Zune Pass adds 10 permanent downloads per month
One more detail about the latest Zune update: the Zune Pass, which costs $14.99 a month, is now going to allow users up to 10 permanent downloads per month. That's in addition to the unlimited downloads that expire if you stop paying your subscription. Think of it like an insurance policy for Zune Pass: if your Zune breaks and you decide to switch to another brand of MP3 player, you'll still get to keep some of the songs you downloaded.
Soon, you'll be able to get 10 permanent downloads a month with a Zune Pass, in addition to unlimited music as long as you keep paying $14.99 a month.
(Credit: Microsoft)I believe that Microsoft is the first company to offer free permanent downloads alongside unlimited temporary downloads. Subscription service eMusic does sell permanent downloads, but limits you to a certain number per month. Nokia's Comes With Music might offer more bang for your downloading buck, as it allows you to keep all of the songs you've downloaded during a one-year period. But those songs are DRM-protected, limited to your phone and one PC, and can't be burned to CD. In contrast, Zune's music catalog is about 85 percent MP3s. (Microsoft also announced that it's added songs from Universal Music and Sony BMG to its MP3 catalog, along with Warner, EMI, and a lot of indies.) This means a lot of the Zune permanent downloads will be completely unrestricted.
Is all this going to be enough to wrest some market share from the iPod, or even help Microsoft overtake number-two SanDisk in the MP3 player space? Probably not this year. But given that the Zune devices are just the first shot in a long-term plan to become a major digital audio and video distributor, I'm not betting against Microsoft. Look how long the company was willing to spend money on the Xbox business before it became a real player in console gaming.
Matt Rosoff is an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, where he covers Microsoft's consumer products and corporate news. He's written about the technology industry since 1995, and reviewed the first Rio MP3 player for CNET.com in 1998. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network. Disclosure.
While a step in the right direction, I'd rather be able to own copies all the songs I choose to download. I can see, however, where people who listen to a lot of music might find this worthwhile, and $14.99 a month isn't too bad.
Oh yea, I still like Sansa models running rockbox better right now.
How is this good news? One is going to pay $15 a month for only 10 songs when the entire CD which cost 5.00 less everywhere else has more than 10 songs.
Bring the price down to $9.99 Mircosoft... the cost of your competitors.
Then buy the individual songs you want iTunes, Amazon, eMusic they all sell songs individually, and for the same $15.00 you would be spending at Microsoft you get a lot more than 10 songs.
How is it a bonus to spend more and get less?
the bonus is you don't always know what 2 songs you like.
With a subscription, you can explore all you want without having to buy each track to find out, then buy (or now keep) the ones you want.
If you want an equivalent experience from iTunes, you need to spend 3-4 million dollars.
This way, you get more and spend less.
You pay $15.00 a month.
You have access to all the same music you would through, say, iTunes or Amazon.
You then pick individual songs, or whole albums to download to your computer, and then onto your Zune.
You can listen to these tracks through Windows Media Player or Zune software on your computer, up to 5 computers, I believe, and 3 Zunes. And since you can download instead of streaming (which is an option as well), you won't be left without music when your wifi's out.
The only thing you cannot do with these tracks is burn them to a CD or other mp3 players, and if you decide to cancel your subscription, the song's drm will lock you out from listening to them (Think of the subscription as a lease, and at the end of it, if you don't pay up, you have to turn it back in).
BUT, now, you pay the same $15.00 a month, AND they'll let you have 10 of those songs each month to keep forever! No drm. You can burn those 10 to CD, or put them on any device or computer.
How is this NOT a great deal? If you only get a few songs a month, or do not care to own a Zune, then this bonus will not sway you. But for those of us who download about 20 songs or more a month, this is GREAT. I understand that if you buy the whole album through Amazon, or somewhere else, it is cheaper. But most people don't like or want every song on an album. So that is a null point for most. Plus, this is a legal alternative to try to get people who download tons of songs through p2p over to the good side; if any of you are one of those people, I'm sure that you can spare the 15 bucks a month.
For the avid music listener, a subscription is a godsend. It's got all the songs one could ever want. I can take them anywhere with my Zune, my laptop, or now burn a few to a CD for my stereo that lacks an Aux input. Plus the Zune software has a great interface. And it's legal :)
*Sorry it's a bit long! Hope this puts things in perspective for anyone still trying to figure all this stuff out though!
It's clear from your column (both the content and that you write one at all) that your tastes do not run to what's in constant rotation on the radio. I'm the same way, so it would seem that a subsription service would be an ideal solution for me, at least in terms of variety. My problem with them is ethical. I have no idea what portion of the fee goes to artists in general, and the artists whose songs I download and listen to the most in particular. I fear it would be minuscule.
I've searched in vain for an answer. The closest I've found is a reply from Weird Al to a question regarding how much he gets from CD sales versus downloads. He prefaced his answer by saying that he appreciates when someone purchases his music in whatever form they prefer, but since the person was asking, he said he received the most from CD sales. He didn't address subscription plans.
I'd appreciate if you could address the issue of licensing - and how much of the listener's money goes to which artist by which method - in a future column. If you've already addressed it, please just point me in the right direction.
Thanks for the (extremely) informative and entertaining read.
Rob Campbell
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by goodspeed8701
November 20, 2008 1:04 PM PST
- Its just a bonus for those who loves subscription. Apple ******* always you have only one choice with Zune market place, try it and you will find out that you can buy a single sone for $0.74 and you can subscribe for all you can eat and keep eating 10 songs after your subscription expire. I sold my Ipod for Zune pass subscription and its a good deal.
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