Ina Fried reports for CNET News, “Microsoft plans to follow Apple…”
MacDailyNews Take: What else is new?
Fried continues, “…in selling unprotected songs from EMI, though the company won’t say just when such tracks will appear on the Zune Marketplace store.”
MacDailyNews Take: All sixteen Zune owners rejoice! You get to wait for Microsoft to poorly imitate something Apple’s already done. Again. Hope certainly springs eternal for the delusional.
Fried continues, “When CEO Steve Jobs issued his open letter calling for an end to DRM, Microsoft said the total abolition of such protections would be irresponsible, since they are needed for subscription music and other new business models. However, the software maker said Wednesday that it does plan to offer DRM-free music from EMI and others.”
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft being hypocritical? Say it ain’t so, Joe, er, Ina.
Fried continues, “‘We’ve been saying for a while that we are aware that consumers want to have unprotected content,’ said Zune marketing director Jason Reindorp. Reindorp said he did not have a time frame for when unprotected songs will be added to the store.”
MacDailyNews Take: He doesn’t have a time frame because he’s a B.S. artist who’s stalling for time with a device and a music service that nobody with more than two brain cells to rub together wants and who seems to have no plan for next week, much less next year. Paint it pink, Jason, maybe you can find sixteen girls to go along with the sixteen Zune-owning IT guys that you’ve already racked up.
Fried continues, “‘This does open things up a little bit,’ Reindorp said. ‘It potentially makes the competition more on a device-to-device or service-to-service basis. It will force the various services to really innovate.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Dude, you work for Microsoft. Chance of innovation: 0%.
Fried continues, “Microsoft, meanwhile, is set to kick off a second wave of advertising for the Zune, which has grabbed the No. 2 spot among hard drive-based music players but has seen its share slip slightly in recent weeks. The company had an 8.8 percent retail share of the hard drive-based market in February, according to NPD, down from 9.9 percent a month earlier.”
MacDailyNews Take: Again, pretty numbers that mean nothing. NPD does not report sales from Apple Retail Stores, the Apple Store online, Wal-Mart, or Amazon, among others. Add those massive iPod sales in and, in reality, Microsoft’s share of the hard drive-based digital music player market is much smaller than NPD’s number. In fact, of all digital music players, including flash-based, Zune had only 2.8% using NPD’s December numbers that, again, that do not include sales from Apple Retail Stores, the Apple Store online, Wal-Mart, Amazon, etc. NPD market share numbers are only useful in showing trends; Microsoft Zune is trending down.
Fried continues, “The software maker is also expanding its palette of hues for the Zune. A baby pink Zune shade is set to debut early next month, while a watermelon red version is slated for summer. ‘People are responding so well to the colors,’ Reindorp said. ‘We’re having a lot of fun playing and experimenting with them.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft’s playing with colors, while Apple’s dealing them the death blow.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Bob R.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
BusinessWeek: Apple-backed AAC format beating Microsoft’s proprietary WMA in music standards war – April 05, 2007
Apple’s DRM-free iTunes play trumps Microsoft’s huge bet on DRM – April 02, 2007
Apple: Higher quality 256 kbps AAC DRM-free music on iTunes Store coming in May – April 02, 2007
Microsoft paints Zune pink in desperate bid to increase anemic sales – March 22, 2007
Buh-bye: Senior Zune exec exits Microsoft – January 31, 2007
Last quarter: Microsoft lost $289 million on Zune, CE devices – January 26, 2007
NPD: Apple iPod held 72% share of PMP market in December; Microsoft Zune had 2.8% share – January 21, 2007
RealMoney’s Comeau predicts: ‘Microsoft will kill the first Zune media player by midyear’ – December 16, 2006
Zune: Welcome to the social isolation – December 11, 2006
Thurrott reviews Microsoft Zune: ‘a joke, a travesty, I can’t imagine what they were thinking’ – November 28, 2006
Ihnatko: Microsoft Zune experience about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face – November 24, 2006
TheStreet.com: It’s not looking good for Microsoft’s Zune; bad press may taint brand for years – November 24, 2006
Microsoft’s Zune selling like snotcakes – November 15, 2006
Engadget: Microsoft’s Zune software: ‘It sucks’ – November 13, 2006
BusinessWeek: ‘By this time next year, Microsoft’s Zune will be considered a dismal failure’ – November 10, 2006
Forbes: Microsoft’s Zune stinks; like ‘Microsoft Bob,’ only more embarrassing – November 09, 2006
Thurrott on Microsoft’s Zune: ‘The makings of a disaster, what the heck are these people thinking?’ – September 29, 2006
First post, flush the Zune thang.
The history of personal computing, and digital music for that matter, all summed up in five little words!
“Microsoft plans to follow Apple…”
How do people working at Microsoft sleep at night?
Ambien and whiskey.
I just love how they announce things for Microsoft like they thought of it first. NOT!!!!!!!!
Microsoft on a full out copy whatever Apple does routine only they do it so badly.
Microsoft are (even more) screwed with this, wma is effectively dead (more so – if possible) retailers will have the choice of wma, mp3 or aac. wma (quality aside) won’t work on the iPod so why would a retailer use it? mp3 will pretty much work on everything and aac will work on iPods and an increasing number of other devices. Retailers will choose mp3 or aac, mp3 has a higher level of compatibility which will eventually be negligible and aac is smaller so saves on bandwidth and storage for everyone. Once microsoft lose control of those non-Apple retailers selling digital music, what will they have? The Zune… Exactly.
What future?
The difference is that MS will make their offerings at about 23 different bitrates and 15 different prices. Of course MS points will be used so that will make it even LESS confusing.
Has anyone seen anyone else with a Pru-err-Zune?
I’ve seen estimates that MS sold as few as 100,000 Zunes during the first calendar quarter of 2007. If that is indeed the case, that would be even more pathetic than any of us could have imagined.
Why are they offering DRM free files for Zune?
Once on the device, the music software puts DRM back on the music file.
How stupid are the Zune buyers? Will they fall for this BS?
I luuuv a goood brown squirt in the morning…
MDN:
You make fun of Microsoft for copying with your first take, then repeat a joke about Zune sales from an article you posted earlier this morning with your very next take.
I believe that’s called ironic.
Gee, I sure hope that Zune Tang isn’t dead somewhere. We really have no way of knowing. If he had any friends, then we could just contact them and find out. Or if we were within 12′ of each other, I could buy a Zune (if some place near me carried them) and I could scan for his Zune. It’s sure to be attached to his hip by some kind of large reinforced belt unit. OH MY GOSH….WHAT IF IT’S INSIDE OF HIM!? Like what if somebody got so annoyed listening to him that they actually rammed it down his throat or up his [windows crashes.]
Good point Big Al ..
Will Ballmer let you “beam” unprotected songs to a fellow Zun-er ? .. (Well.. providing you can even find someone else with the device, of course)…I dont think so !
Apple marches to the beat of a different drummer.. while MicroCrap … well.. they dont even have a drum !
So Zune will go drm-free? How so? Their subscription service will always requires drm, thus they must be ONLY referring to tracks ‘purchased’ via their zune marketplace. They purposely made tracks difficult to ‘purchase’ via their store to push users into their subscription model. And what of all that squirting? They’ll still add their mini-drm each time a track squirts through the air won’t they?
> ‘People are responding so well to the colors,’ Reindorp said. ‘We’re having a lot of fun playing and experimenting with them.'”>
P–MS fiddles, while zune burns.
he he. some light reading about trends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zune#Sales
Permission to innovate? Denied.
R: “Ambien and whiskey.”
I just spewed coffee and snot all over my monitor!
Microslap do have a drum. It’s just upside down & backwards with no sense of rhythm!
Cpt. Obvious,
Gee, how’d you figure that out? MDN linked to it in their take.
Cpt. Obvious, indeed.
In the words of Shao Khan:
Round 2…..FIGHT!!!!
cue the MDN Take complainers in 3 … 2 … 1 …
With the coming demise of DRM — FairPlay, in Apple’s case — the attention of consumers and regulatory agencies, such as those in the EU, will move to the issue of codecs — proprietary vs. multi-platform.
The codec issue, AAC for Apple vs. WMA for Microsoft, has been masked by the DRM quagmire. Now people will see that Apple’s superior choice, AAC, is available for all platforms, but WMA is not.
Apple will be seen as the good guy and Microsoft as the anti-trust violating villain. Microsoft may be forced into adapting AAC as the codec with which it provides music, falling into to Apple’s well set trap.
Gee, funny how the release didn’t mention any specific dates, isn’t it?
Despite Bill Gates making a few off hand comments, I don’t think Microsoft had ever done anything to show that it wasn’t completely in love with, and wedded to, DRM. Vista and Zune are completely engulfed by it.
Comment from Steve Ballmer: “MMMRTHW! GRUMMPH! ARRGTHPTH!” That because his lips have been locked around the c#$^s of content providers. Microsoft has been their bitch. It in turn, bends its own customers over, the poor stupid bastards.
The Microsoft fanboys will now come out of the woodwork to sing Redmond’s praises for releasing the world from DRM.
Cpt. Obvious,
Gee, how’d you figure that out? MDN linked to it in their take.
Cpt. Obvious, indeed.
I guess that means they aren’t being hypocritical then, right?
Wait, they are?
Okay, cool. Then stfu.
Desperate times call for… This dinosaur corporation must be really desperate. First, DRM is essential, No DRM is irresponsible; now it’s going to offer it in future (if there is one) for Zune.
Just like a terrestrial dinosaur thinking it could swim (or fly) just because other species have already evolved. Huge body, small brain. See you at the museum!
Hell if there’s only 16 or so – then why doesn’t Apple just offer a free replacement promo and get it over with and put that DOG where it belongs in the ground!
Sounds like a plan to me…
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Which one is it for Micro$quirt?
With DRM now begining to crumble, I wonder if they can make a beachhead against the entertainment industry’s push to have DRM in all HD monitors and computer playback equipment. I know Vista is all about copy protection for HD content to the point that it will intentionally degrade the signal if you are not authorized up the yazoo to be playing it. Time to open a second front in the war!
“Microsoft plans to follow Apple in selling unprotected songs…”
Serious question here (not baiting, not rhetorical). Doesn’t this screw Microsoft?
As I understand it, WMA is proprietary and will not play on players that don’t license it from Microsoft.
Assuming I’m correct in that assumption, what alternative standard can Microsoft use?
If they use AAC they are simply another “me too” company following the Apple lead. They would be conceding that the standard championed by Apple was the new de facto standard.
I don’t think they can use the MP3 standard becasue it’s files sizes are large, and it’s now becoming an older technology.
So seriously, has Apple put Microsoft in a position were they are virtually compelled to adopt AAC? Or is there another standard that they can reasonably use for thier DRM free offerings?
Baby pink and period red … good for the porn-lickin’ hard core market. I’ll stick to flesh, thankyou, but I know one fat, sweatstained baldy who’ll take both.
I don’t see any advertising for the Zune. None. I really don’t see this product being continued. I think what Microsoft will do is merge it into a phone. They will kill the Zune as it is today, and make is a sad imitation of the iPhone.
clyde: Comment from Steve Ballmer: “MMMRTHW! GRUMMPH! ARRGTHPTH!”
Daka nod forbinkle! Tis, “Flenickle so veni-pleni Architexarcan. Silly iphus!”
Daka nod inkle ina mi tinkle.
So, to be clear, Microsoft’s secret weapon in the battle for the digital music marketplace is…(drum roll)…pretty colours.
It’s getting to the point where I nearly feel pity for the poor bastards, stuck up in Redmond with their little set of poster paints having therapeutic finger-painting sessions in the spring sunshine.
Several months ago, someone at Dell (I think it was Rollins, but it may have been Mickey D) said something about a company being driven by the imagination of its customers; there are so many punchlines to that joke that I’m a loss to know where to start.
Paint it pink, Jason, maybe you can find sixteen girls to go along with the sixteen Zune-owning IT guys that you’ve already racked up.
Better tell that sheriff down in Florida about this – he’ll want to be arresting those 16 IT guys for wanting to get it on with those 16 underage girls!
It’s going to take them till sumer to invent the color red?
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You’d think they would have a flash player by then. I guess they’re too busy with the color red.
“People are responding so well to the colors,’ Reindorp said. ‘We’re having a lot of fun playing and experimenting with them.”
Stranger than fiction? You can’t make stuff like that up!
@Cpt Oblivious
“… repeat a joke about Zune sales from an article you posted earlier… “
Repeating yourself is not the same as copying someone else.
MW = return
as in, return to reiterate your point
Microsoft technospeak:
“Microsoft plans to follow Apple…” translation: Damn it! Jobs screwed up our future plans again!
“‘We’ve been saying for a while that we are aware that consumers want to have unprotected content,’ said Zune marketing director Jason Reindorp.
Translation: “We really don’t know what we’re talking about”
“‘This does open things up a little bit,’ Reindorp said. ‘It potentially makes the competition more on a device-to-device or service-to-service basis. It will force the various services to really innovate.'”
Translation: “We are starting to realize it was a big mistake to leave out in the cold our partners for the Playforsure program and regret this move”
‘People are responding so well to the colors,’ Reindorp said. ‘We’re having a lot of fun playing and experimenting with them.'”
Translation: “We really need some help here guys. This project is going nowhere, no one’s leading it, nobody knows who’s doing what. Where’s that fcking Ballmer?!”
“Developers,developers,developers………….” Translation: We are going to screw you big time!” said a bald, obese, sweaty employee from the same company. Tongue hanging out too!
Question….
If you only had two brain cells…
would you want to rub them together?
….had to stop using the Zune …whenever my mother zuned over for a visit she always ended up in handcuffs.
Ooooo…Color!
Now there’s innovation for ya!!
And how exactly did Apple “innovate” by offering DRM-free audio files for sale on the iTMS? The second largest online music retailer has been selling DRM-free tracks for years.
“All sixteen Zune owners Rejoice!!!”
That’s classic!
I just let a big zune go in my toilet. Damn thing was so big it hurt.
“Fried continues, “When CEO Steve Jobs issued his open letter calling for an end to DRM, Microsoft said the total abolition of such protections would be irresponsible, since they are needed for subscription music and other new business models. However, the software maker said Wednesday that it does plan to offer DRM-free music from EMI and others.”
So we’re going to join Apple and EMI, and be irresponsible, also.
Outside of selling music or renting (subscriptions), what other business models could there be? Giving it away? They’ll have an easier time trying to describe colors to a blind person than in trying developing a new business model for getting music to consumers that doesn’t involve selling or renting. And rent to buy doesn’t count. There’s nothing “new” about that.
And..if you think about it, why is DRM needed for a music subscription service? Subscription services are only streaming files. Subscribers aren’t keeping a permanent file of any kind.
ABOUT …. FACE!!!
The culture of Microsoft is to duplicate.
@nobodi said: “…why is DRM needed for a music subscription service? Subscription services are only streaming files. Subscribers aren’t keeping a permanent file of any kind.
I have never used a subscription service, but I think you statemetn is inaccurate. If a subscription service were streaming only, then you would only be able to use the service when you were online or connected via wi-fi. I belive that subscription services stream a series of pre-selected music to your computer or mobile players and let you keep them for as long as you continue to pay your subscription fee. DRM is essential. Once you stop paying, your music is “turned off”.
Can someone with experience or knowledge of how subscription services work help clarify this one way or the other?
The WOW definitely starts now, as in, WOW, I can’t believe how ridiculous Microsoft looks right now.
Jason Reindork: “People are responding so well to the colors. We’re having a lot of fun playing and experimenting with them”
I do NOT want to know what kind of “playing and experimenting” resulted in the brown one.
The only thing really correct in that story is that DRM is needed for subscription-based music services.
Apple not only is freeing us from DRM, it is also killing the subscription model once and for all.
Microsoft is playing Creative’s game with the colors. No one buys the device because of color choices (as Creative found out). It just makes it more difficult to manufacture and stock the product, especially of you only sell “16” of them.
Apple first releases the product. When it is successful and selling in the millions, then you create even more excitement by offering more colors (a la iPod shuffle 2G and going back to the first iMac).
Welcome to the Social.
Microsoft will become the first company in the world to abandon selling music online with DRM. The Zune will become for first digital music player in the world to terminate the use of DRM, with the Zune Marketplace being its software annex. We have sold an incredible amount of Zunes in less than five months and will continue to grow rapidly.
Even though the Zune colors may be wrongly perceived to be blank white, “How can black be light?” black, and anal brown, they are in actuality pearl white, light black, and chocolate brown, respectively. Yes, we are considering baby pink and watermelon red, albeit these are (also respectively) pale pink and sanguine to the minds of naysayers.
If you are unable to access the Internet for any particular reason, email us about this issue and we will apologize for the inconvenience.
Your potential. Our passion. Microsoft.
We apologize for the inconvenience of an instance of irregular grammar. The second paragraph should read:
Microsoft will become the first company in the world to abandon selling music online with DRM. The Zune will become the first digital music player in the world to terminate the use of DRM, with the Zune Marketplace being its software annex. We have sold an incredible amount of Zunes in less than five months and will continue to grow rapidly.
We’re sorry.
Your potential. Our passion. Microsoft.
@ R
Ambien and whiskey.
Ambien, antihistamines, and vodka.
Just a little depressing, I know.
Good one anyway.
@ Microsoft
Microsoft will become the first company in the world to abandon selling music online with DRM. The Zune will become for first digital music player in the world to terminate the use of DRM, with the Zune Marketplace being its software annex. We have sold an incredible amount of Zunes in less than five months and will continue to grow rapidly.
Even though the Zune colors may be wrongly perceived to be blank white, “How can black be light?” black, and anal brown, they are in actuality pearl white, light black, and chocolate brown, respectively. Yes, we are considering baby pink and watermelon red, albeit these are (also respectively)…
I can tell someone else had to help you with that one. Still needs editing for style.
Thank you for your support, and remember that Steve Ballmer will fund Microsoft’s chair campaign soon.