“Microsoft Corp launched its MSN music download service in eight new European countries on Thursday in an attempt to fend off a recent expansion push by archrival Apple Computer’s iTunes,” Bernhard Warner reports for Reuters. “With the new territories, Microsoft has extended its music download business to 19 market versions in 17 countries, including 13 Western European countries.”
Warner reports, “Apple’s iTunes, the market-leading music download service, last week launched in nine new European countries, bringing the worldwide total to a dozen in Europe plus the United States. ‘If you take all the new countries, we expect to overtake iTunes very soon because we will have a larger user base to tap,’ said Arndt Salzburg, who oversees Microsoft MSN’s entertainment efforts in Europe, Middle East and South America.”
“Microsoft, which launched a download service over two years before Apple in Europe, has had difficulty keeping up with the popularity of Apple’s iTunes, industry observers say… On average, download prices on Microsoft’s MSN is more expensive than iTunes, with tracks ranging from 99 euro cents to 1.29 euros, compared to a flat 99 euro cent download fee charged by iTunes,” Warner reports.
Full article here.
Anybody know how MS sales are going?
1…and holding.
Thurrott bought it.
“we expect to overtake iTunes very soon because we will have a larger user base to tap”
iTunes runs on Windows you dildo. iTunes has already tapped that larger user base.
“we expect to overtake iTunes very soon because we will have a larger user base to tap”
Did they suddenly sell several million WMA players whilst I wasn’t looking? And as Mo points out, has iTunes suddenly stopped working on Windows?
I’m confused�
MCCFR,
“I’m confused…”
Welcome to the Wonderful world of Micro$oft!!!
Just like Microsoft to hire someone to run their music download service who hasn’t heard of iPod. Sure he’s been in the loop. Sure he has his finger on the pulse of the music industry.
Maybe he’s seen the many new movie, music, Janus using bricks from Microsoft’s many partners and he knows what everyone in the whole world is getting for Christmas.
Not!
‘If you take all the new countries, we expect to overtake iTunes very soon because we will have a larger user base to tap,’ said Arndt Salzburg, who oversees Microsoft MSN’s entertainment efforts in Europe, Middle East and South America.”
Napster and Real have been trying and continues to fail, what makes MSN so different? Nothing. It’ll be just like the rest of the services. Pointless.
Apple plans the road, surveys the land, grades, lays the gravel bed, paves, paints the lines, put up the signs, and then, as usual, Microsoft drives on it.
Mike
love the terminology – “we will have a larger user base to tap”… so cuddly and customer-focused. come on everybody, get in the queue to be tapped by microtheft…
92%… what are they smokin”..
overtaking Apple would involve putting Real and Napster and those guys out of business (taking their share) which would make their ‘many stores’ proposition.. curiously weak
Never underestimate the power of a 500 pound gorilla who wants to steal your banana .
Hopefully redmond will screw it up. So far they have.
BUT, windows users are stupid and will follow.
Hmmm, maybe he meant the User base in the additional countries where iTunes is not available yet.
Have they instituted the rental model too? If so I can’t wait til someone hacks their DRM and all of sudden you can steal all their songs on their database at once. With Apple’s buy-only model, even if the DRM is hacked you can only steal as many songs as you pay for.
Where is that Jon guy?
Jack A..
still.. OVERTAKE iTunes..?? How on earth would they do that?
IOW.. what the hell does overtake mean.. songs per week, per month..
if there was any significant sales, we’d have heard about it..
furthermore, their ‘profitability’.. probably has to do with their lisencing of WMA DRM, not the store sales alone..
All those iPod owners will only visit MSN Music once. Microsoft aren’t going to catch Apple unless Apple themselves screw up.
Didn’t Apple say the iTMS stores in the current countries covers about 75 % of the market already.
If MS add a few more countries to that list, it can only increase the coverage to 85 % at best.
MS’s advantage is that they can bundle WMP onto all new PCs and put icons on the desktop. i.e. like they did with IE
‘MS’s advantage is that they can bundle WMP onto all new PCs and put icons on the desktop. i.e. like they did with IE’
but then the EU would scream @ them for trying to monopolies the market
This is not news.
No ones gonna use the MS music store – All it is is a webpage! – and a not very secure one at that!
I already know someone who can hack into it – the bitrate is crap too – WMA – who needs it!!
MS’s advantage is that they can bundle WMP onto all new PCs and put icons on the desktop. i.e. like they did with IE’
but then the EU would scream @ them for trying to monopolies the market”
AND THEY WOULD BE FINED 100’S OF MILLIONS!
AND – THEY WOULD HAVE NO FRIENDS HIGH UP IN THE EUROPEAN MARKETS!
THANK GO I LIVE IN EUROPE – WE SEEM TO HAVE MORE BALLS OVER HERE TO STAND UP FOR OUR RIGHTS THAN THE USA!
MIND YOU M$ IS AN AMERICAN COMPANY – IT DON’T TAKE A GENIUS TO KNOW WHY THE ANTI-TRUST CASE FAILED IN THE STATES – BUSH PROTECTS HIS OWN!
I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF M$ WAS A EUROPEAN COMPANY AND BUSH WAS ALL FOR THE ANTI-TRUST???