About 14 months ago, my brother and I each got Zunes. And sometimes, when we get together, we would share some music we thought the other would like. In the beginning, it would be rare for me to try sending a song from Zune Pass to my brother (who also has Zune Pass) and receive a message that I can't send the track due to media restrictions. Over time, this has changed, and not for the better.

Obviously, songs that MP3s straight out of my collection get sent to his Zune with no problems. However, yesterday, five tracks that I picked to send to him failed with the "media restrictions" message. All were Zune Pass tracks. All of them are songs he himself could download. So why can't I send them to him (since they would expire after 3 plays anyway)?

A co-worker also purchased a Zune. We'll rarely swap tracks, but the past couple of times, I have had issues doing so because of the restriction message. Why is one of the Zune's most touted features being crippled in this manner? And these aren't all Top 40 bands I'm talking about here. A sample of the bands I had trouble with are: Alkaline Trio, Black Rebel Motorcyle Club, and Paramore. What would be nice is that, if I can't send a track to another Zune user, I could at least send some kind of information with a link to download or preview the track so he remembers the band I was trying to tell him about.

What has your experience been like with Zune to Zune sharing? Am I just happening to select the "wrong" bands or is this a much more widespread issue?