A Different Perspective on the New Zune Pass

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A Different Perspective on the New Zune Pass

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11-24-2008, 05:30 PM

Adam Krebs

Contributing Editor

Join Date: Dec 2006

Posts: 519

A Different Perspective on the New Zune Pass

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/cont...nely_cheap.html

"Microsoft has effectively dropped the price of Zune all-you-can-download subscriptions to $5.09 a month. That's how I'm viewing the new Zune Pass pricing, where subscribers keep 10 songs a month. Forever. That's $9.90, figuring 99 cents a song. Subtract from the monthly $14.99 subscription fee and you've got a net cost of $5.09 a month. Cheap. Dirt cheap."

Joe Wilcox at Microsoft Watch has an interesting perspective on the New Zune Pass. He breaks it down with an example of two teens, Jacko and Junie:

"Let's assume that both teen's parents paid for everything as part of the holiday giving. Jacko's mom and dad spent $99.99 for the Zune (online with no tax and free shipping) plus $44.97 for three months of Zune pass, for which Jacko keeps 30 songs. They paid $144.96, although the 30 songs have $29.70 value. Jacko downloaded 1,376 songs under unlimited download subscription pricing. Meanwhile, Junie's parents paid $149 (no tax because they live in New Hampshire) for the iPod nano and another $137.60 for just the music Junie wanted in the first month. They spent $286.60, and Junie is already asking for more music."

Wow. Never thought of it like that...

11-24-2008, 06:01 PM

David Tucker Contributing Editor Emeritus Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,053		Oh I have. That's why I love my Zune Pass (even disregarding the the free music) and with the 10 downloads its even more valuable.

11-24-2008, 06:36 PM

Vincent Ferrari Executive Editor Emeritus Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,471		If you think about it, the ten downloads just made the subscription fee $5 a month in the minds of most people ($1 a song for ten songs, then $5 left over). I have to say this is the kind of promo MS needs to do to sell Zunes, not lowering the price. Nice job on their part. __________________ Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.

11-24-2008, 06:46 PM

David Tucker Contributing Editor Emeritus Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,053		Not to get really into that whole subject again but there is a huge thing about the $99.99 price point. There's a lot of market research into that price point being a sweet spot for the whole "Impulse Buy" thing. And honestly I don't think a 4GB player is worth more than $100 in this day and age But I agree...this is far more significant than a price drop. I have a friend who was trying to decide between the iPod and Zune like I said when this was first announced and she had decided on the iPod. She's put that purchase on hold to look into this. In fact...I don't see any way this can be looked at other than an incredible deal now.

11-24-2008, 06:52 PM

Vincent Ferrari

Executive Editor Emeritus

Join Date: Mar 2005

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Quote:

Originally Posted by David Tucker

But I agree...this is far more significant than a price drop. I have a friend who was trying to decide between the iPod and Zune like I said when this was first announced and she had decided on the iPod. She's put that purchase on hold to look into this. In fact...I don't see any way this can be looked at other than an incredible deal now.

Agreed. More of this is a good thing.

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11-24-2008, 07:24 PM

jaxim Ponderer Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 87		On the surface this seems like a great deal, but I checked around the marketplace and I was hard pressed to find popular songs that came in the MP3 format. It seems like the only big record companies that have MP3 files on the Zune marketplace are Universal and Time Warner. Sony and Columbia don't seem to have MP3s. I wish there were an advanced search feature in the Zune software so it was easier to locate MP3-only music. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to download WMA files even if they don't have DRM - MP3 is still the way to go if you want to be totally compatible with many more devices.

11-26-2008, 05:24 AM

Jason Dunn

Executive Editor

Join Date: Aug 2006

Posts: 29,160

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Tucker

Not to get really into that whole subject again but there is a huge thing about the $99.99 price point. There's a lot of market research into that price point being a sweet spot for the whole "Impulse Buy" thing.

That's a really great point - that $99 price point is a sweet spot that consumers have a natural reaction to.

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11-26-2008, 05:23 AM

Jason Dunn

Executive Editor

Join Date: Aug 2006

Posts: 29,160

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vincent Ferrari

I have to say this is the kind of promo MS needs to do to sell Zunes, not lowering the price.

But why not both? What's wrong with a lower price point? Nada.

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A Different Perspective on the New Zune Pass