“Apple’s iTunes music store is about to face some serious competition, as online giant Microsoft prepares to roll out its own music store on September 2nd. With the ability to funnel 350 million users a month to the store via its Hotmail, Messenger and MSN sites, Microsoft will likely become the number-two player in the market for legally downloaded music and ultimately could challenge Apple’s reign at the top… according to sources close to Microsoft, the store will open to the public with somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 tracks for sale at ninety-nine cents apiece. Within a couple of months, it will match Apple’s 1 million offerings. Reports that Microsoft will use its financial clout to become the first site to offer the Beatles catalog (the band reportedly demands tens of millions of dollars for a long-term exclusive arrangement) could not be confirmed,” Bill Werde reports for RollingStone.com.
“One source close to the matter says that Microsoft has made several overtures to Apple to make its store compatible with the industry-leading iPod but has been rebuffed,” Werde reports.
Full article here.
Crappy though Microsoft’s offering may be, the real battle begins now. I only hope Apple is as well positioned as they seem to be.
Does anyone know how their DRM compares to Apple’s FairPlay?
I know they’re willing to do almost anything to kill their competition… Real must be shakin’ in their boots…
Jb
At this point, who under 30 really cares about the Beatles? (I’m 32 btw)
Fairplay is the best DRM as you can easily convert it using that software or burning a cd.
WMA(9) isn’t going to be so easy. Apple knew this day was coming and that’s why Fairplay is easy to crack.
Now Window Music Store will be preloaded on a every PC piece of sh*t, like Windows is.
At least Microsoft gave Apple a headstart and Apple got to sell some iPods and introduce people to Mac hardware.
Microsoft loves Apple because it doesn’t make M$ appear to be a monopoly.
All those who bought iPods will still most likely buy from iTunes Music Store as well as us dedicated Mac fans.
But eventually all the PC newbies will get introduced to buying music from preloaded Windows music store and then look for a compatable player.
The iPod won’t be able to play WMA(9), be too expensive, so people will buy something else.
Although the iPod hardware does have the ability to play WMA(9) but only under Microsofts permission of course, who knows what that will cost. $$$ or Apples soul?
Fck M$.
I don’t care about Microsoft, in any way. They can build a whole store, I don’t care. They will probably take over the whole online music market. They take over everything they copy/startup. I still don’t care. I’m still going to use iTunes. I’m still going to use iPod, and I’m still going to use Apple. Because when it comes down to nitty-gritty, we can always laugh at them for being helpless with out people to copy. But that’s just me. If microsoft disappeared, I wouldn’t be happy, I wouldn’t be sad, because I don’t care about them. Right now they are just annoying, that’s about it. I might feel relieved. That I don’t have to put up with their crappy everything, and that I no longer see any of their horrible headlines in the news places any more. but other than that they can fall right off the face of the earth and I might not even notice.
I think round two in this drama is going to be the G5 iMac’s.
Reports are it’s a snazzy eye catching design and if the price drops (like the G5’s did over the G4’s) this hopefully release a pent up demand and people will buy in droves for the Christmas season.
Since iTunes will be preloaded and the iTMS, people will buy their music there and a iPod later.
this game ain’t over yet script kiddies.
beatles? I could give 2 shits about them
And the incoherant rambling keeps going and going and going and going……Finally a challenger……Its going to get rough. I guess we’ll wait and see if MS will give Apple another (’84) Beat Down.
I for one, will switch to the MS Store because of my iRiver. : )
AC :”but other than that they can fall right off the face of the earth and I might not even notice.”
Oh, You would notice AC, YOU REALLY WOULD NOTICE….
NoNO is right. If MS fell of the face of the earch we’d notice. I’d not longer get emails containing viruses from infected windows machines. My friends would be able to get my emails because they’d have Linux or a Mac. The world would be a much better place. Plus, as a bonus the real estate in Seattle would be much cheaper.
No ipod support? Apple rebuffed an offer from Microsoft?
Big Surprise.
I’ve already got most Beatles albums on my Mac. If anyone wants them get a copy of Acquisition and you can have em.
The Beatles are money grabbers. I know Paul McCartney’s neice and she lives on a council estate behind a disused cinema in Wallasey. What a tight-arse.
M$ Store opens on September the 2nd. How many days for the first virus downloaded joyfully in fanfare (or other music ;P )
“Apple’s iTunes music store is about to face some serious competition, as online giant Microsoft prepares to roll out its own music store…”
I guess that every other online music store business competing with iTunes that reads this article will not be too happy to read that Rolling Stone has concluded that their efforts were NOT serious.
However, maybe MS’s online gigantism is related to the web traffic of Windows users frantically downloading patches for their lousy OS. Or, maybe MS�s gigantic failure to produce a workable OS. Or, maybe MS�s gigantic mistake of IE as browser. Or, maybe MS�s gigantic new vaporware product, Longhorn.
If MS�s current successes at software development are any indication of future online music store accomplishments then the last tune from MS�s online music store will be �Taps�.
�One source close to the matter says that Microsoft has made several overtures to Apple to make its store compatible with the industry-leading iPod but has been rebuffed.�
Seriously, why couldn�t MS make their own store accessible to iPod users without Apple�s permission? I doubt that the holdup was some legal mumbojumbo between Apple and MS. It seems that this is a just a smoke screen for MS�s WMA. WMA is MS�s baby and they can�t afford the embarrassment of allowing AAC, too.
And another thing, if iPod is the industry leader in portable jukeboxes what brilliant mind at MS decided to open on online store that is not compatible with iPod? What is the slogan for MS�s online music store now, �We sell music for only the crappiest jukeboxes.�
I wonder if MS Store will be available in more than 4 countries.
Canada, Australia, Most of Europe come to mind.
THIS is Apple’s biggest foible.
That and pride.
MS: Wanna license WMA for the iPod real cheap?
APPLE: No thanks.
MS: Only $0.50 per player.
APPLE: No thanks.
MS: We may cancel the next version of Office.
APPLE: We could Aquify OOo in good time.
MS: iTunes could get broken in the next Windows update.
APPLE: If they’re running OS X on Intel it won’t affect them.
I’m more interested in how the other online music stores are going to react. They all use Microsoft DRM (except Sony) and now Microsoft is competing with them. Can’t make them happy…can they sue?
Songs, 99 cents
Trojans and Viruses, Free
What a deal !
M$ store will employ MWP-10, not 9. They have supposedly made deals with various MP3 player producers to bundle the software on their players. Interestingly, there are some screen shots on the web of the M$ music app that show a Napster logo on the top right. Stores such as WalMart, BuyMusic, Real and Napster will all supposedly be accessible through WMP-10 I believe. Sony’s Connect will not.
time to flood the market with ipods…
optihumourist.. you honestly don’t get the vertical integration thing, huh?
I got the sure way besides P2P to beat Microsoft Music Store.
Tell everyone on a PC about AllofMP3 dot com
Any bitrate any format (including AAC) for only 6� a MB.
They have everything, even old stuff.
Use your PayPal account and off you go.
It’s safe, it’s not copy protected and it’s legal.
At least in Russia.
Despite all the nervous tension evident in this forum over Microsoft’s Music Store, there really isn’t anything to worry about. Apple won the music battle a few years ago. Failure to realize that and the fact that Apple has forged several powerful partnerships to grow its current market share is ludicrous.
nobody seems to give ms credit for first-mover advantage back in 1985..
seriously, they realized that compatibility was what an OS platform was for. They, not Apple, had first-mover advantage.
Here the iPod has first mover advantage. Being compatible with 99% of all digital music, plus compatibility with Windows and Mac means MS is looking rather proprietary these days.
Well, of course! Apple is smaller, of course they embrace open-standards AS MUCH AS THEY CAN.. Apple is the Real of the OS wars.. except.. OS X is a joy to use, and Real’s software is a b*tch to use.
My point? First mover advantage kicks ass. It’s just a matter of being the first to recognize what the customer values.
Apple has said time and time again, as long as the iPod is beating other ugly music players to a pulp, there will be no WMA support. If that time comes.. then sure, they’ll implement WMA and take over the market. But until then, why pay MS a dime? Why lend credibility to a crappy format?
mike:
MS is first mover? What does this mean? MS hasn’t moved Lognhorn from concept to reality, and it has only been, what, 7 years since Gates promised the world something grand?
MS is move like a bowel movement rather than first mover.