Microsoft plans September 2nd music store debut without Apple iPod support

“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.

42 Comments

  1. Thank you, Tommyboy! Who under 40 cares about the Beatles? (I’m 39).

    What’s great about this launch is that there’s going to be a huge amount of press because of it, and every single magazine/newspaper/television/radio review and commentary is going to compare it to the more mature, proven, and greater catalog iTunes — that means 350 million users are also going to be made aware of the alternative. Hopefully it will be a slam dunk and iTunes will thrive because of it.

    So much for Real’s big “we’re number two” press release a couple days ago… this is like the quest for Olympic gold now…

  2. I see no battle as 700,000 doesn’t match Apple’s Million plus and still growing. Apple hasn’t stopped adding tracks since they reached a million. I see no worries for Apple as Microsofts site will be infested with spyware and viruses the minute it opens. SP2 hasn’t fixed anything with two holes already found in the first two weeks that it has been released. The price isn’t any cheaper and they will probably use WMA format which I myself don’t care for at all. I know for a fact they don’t have the know how to make an interface program as easy as iTunes and there DRM will probably be to restrictive as Microsoft is a power monger company. So where is this big threat because I just don’t see one. Real made big threats and you see how they did. Not even close.

  3. How is this news? It’s been reported all week that Microsoft will launch a music store, yada yada yada.

    I had more fun reading a Point Counterpoint debate on the topic last week.

    Microsoft Ready To Crush iPod & iTunes

    http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/microsoft_music_ready_to_crush_ipod_itunes/

    http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/microsoft_to_launch_music_store_with_no_ipod_support/

    Controversy. That’s what we need to sell papers. Controversy.

  4. Let them get into bed with the devil!

    As soon as the fill their music players with all that M$ music, they will get a false sense of security. But the day they forget to pay for their music, they are going to wish they never did. All their beautiful music is going to stop playing, until they pay their M$ fee. After all that’s all MS cares about, how to sucker consumers in, and how to their money!!!!

  5. The cheapest way to legally get tunes to your computer or MP3 player is to buy used CD’s and rip them yourself. The way most people get tunes to their computer or MP3 player is for free, illegally, from friends or P2P sites.

    Microsoft’s store is available only to Windows users. Windows users were brought up on cheap as in Wintel hardware and free as in pirated software (games from friends, apps from work).

    Don’t bet the lunch money on Microsoft getting it’s customers to pony up full price for something they can get cheap or free.

    You’ll go hungry.

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