! Maybe they needed a few days to check me out as an OK new customer, but whatever it was, I didn't enjoy my initial reception. And I didn't relish trying iTunes later, hoping to get lucky next time. There was also the uncertainty of whether any track bought from iTunes would be playable as-bought on my Samsung music-playing app, once transferred to my Android phone. And if I had to reformat the track first, that would be another tedious step in an already-unattractive rigmarole.
The Amazon option seemed simpler. But not done from my phone. This time around, I'd purchase the mp3 track from my laptop, using Amazon's Windows website, and not with the app I'd formerly had on my phone. Then, once downloaded, I'd then move the track to my phone, where it should play at once.
There was something else. It occurred to me that very occasionally I'd bought other small things from Amazon. The odd book; the odd battery; the odd SD card. It would be silly not to have an account for any future purchases.
But guess what. A test purchase immediately after setting up the new Amazon account didn't go through!
Hah. I shall check my new account details for any error, and give Amazon a couple of days to check me out, then try again.
None of this is endearing me to online shopping with Amazon. It's just confirming my growing prejudice against them. But it's clear that if I want to buy mp3 tracks to download and keep forever, I've got to persevere.
Same day sequel
After a bit more tinkering, I got Amazon's 'one-click' purchasing method set up, and lo! successfully bought another mp3 track. Yippee.
Downloading to my laptop was another issue. How?
In the end, I saw that the simple thing to do was to visit the My Orders section of my Amazon account, where there was a download button to click on. Which I did, and behold! a zipped music file appeared in the Downloads folder on my laptop's Desktop. Unzipping that, I cut-and-pasted the contents into the Music folder on my phone. And voila! the Samsung Music app played it. Truly wondrous.
So I now have a way of buying more mp3 tracks to keep. And the phone isn't defiled with an Amazon app. Only my laptop.
I have a shortlist of further purchases, but one track is enough for the moment.
And iTunes? Uninstalled from my laptop. I removed my credit card details first, even though I'd bought nothing and signed up to nothing. I have grown wary and distrustful.
