MSN Music utanför Zune?

Postat: 2006-07-24 kl. 02.10

I en intervju med Chris Stephenson, som är general manager för marknadsföring av MSN Entertainment Business, säger han att Zunes butik inte är en nylansering av MSN Music vilket kan ge ganska intressanta konsekvenser:

Left hanging in all this is the fate of the existing MSN Music service. According to Stephenson, Zune is not a relaunch of the MSN service, but rather a new branded service altogether. While he says Microsoft will continue to support the service, it won't be included in the Zune advertising efforts.

With all the company's resources focused on Zune, it appears likely MSN Music will be left to die on the vine.

Billboard.biz Zune Gets in the Ring (2006-07-29)

Microsoft har fortfarande inte bekräftat att den nya spelaren kommer fungera med deras PlaysForSure-strategi och när CNet frågar Microsofts tidigare samarbetspartners (inklusive MTV:s Urge) om Zune kommer vara kompatibel med deras tjänster så svävar alla på målet:

One of the big question marks surrounding Zune is whether any Microsoft music service will work with all of the third-party players out there, such as the Clix and devices from Samsung, Creative and others. Also unclear is whether rival music services, such as Urge, RealNetworks' Rhapsody and Napster, will work with Microsoft's upcoming player.

An MTV Networks representative said the company couldn't say what if any role MTV and Urge would play with Zune.

"We're talking with Microsoft on a number of levels and we can't comment on those discussions at this time," the representative said. The representative said MTV is committed to "nurture and evolve" Urge, which it says has received a positive response since launching in test form two months ago. Urge is built into Windows Media Player 11, with the software available as a download for Windows XP, and it will be an integrated part of Windows Vista when it ships next year.

Dana Harris, a spokeswoman for Napster, said the company isn't worried about competing with Microsoft. "We've held our position as the No. 2 service through the launch of MSN and Urge and a host of others," she said. As far as any device goes, Harris said Napster would welcome a cool product that works with its service, but declined to comment on whether the Zune player would, in fact, work with Napster.

A RealNetworks representative declined to comment.

C|Net Microsoft's Zune to rival Apple's iPod (2006-07-21)

Det kan alltså innebära att musik köpt, eller prenumererad på, med någon av de tjänster Microsoft märkt med PlaysForSure för att man ska vara helt säker på att de ska fungera med alla deras produkter inte kommer PlayAtAll i Zune.

Till och med musik från MSN Music alltså. Och om ryktena som gör gällande att de kommer ersätta den musik som köpts i iTMS när man köper en Zune, genom att köpa dem åt konsumenten en gång till, så kommer det vara bättre att ens musik inte PlaysAtAll än PlaysForSure.

(Äh. Jag är trött. Det där var inte roligt. Jag märker det själv. Jag tar inte bort det ändå. Trots att jag egentligen inte ens tror på att de skulle överge PlaysForSure-strategin helt, med tanke på hur mycket de snackat upp den genom åren. Det vore evil.)