What’s Really Happening with the Zune

[Adam Krebs]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://linne.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/whats-really-happening-with-the-zune/' target='_blank'>http://linne.wordpress.com/2008/05/...-with-the-zune/</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;I bought a zune because I saw the vision Microsoft had for the XBox 360, and I fully understood the direction they were going to take the zune. and now, with the software version 2.5, they are oh so close to being there.&quot;</em> <br /><br />Aaron Linne wrote a great piece on the direction of the Zune brand. He brings up the common arguments against Zune and the Social, but rebuts them by bringing up a scenario in which <a target="_blank" href="http://zuneinsider.com">Cesar Menendez </a>sent him (and everyone else on Cesar's friend list) a link to the new Tokyo Police album. What differentiates this scenario in the Zune ecosystem from other social network/audio scrobbling services is that Zune not only features a tighter integration between the different services (e.g. one-click downloads of other peoples' recommended songs), but also the unlimited download Zune Pass. Using a Pass, I can download as many tracks as I want without any extra cost. The ones I don't like I just get rid of; I don't have to worry about wasting $20 on songs I don't really like. This is a huge value to me as a music consumer, and makes the Zune ecosystem that much stronger. <br /><br />I think Linne sums up the Zune brand perfectly: &quot;iTunes is for people who like certain musicians. Zune is for people like music.&quot;

[David Tucker]

I think Linne sums up the Zune brand perfectly: "iTunes is for people who like certain musicians. Zune is for people like music."

Absolutely. Everyone who is down on the Zune Pass always has the same reason. "I have all the music I want. I never get more." All I ever think is...that's not really a music lover. Just someoen whoe enjoys certain artists. I love new things. I never want to stop trying new artists and genres.

[bleeman]

That'se of the things I realized once I went with the Zune Pass. I have been amazed at all the new music I have been exposed to. At 55 :eek: I'm far from being "hip", "cool", or today's equivalent term :) and when I first purchased my Zune and loaded up the 14 day trial I went through checking out all the artists I grew up with. It is fun taking a trip down memory lane and quite a few of those artists have remained in my playlists. However, I then started checking out other artists and have been having a ball. Since I didn't really know where to start I came up with a simple idea. Every Sunday when the various ads come out with their "New Music Tuesday" lists, I'll go look for the artists in the Zune marketplace and check them out. That usually leads me to other artists in the same genre and then I'm off and running.

I have found only two drawbacks with the Zune pass and this approach. One, I find I have to get better at my time management or I'll look up and discover I have blown several hours cruising around the marketplace and two, I think I'm going to be looking at a Z80 soon as my Z30 just keeps sending me that "Enough Already" aka "I'm full" message. :D

[Adam Krebs]

I have found only two drawbacks with the Zune pass and this approach. One, I find I have to get better at my time management or I'll look up and discover I have blown several hours cruising around the marketplace and two, I think I'm going to be looking at a Z80 soon as my Z30 just keeps sending me that "Enough Already" aka "I'm full" message. :D

I know! There's so much music I want to check out that I feel like I sometimes go on music binges. Later I don't remember what I really want to keep or get rid of, and my collection just gets huge and out-of-control. This is when I start to miss the five-star rating system; sometimes I can't remember what my heart (or 5-star) values mean. I hope the Zune team can bring in a new rating system--one that is useful and reduces complexity.

[Stinger]

"iTunes is for people who like certain musicians. Zune is for Americans who like music."

Fixed for you. I do wish Microsoft would hurry up and release the Zune world-wide. Either that or Apple would hurry up and offer a similar scheme.

[rohitharsh]

First of all let me start by saying how true the following statement is:
“iTunes is for people who like certain musicians. Zune is for people who like music.”
Sadly there are very few people who actually like music and most of them like “certain musicians”. However for MS to break into this space I think they are doing the right thing. First build the brand among music enthusiast. I am not sure how successful they have been with that. Anyway I do agree that music discoverability in Zune is much better than iTunes.
Secondly I too face the same problem with Zune pass. There is just so much that I end up downloading a lot of music and then some of them get lost. I think there is a great opportunity for the Zune team to innovate here. There has got to be some features or some way of discovering music from your own library. I would really hate to see them bring back the start rating system to solve this problem. I think there should be some sort of tagging system jut like we do with pictures. Maybe they should start to show “related artist” from ones own library. I really think they can innovate here by making discoverability of music from ones own collection easy and simple.
The Zune 2.5 update was good and I like it so far. It is also great to see two update cycle namely spring and fall. I am wondering what they will add in the next one considering a lot of missing features has been added.

[onlydarksets]

Secondly I too face the same problem with Zune pass. There is just so much that I end up downloading a lot of music and then some of them get lost. I think there is a great opportunity for the Zune team to innovate here. There has got to be some features or some way of discovering music from your own library. I would really hate to see them bring back the start rating system to solve this problem. I think there should be some sort of tagging system jut like we do with pictures. Maybe they should start to show “related artist” from ones own library. I really think they can innovate here by making discoverability of music from ones own collection easy and simple.

Those are great ideas! Hopefully someone here can get them into the hands of the Zune project leads.

[TeamNinja]

Zune Pass!? Wow! Sounds great but it's really not that impressive. OK, I'm just a teenager and still using an MP3 player my dad gave me for Christmas... what 2 or 3 years ago. OK, I killed it once and he even sprang for a new one for me shortly after that.

OK, my dad is cheap... so I'm livin with a 1GB Sandisk Sansa player. Nothin fancy, but it just works great. And if it ever dies or I do lose it... so what - it has already given me a great ride.

Back to the Zune Pass thought... another thing my cheap old man did... he subscribed to Napster, specifically Napster to Go. Then he said, "You're on your own." It sounds a lot like the Zune Pass - all the music you can download - though there are occasionally a few titles that can only be had if you pay $0.99 to get them.

I have downloaded SO MANY tunes, it is cool - it is just about perfect.

Oh, yeah... the pricetag for this -- $15 per month - and you can have 3 players using the account. I split the deal with my big brother and my little sister.

I PAY $5 PER MONTH FOR ALL THE MUSIC I CAN DOWNLOAD !!!

(I to say it, but it turns out my dad isn't as dumb as I used to think)

When my Sansa finally bites the dust, I'll take a good look at the Zune and the Zune market... the Zune Pass. If I can get 1000s of songs for $5 a month, I'll join you in the Zune Zone.

TeamNinjaFanatic

[onlydarksets]

Oh, yeah... the pricetag for this -- $15 per month - and you can have 3 players using the account. I split the deal with my big brother and my little sister.

I PAY $5 PER MONTH FOR ALL THE MUSIC I CAN DOWNLOAD !!!
...

When my Sansa finally bites the dust, I'll take a good look at the Zune and the Zune market... the Zune Pass. If I can get 1000s of songs for $5 a month, I'll join you in the Zune Zone.

TeamNinjaFanatic

You do realize that the pricetag is the same ($15/month, shareable with 3 players = $5/person)? And that your brother and sister can use their existing PFS devices with the files downloaded through the Zune software (just bring them into WMP and sync them to the device).

So, I'll expect you to be joining the "Zune Zone" today :D

[Wojo]

I have to agree with everyone here... I love the Zune Marketplace concept.... What I really love is when my kids ask, "Do we have that song?", and I get to say yes everytime. It was great around Christmas time looking for new and old songs for the holidays. Now on to the frustrating part.

Why, WHY do I have to download my music to every pc in order to listen to it? Why doesn't it work with Media Center? Why doesn't it work with my Denon 3808CI "Play's for sure" Receiver?

I understand the limits but what I don't understand is why do I have to download 80gig of music to every pc I want to listen to my music on when they're on the same network? I work from home so I want all my music on a local machine shared to my other pc's that are part of my Zune profile. I find it rediculous for Microsoft to force us to eat unnecessary bandwidth from my ISP and Zune for music that is 100ft away. Also, my media center pc only has a 60gig drive (Mini PC) so I would have to either upgrade the drive or waste time managing my collection. There's no reason for this scenario not to work. I understand people that want their work pc to be part of their profile but there is no reason for us not to share the music between pc's that are in our profile on the same network. Would this scenario be considered a "Social". All my Microsoft toys having a little party Socializing... They're Socializing unfortunately they're all speaking different languages...

I know MS will eventually get this straight, I just wish they would hurry up already....

[Vipralion]

I think Linne sums up the Zune brand perfectly: "iTunes is for people who like certain musicians. Zune is for people like music."

That's a great quote right there.

Although it should be, "... Zune is for people who like music."

My only negative of the Zune Pass is the fact that you will occasionally run across certain songs that can't be downloaded. They must be purchased. But why?

[Phillip Dyson]

I think Linne sums up the Zune brand perfectly: "iTunes is for people who like certain musicians. Zune is for people like music."

[DEVIL'S ADVOCATE]
Could you also say that iTunes are for people that don't want the risk of losing their library if the company goes belly up. Or if they decide to try another store.
Or if they miss their monthly payment. <poof!> Its all gone.

Will you remember all of the songs that you liked to recreate your library with some other store?
[/DEVIL'S ADVOCATE]

Okay enough of that. I like to own my music. But I am tempted to try it for a while to see if its cost justified. I don't buy music that often. But if I have the freedom to listen to whatever I like, perhaps I'll browse more often.

[onlydarksets]

[DEVIL'S ADVOCATE]
Could you also say that iTunes are for people that don't want the risk of losing their library if the company goes belly up. Or if they decide to try another store.
Or if they miss their monthly payment. Its all gone.

Will you remember all of the songs that you liked to recreate your library with some other store?
[/DEVIL'S ADVOCATE]

Okay enough of that. I like to own my music. But I am tempted to try it for a while to see if its cost justified. I don't buy music that often. But if I have the freedom to listen to whatever I like, perhaps I'll browse more often.

I think you have that backwards - iTunes users (or anyone purchasing DRM'd music) ARE the folks at risk of losing their library if the company goes belly up or try another store. If you purchase DRM-free music, then you are correct, iTunes users are not at risk.

However, your Subscription music isn't "lost" if you miss a payment or switch to another store - you just download it again. I guess "forgetting" your favorite music is a possibility, but if you have forgotten it - is it really still your favorite?

[Macguy59]

I think Linne sums up the Zune brand perfectly: &quot;iTunes is for people who like certain musicians. Zune is for people like music.&quot;

Not really. This is more about owning what you listen to versus temporary usage (not that there is anything wrong with that). Considering how flat Zune sales are, there must not be very many people that like music :rolleyes:

[onlydarksets]

I think the problem is exactly that - music subscription services have not been marketed properly. This is not an "either/or"alternative to purchasing music online, anymore than XM Radio is an "either/or" alternative to buying a CD. It should be seen as augmenting purchase of music.