Error C101A9CA occurs when playing a song or a video

Note As of November 15, 2015, the Zune service has been discontinued. This may cause errors when attempting to stream or download content or update the service.

You see the following error when you try to play a song or a video:

C101A9CA

This may mean that your account is already streaming Zune Music Pass music on a different device or product.

Your Zune Music Pass lets you stream unlimited music from Zune Marketplace. You can download Zune Music Pass songs to computers and sync them with your Windows Phone 7 or Zune player. However, you can only stream Zune Music Pass music using one device or product at a time.

To resolve this problem, you will need access to the device that’s already streaming. Try the following to stream Zune Music Pass music on your current device or product:

1. Identify the device or product that’s already streaming music. This can be your Windows Phone 7, Xbox 360 console, the Zune software on your computer, or a Zune player.
2. On that device, start playing any non-rights-protected (that is, DRM-free) media, such as a song in the MP3 format. This frees up Zune Music Pass streaming for another device.
3. Return to your current device and start playing Zune Music Pass music.

If you don’t have any DRM-free media or can’t access the device that’s already streaming, you’ll have to wait until the end of the song or playlist that is running, which could take a few minutes for a song or several hours if it’s a long playlist.