MTV Closing URGE, Merging with Rhapsody

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.forbes.com/special_contributors/2007/08/20/mtv-music-urge-tech-cx_pco_0820paidcontent.html' target='_blank'>http://www.forbes.com/special_contributors/2007/08/20/mtv-music-urge-tech-cx_pco_0820paidcontent.html</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;The news was supposed to be announced at a press conference tomorrow at 11 AM in NYC, but WSJ jumped the gun on it (to be fair, no one cared about getting journalists under embargo). MTV Networks is closing its poorly received online music service Urge, and is merging it with RealNetworks Rhapsody music service.&quot;</em><br /><br /><img alt="" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2007/MTV-URGE-cancelled.jpg" /><br /><br />This is...a bomb. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.forbes.com/special_contributors/2007/08/20/mtv-music-urge-tech-cx_pco_0820paidcontent.html">There are few to no details about this</a>, but on the surface it seems like a very bad thing for Microsoft's Zune marketplace service. Here's why: the Zune Marketplace is based off of URGE. By &quot;based off of&quot;, I mean it's exactly the same thing, only with a different skin and different music promotions. The URGE back-end provides all the music for the Zune Marketplace. Now if this back-end is merged with Rhapsody, what are the odds that Rhapsody will leave it intact enough to be used by the Zune Marketplace?<br /><br />There are many questions here: why didn't Microsoft just buy URGE themselves so they'd have a stable music platform for the Zune? The entire point in Microsoft doing the Zune was to control the experience, end to end, and try to come up with something comparable to the iPod, and certainly better than the chaos that was PlaysForsure with it's myriad of devices and music services. I doubt Microsoft is making much, if anything, off their Zune Marketplace music sales with URGE acting as the middleman between them and the music studios.<br /><br />We have to remember that while Rhapsody eventually was a PlaysForSure music partner, when Microsoft announced that the Zune wasn't PlaysForSure, we saw Rhapsody and Sandisk join together and make a lot of noise about their music+device partnership. It's safe to say that a lot of people in the PlaysForSure industry were a little upset about the Microsoft Zune and what it meant for their businesses.<br /><br />I'd find it hard to believe that Microsoft wasn't aware of this in advance, but you never know - my hope is that they've worked out a deal with Rhapsody to keep the URGE catalog and future releases inside the Zune marketplace, but unless Rhapsody has a strong financial incentive to do so, why would they continue to work with the Zune? I've emailed my Microsoft contact to ask for a response to this story - I'll post a reply when I receive it.

[kevo777]

Since when is URGE the back end for Zune Marketplace? Granted, they look very very similar on the surface, but they don't share the same DRM so how can it be the exact same content? I have to respectfully disagree with that statement. I don't think this merger has any impact on the Zune Marketplace. ZM is a ground-zero project with no ties to anything that came before it.

[priesmeyer]

You have to admit that the user experience between Urge and Zune Marketplace are eerily similar. I mean, I've been using Urge since it launched (love it!) and when I first launched the ZM I immediately blinked and said "Whoa... this is the same thing."

But it's not. However it's clear that Microsoft clearly leveraged off of the work that was done on Zune.

[ShahnHogan]

If I was to guess I would say Microsoft developed the URGE backend and licensed it to MTV. Zune just happens to use a similar, however, I would guess highly customized version of that same backend. I doubt this has any impact on Zune or the Marketplace.

[priesmeyer]

Good points but we're all just speculating on that. They'll probably never admit the chain of events that led to the Urge/Zune separation.

Now we just wait and see what Microsoft says about Urge going away. Frankly, I want the hole filled and note merely paved over like a pothole.

[Jason Dunn]

Since when is URGE the back end for Zune Marketplace?

Umm...since it was first launched? ;) When we saw the Zune Marketplace we all knew they had just licensed the URGE library and re-skinned it. It's the same thing.

ZM is a ground-zero project with no ties to anything that came before it.

That's just not the case, sorry. :o

[USArcher]

Rhapsody is doing a better job building partnerships
- Stream Rhapsody content to Tivo
- Stream Rhapsody content to Sonos
- Deviced built by SanDisk
- Merge Urge music store and gaining MTV marketing

Microsoft is doing something wrong!

[Jason Dunn]

If I was to guess I would say Microsoft developed the URGE backend and licensed it to MTV.

Hrm. I always thought it was the reverse - Microsoft licensed the URGE back-end and catalog...the whole thing...for Zune Marketplace. Remember URGE was out, what, at least a year before the Zune was. Why would Microsoft put all that effort into developing a service they weren't going to use? URGE was out long before the Zune was even a white-board project (January 2006).

[Jason Dunn]

I should add that I HOPE nothing changed with the Zune marketplace and the sale of URGE is something that they've been planning for over the past six months...

[williamc]

It's new music release Tuesday, and no updates to Zune Marketplace. That has me worried.

[Adam Krebs]

I've used URGE for over a year now, and have always enjoyed the way the Windows Media Player software allows you to discover music, and search efficiently. A fair amount of time, however, I find the catalog is lacking some of even the most basic music (more so than other services), and that Rhapsody tends to have what Urge does not, especially in the esoteric genres that I enjoy so much.

Conversely, WMP and Zune have a much better layout, which feels more intuitive, less cluttered, and more useful. The word wheel is one feature that I'm starting to miss, even after just one day of using Rhapsody full time. It is too difficult to find a specific song within an artist's page if you don't know what album it comes from, especially from prolific artists.

But at this point, it seems that the Windows Media group is coming to a crossroads: support the "never worked, never will" WMP/P4S, or bet on the new horse, Zune. With URGE out of the picture, I think the choice should be fairly obvious. I just hope they hurry up with it. We're nearing the 1 year anniversary of Zune (and subsequently the holiday season), and the only real firmware update we got was at launch. As Jason said, we don't have much of the functionality that the also-ran P4S players have, and the new URGE/Rhapsody/V-Cast deal should throw in over-the-air downloading and other integrated goodies. I want in.


And P.S., Williamc: There's been no updates to Rhapsody either... Weird.

[Sage]

Does Rhapsody use Microsoft DRM? If so, shouldn't it be easy enough to convert ZM to use the Rhapsody back-end?

[williamc]

Does Rhapsody use Microsoft DRM? If so, shouldn't it be easy enough to convert ZM to use the Rhapsody back-end?

I think you're right. But I wonder if MS wants their Zune to be seen as connected or dependent on anther vendor's platform after this? And it could be argued that Urge's doom was initially sounded when Zune decided against plays-for-sure compatibility, so perhaps they should have seen it coming..?

That said, a Zune/Rhapsody pairing, or at least cross-compatibility, would be a terrific move for customers.

Still no updates to marketplace, so obviously something has got to happen soon.

[Jason Dunn]

Does Rhapsody use Microsoft DRM? If so, shouldn't it be easy enough to convert ZM to use the Rhapsody back-end?

If I'm reading things correctly, they have the ability to work with PlayForSure devices, but they consider them "legacy" devices.

This comments in this article (http://http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/21/a-few-words-with-reals-rob-glaser-about-rhapsody-america/) are quite telling.

[priesmeyer]

Amen. I still have a bitter taste in my mouth because of Real's past actions and RealPlayer practices.

[Jason Dunn]

Ok, so some good news - the sale of URGE will have zero impact on the Zune Marketplace. I have that from a trusted source inside the Zune team. I'm working on getting him to do a Q&A with me to help us all understand exactly what the relationship between URGE and the Zune Marketplace is...