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7 Votes
14 Comments
Microsoft's next Apple price attack: Zune Pass vs iTunes - Ars Technica
News Type: Opinion — Seeded on Tue May 12, 2009 12:30 AM EDT
Article Source: Ars Technicaadvertisement
As of November 2008, the Zune Pass allows its users to keep any 10 songs per month. In other words, if you wanted 30,000 songs for keeps, just like the iTunes Store, you would have to wait 250 years. The cost would be a whopping $45,000, however. In other words, it's only really worth it if you're OK with the fact that you have to keep paying the monthly fee to keep access to the songs that you don't yet own. Otherwise, iTunes (or any other à la carte model) is the way to go.
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{"commentId":7023134,"authorDomain":"tcervo"}
And, of course, the ad completely ignores the fact you can put your *own* music on your music player...No subscription or download fees necessary. Still, If I'm buying new music i'll take pay as you go from eMusic, Amazon, or even iTunes...and actually OWN the music forever, than continue to shell out $15/month to rent music that will disappear once I stop paying.
{"commentId":7023134,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"tcervo"}
- 3 votes
#1 - Tue May 12, 2009 12:34 AM EDT{"commentId":7024773,"authorDomain":"janeway77"}
"leasing" your music requires DRM junk.
And that means disaster. Just ask folks that bought DRM "subscription" content from providers that went belly up.
{"commentId":7024773,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"janeway77"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Tue May 12, 2009 2:51 AM EDT{"commentId":7028552,"authorDomain":"tcervo"}
Exactly...and at a time when everyone else is ditching DRM, it's going to (continue to) be a tough sell.
{"commentId":7028552,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"tcervo"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":7029142,"authorDomain":"Doc"}
How is this different than paying $12/month for XM Radio. Personally I like the idea of a monthly subscription to listen to what I want. Netflix has subscription to watch what you want when you want it. Why not music too?
{"commentId":7029142,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"Doc"}
- 1 vote
#3 - Tue May 12, 2009 11:32 AM EDT{"commentId":7030256,"authorDomain":"masternav"}
If "listening" to it is all you want to do, then yes it is a functional subscription "radio" model - without the attendant ads. If you want to "own" the music, then subscription is a less desireable solution. The question is always - which is more important, simply listening to the music, or owning it for repetitive use - that determines the best model for your own use. Now looking at the available models, there are very few demonstrably successful music subscription models (successful meaning both subscriber-friendly AND profitable for the provider). There are however a wider selection of buy-to-own music models that can be considered successful (against criteria noted previously). The Netflix model however is oriented towards video/movie provisioning, which is delivery of a more expensive media source - notably movies. One of the reasons they are successful is that it very expensive to watch all the movies that interest you at the theater. This is simply not true in the case of music, because recorded music, while occasionally a live-concert recording, is not uniformly so. The music recording industry, in segmenting music as it has and fragmenting its delivery, has created a much different demand profile than that for the video/movie industry. Cost of production as well differs widely between video/movie and music. So the demand for music is much different, and available through many sources, than that of video/movie content. Thus trying to make a direct comparison between Netflix and music sourcing models doesn't reflect on these key differences.
{"commentId":7030256,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"masternav"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":7031230,"authorDomain":"tcervo"}
It's very different from an XM Radio subscription...
All of my music is owned by me...it's either been ripped from CD or purchased at eMusic, Amazon, or iTunes. If I want to listen to a specific song, right now, I can. You can't do that with XM Radio. If I want to make a specific playlist for a party (or roadtrip, or workout, or whatever,) I can...you can't so that with XM Radio.
If I were "renting" my music, then for whatever reason had to stop paying the $15/month...then I'd no longer have any music. Not so with pay-as-you-go.
{"commentId":7031230,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"tcervo"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7032377,"authorDomain":"checkerbattery"}
Provided the "owned" music is 100% DRM free (I don't know if it is or not) then the Zune pass is a no-brainer. Why would you not want to download 1000 songs you're not sure you want to keep forever, then after a month, decide which ones you want to keep and which ones you don't. If you want more than the standard 10 then just buy them the way you normally would. If you're someone who's always looking for new and different stuff, spending $15 a month is so much better than just spending your money and taking your chances on stuff you may never listen to again. On the other hand if you're the 40 year old dude who only wants to listen to his same old Van Halen and Led Zeppelin then this probably isn't a service that appeals to you.
The key is DRM free though. There's no way I'm paying for any music in any way that's DRM'ed. No way, no how. That's why I only buy music from Amazon or rip my own.
How is this different than paying $12/month for XM Radio.
What if after each month you could logon to XM.com and pick any ten songs you listened to that month, then download them for free? What if you could dictate the artists you wanted to hear next month? That's the difference. If XM announced this kind of deal for $15/month people would be going ape-scat, and rightly so. Personally I'm not sure I could find 10 songs a month I'd want to pay for but I understand why there are many who would.
{"commentId":7032377,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"checkerbattery"}
- 1 vote
#4 - Tue May 12, 2009 1:35 PM EDT{"commentId":7032797,"authorDomain":"tcervo"}
If you're someone who's always looking for new and different stuff, spending $15 a month is so much better than just spending your money and taking your chances on stuff you may never listen to again. On the other hand if you're the 40 year old dude who only wants to listen to his same old Van Halen and Led Zeppelin then this probably isn't a service that appeals to you.
I find new stuff all the time, no subscription needed. I can preview any song before buying, on any service: eMusic, Amazon, iTunes, etc. I've found tons of new artists and songs, and downloaded those that sounded interesting. Sorry, but I don't think your example holds up...
{"commentId":7032797,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"tcervo"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":7036739,"authorDomain":"checkerbattery"}
Listening to a few seconds of a preview is not the same as listening to a new song on your player, anywhere, any time you want for a month at a time.
Maybe you only need 15 seconds to decide if you love a song and want to throw down your money but I'd rather take my time to get to know it and then determine if it's something I think is worth actually owning. And who knows, after a month I may be sick of it and never want to hear it again. Sorry, as much as you personally want to hate it, my example is apt.
{"commentId":7036739,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"checkerbattery"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7039725,"authorDomain":"tcervo"}
Well, after many years of listening to 15 second clips, or actually hearing the entire song first at a club, on the radio, at a friend's house, etc...I can say that there have been very, very few times I've purchased a song that I wish I hadn't.
{"commentId":7039725,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"tcervo"}
{"commentId":7048409,"authorDomain":"checkerbattery"}
Good for you.
{"commentId":7048409,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"checkerbattery"}
{"commentId":7064211,"authorDomain":"STatWar"}
Checker tell the truth; are you, in fact, Steve Ballmer?
You seem to have an irrational hatred for all things Apple and an unexplainable love for all things Microsoft.
{"commentId":7064211,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"STatWar"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":7052150,"authorDomain":"masternav"}
For the record, it is generally not what our personal preferences are, but what model the majority of the music-using population is inclined to use. We can cite examples of buying: LPs versus 45s, cassettes versus 8track, CD versus cassette, recording off radio versus buying the song, streaming versus download. I can download boatloads of free music from a number of sources (both "licit" and "illicit" if you will) with and without DRM. But in the end it doesn't matter so much what I do if my tastes and preferences are not reflective of the mainstream market. But then I don't either validate my preferences against the mainstream, no do I attribute my preferences as being reflective of the mainstream. Looking at the numbers (carefully, knowing that statistics are slippery critters at best), I'd say that iTunes, right, wrong or indifferent has the majority of the mainstream using it. Until the mainstream decides on another model to replace it - it becomes the elephant in the ballroom. The critical question is, can Microsoft create enough market interest to build a diversion from iTunes (or failing that, at least from all other sources) to gain mainstream acceptance. That's it. Speculatively however, the initial introduction of the Zune environment has yet to gain significant market foothold against iTunes. The subscription model has been tried and found wanting, and unless Microsoft has discovered a way to breath life and interest into it that others have failed to do, it will not garner the success that Microsoft is looking for to rival iTunes.
{"commentId":7052150,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"masternav"}
- 2 votes
#5 - Wed May 13, 2009 12:06 PM EDT{"commentId":7058039,"authorDomain":"ruthlessmoose"}
Only reason I have a zune vs an ipod is the zune was cheaper.... way cheaper. They both would fill the same purpose for me, tons of music, videos and pics. I got a 30 gig zune for $100 on a black friday sale while the ipod equivalent is still $250. Zune has an FM tuner which I do use so that's a little bonus. If verizon IS really going to support the iphone and it has at least a 30 gig harddrive for the ipod part... and I can afford it lol.... I might just have to switch to itunes. As far as the price of the music itself...... I just prefer to illegaly pirate all my music from the internets. LOL
{"commentId":7058039,"threadId":"576332","contentId":"2806157","authorDomain":"ruthlessmoose"}
- 1 vote
#6 - Wed May 13, 2009 3:54 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"576332","isPrivate":false}
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