Fix NS_E_TRACK_DOWNLOAD_REQUIRES_PURCHASE (0XC00D135C) on Windows

1. The most common cause: you never bought the track — or your subscription ran out

I see this all the time. Someone tries to download a song they streamed years ago through Zune Pass, Groove Music Pass, or an old free trial. The file's metadata still points to a purchase requirement. The real fix is simple: check if you actually own it.

If you're using Windows Media Player (WMP) and you get this error, open the file's properties. Right-click the track in your library, choose Properties, then the Media Usage Rights tab. If it says "The file requires a license" or shows a purchase link, you don't own it outright. You probably accessed it through a subscription that expired.

I had a client last month who was trying to download a whole album from 2015. He thought he bought it, but it was from a Zune Pass trial. The tracks were still on his hard drive, but the DRM license had expired. We deleted them and he bought the album proper on Amazon MP3. No more error.

Fix: If you don't own it, buy the track or remove it from your library. Right-click > Delete. Don't just hide it — remove it so WMP stops trying to sync it.

2. DRM license corruption or missing license key

Sometimes you actually bought the track, but the license file is corrupted or missing. This happens more than you'd think. DRM licenses are small files stored in your Windows user profile. If they get deleted by a disk cleanup utility or a system restore, you're stuck.

For tracks bought through the old Windows Media Store (circa 2004-2010), the licenses are managed by the Windows Media Player DRM system. Here's how to try and recover them:

1. Open Windows Media Player
2. Press Alt to show the menu bar (if hidden)
3. Go to Tools > Options > Privacy tab
4. Check Download usage rights automatically when I play or sync a file
5. Try playing the track again. If it works, WMP will automatically fetch the license from Microsoft's servers — if they still exist. Spoiler: for old stores, they don't.

If that doesn't work, you can try the Manage Licenses button in the same window. Click it to back up your current licenses. But if the license is gone, there's no backup to restore. You'll need to re-download the track from a store that still supports it — or buy it again from a DRM-free source like Amazon or Bandcamp.

I've seen this exact issue with Windows 10 users who upgraded from Windows 7. The license files from 2009 just don't survive the migration. Don't waste time trying to resurrect them. Move on.

3. Windows Media Player sync or download queue stuck on a purchased track

This one's weird but real. You own the track, it plays fine on your PC, but when you try to sync it to a device or download it to another folder, you get the purchase error. It's a metadata glitch. The file's internal tags got corrupted or the sync database is holding onto an old purchase state.

The fix: Clear WMP's database and rescan the track.

1. Close Windows Media Player completely
2. Press Win + R, type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Media Player, hit Enter
3. Delete everything in that folder. Yes, everything. WMP will rebuild it.
4. Reopen WMP, let it scan your music library again
5. Right-click the problematic track, choose Edit, then Advanced Tag Editor
6. Go to the File Properties tab and uncheck Content Protected if it's checked. If it's grayed out, you can't change it — the file is DRM-protected.

If the track still won't let you download, strip the DRM by re-encoding it. Use a tool like FFmpeg (command line) or Audacity (if you can play it through a virtual audio cable). But I'll be honest: if you own it and already have a DRM-free backup, just delete the protected copy. It's not worth the hassle.

A client of mine had a whole album stuck like this. We ended up ripping it to CD (yes, a physical CD) using Windows Media Player's burn feature, then re-ripping it as MP3. That stripped the DRM clean and the error disappeared.

Quick-reference summary

Bottom line: the 0XC00D135C error almost always means the file isn't yours to download. Don't chase ghosts. Check ownership first, then DRM, then the database. Nine times out of ten, you're just trying to sync a track you never paid for.