About two years ago, I opened up an URGE subscription account. $15 per month for an all-you-can-eat music service was too good to pass up. About a year ago, when I bought my Zune, I closed my URGE subscription account and that was that.
Today, I got an e-mail from URGE. "Odd," I thought to myself, since URGE is basically ceasing to exist because they’re "teaming up" with Rhapsody. I opened the mail, and it was basically giving me the run-down of the merger with Rhapsody.
The email indicates that I’m a current URGE By The Track member, which I’m really not. I never outright bought a song, I only used the URGE Subscription service. It also says that on October 25 (yep, that’s today, thanks for the heads up), my account will be converted into a Rhapsody 25 account. Blah blah blah, boilerplate, marketing drivel, oh, and, by the way, we’ve transferred your credit card information over to Rhapsody.
What?! You’ve given my credit card information to Rhapsody without me opting in to do so?
To be fair, I read their Privacy Policy and they classify credit cards as Sensitive Personal Information, and they reserve the right to disclose Sensitive Personal Information to 3rd parties in the event of a merger, bankruptcy, etc.
So, by the letter of their policy, they’re in the clear; but, this just seems wrong, dirty, and shameful. I was never a URGE By The Track member and I haven’t been a subscriber to URGE in over a year. Another irritating thing is that they don’t tell you what to do in the event that you don’t want to be a Rhapsody 25 account holder. Now I have to dig through Rhapsody’s site to figure that mess out.
So I jump over to Rhapsody’s site, click on "My Account", which prompts me for a username and password. I don’t have one of those, so I click on the "Forgot your password" link. Punch in the email address, and I’m greeted with:
Great. Now Rhapsody has my credit card number that’s not associated with any account, seemingly. Wonderful, and brilliant. Now I have to call Rhapsody. Note to self: that number is 866-597-5465.
Click through for the full mail.
To: Marius Strom
From: URGE Customer Care <customercare@mtv.chtah.com>
Subject: Important News About Your URGE AccountIMPORTANT NEWS ABOUT YOUR URGE ACCOUNT
Dear Marius Strom,
We are writing to inform you about an important upcoming change to your URGE digital music service. As you might have heard, URGE has teamed up with Rhapsody to bring you an unparalleled digital music entertainment experience. The new Rhapsody unites RealNetworks’ #1 digital music service with URGE’s rich music programming, editorial and discovery features.
As a current URGE By The Track member, your account will be automatically transferred to a Rhapsody 25 account on Thursday, October 25th. What does this mean for your account?
- Any URGE funds balance you have remaining will be transferred over to Rhapsody.
- You can listen to 25 songs for free every month on your computer.
- Your credit card information has been transferred to Rhapsody.
- You can buy tracks and albums on Rhapsody.
- Beginning on Friday, October 26th, you will no longer be able to access URGE.
With Rhapsody, you will continue to enjoy:
Unlimited access to millions of songs from thousands of artists, personalized playlists, customizable radio stations, original editorials and blogs from some of the best minds in music and much more.
What happens next?
Your Rhapsody membership will be governed by an updated Terms of Service agreement, available here.
We thank you for your membership and look forward to continuing to provide you with the music you want at Rhapsody. Please visit us at www.rhapsody.com.
– Your friends at URGE