Google Music limits device de-authorizations to 4 a year

A bit of a wet blanket has been tossed onto Google Music recently. We're not exactly sure when this policy went into effect (but we're pretty sure it's been a recent change), but you can now only de-authorize four devices from Google Music per year. (You can still have a total of 10 authorized to play.) This is one of those situations that generally wouldn't affect your "normal" user who has one or two phones, and maybe a tablet, and doesn't go around swapping devices every few weeks.

We are not your normal user. And chances are a good percentage of Google Music users aren't "normal" users either, flashing ROMs and what not. (As a side note: Having a rooted device has nothing to do with any of this, headlines to the contrary.) That leaves some of us in a bit of a pickle. That's my authorized device list above. Somehow I've managed to get two Logitech Revues authorized, even though I only have one, which needs to be hard-reset every few weeks because it's a piece of crap that likes to forget it has certain applications installed. (The latest app to fall victim to my Revue's disappearing act -- wait for it -- was Google Music.) So not only do I have two Revues listed and can't de-authorize either of them, I'll be stuck with the Revue as an authorized device if and when Google releases something new later this year. (I'm still expecting an announcement of some sort at Google IO.)

I don't blame Google here. Online music still is a ridiculously overcomplicated endeavor, thanks to the record labels. (And it's second only to online video streaming.) But, obviously, this won't do. Because I shan't be using this Revue any longer than necessary, and phones don't last forever.

So is it back to Amazon for me? Or back to local music? 

More: Google Music support page; Thanks, @anthonok, for pointing this one out

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