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Overdrive phasing out WMA format
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John, Moderator
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Apr 19, 2015 09:17PM
My library has made an official announcement of this, to the effect that those titles should be gone entirely by next month. As they're incompatible with android, and suddenly, mysteriously became pretty much so with (my) Sansa Clip a few months ago, I won't miss them much, even if some publishers refuse to go mp3.
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Hallelujah. WMAs seem to be incompatible with pretty much everything these days.
Can't happen soon enough. I hope my library system is moving in the same direction.
Glad to hear it! I went to download the Unwind audiobook and it's only in WMA format where the rest of my Overdrive audiobooks are not, and it's incompatible with my listening program too. Very annoying. Hopefully my library follows suit!
blah - I like WMA - been using it for years on my itouch via the overdrive app - no issues with listening - I find MP3 a pain in the patookis
WMA has been a constant source of irritation for me with iOS devices. Even the WMA books which my library's catalog lists as "Transfer to Apple Device: Permitted" still won't download to my iPhone or iPod Touch for listening via the Overdrive App; maybe it's something to do with the software my library uses, Download Destination? I can listen to the Transfer permitted WMAs if I use the Overdrive Media Console to get them into iTunes first, but that requires leaving iTunes in a weird mode ("Manually Manage Music"). I won't be sorry to see the end of WMA at my library.
I prefer WMA as the books were filed as "audiobooks" rather than music on my ipod and thus I could play them at a faster speed. The MP3 come in as "music" and a faster speed doesn't seem to be available. But all new items on my library's overdrive are MP3 - sigh.
You can change the type in itunes. I'm not sure if you can do so directly on the iPod or not.
Sandy wrote: "I prefer WMA as the books were filed as "audiobooks" rather than music on my ipod and thus I could play them at a faster speed. The MP3 come in as "music" and a faster speed doesn't seem to be avai..."Your iPod can't play WMA files. They have to be converted--which the OverDrive Media Console did manage to do in cooperation with iTunes. I prefer to play WMA files on my Sansa Clip player--mostly because they are smaller files and easier to download on my marginal internet connection. I think the fact that OverDrive just wants MP3 files is one of the reasons that fewer audiobooks are now available--I have several library memberships and none of them are adding many new audiobooks--certainly fewer than they did before this new change took effect. So while the Apple users are happy that all of the files that they see are compatible, the rest of us are not so pleased because there are fewer titles overall.
i play WMA files on my ipod all the time - transferring via the overdrive app - been doing it for several years now
Janet wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I prefer WMA as the books were filed as "audiobooks" rather than music on my ipod and thus I could play them at a faster speed. The MP3 come in as "music" and a faster speed doesn't s..."Janet, like Dee I have been playing WMA files on my two ipod nano's (generations 4 and 7) 'forever'. I load them up via Overdrive.
I have noticed the reduction in audio books on the two library sites I use. I have blamed it, without any facts, on pricing. There was a lot of talk a while back of usage conflict with digital books (ebooks and audio) between libraries and publishers. For example, the number of times a book could be checked out before a new copy had to be bought.
J, I will explore designating CD's as audiobooks on iTunes. I tried it once and it still went to music, but I didn't try to listen at a faster speed. This won't help with books I get via Overdrive as I prefer the simplicity of going directly from Overdrive to ipod, without iTunes.
And I sure hope the libraries start getting more audio books, either format!
my understanding re: less books being available - several publishers are no longer opting to offer books in general via overdrive - but libraries have the option to purchase CD's
Dee wrote: "my understanding re: less books being available - several publishers are no longer opting to offer books in general via overdrive - but libraries have the option to purchase CD's"Yes, the latest Maisie Dobbs was available on CD a month or more before Overdrive and How To Train Your Dragon #11 made it to Overdrive around a year after publication.
WMA format has been completely useless to me. I've got a plain-vanilla mp3 player and no ability to convert WMAs to a useable format and transfer them to my player. It's either tether myself to my laptop and listen to the WMA audio via the Overdrive console or just forget the whole thing.
YEAH!!!! WMA is a pain. I am not a big OVERDRIVE fan. But with them phasing out WMA there will be better selections to get from my library.OVERDRIVE is a pain in my Desktop. If just one little glitch happens on my computer, I can't listen to WMA on my Desktop while do other stuff.
I'm glad they are finally phasing out the WMAs. I cannot play them on my Android phone, only on my SanDisk Sansa Fuze but I like to listen to audios while at working using my phone. I have to do it the hard way by removing the DRM, convert to MP3, then send to Dropbox so I can get them to play via Smart Audiobook Player on my phone. What a pain!
OverDrive announced this in Jan 2014. In the nearly year and a half since then, WMA collections at my libraries have shrunk from 25~30% of the available titles to 11~19%. They still have a ways to go.
I'm waiting for the Anne McCaffrey stuff to go MP3. She has a lot of good books...
