Press Release:
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced they have collaborated on the design and development of MTV Networks’ new digital music service called URGE. Set to debut domestically in 2006, URGE will provide an immersive music experience and will be integrated into a forthcoming version of Microsoft Windows Media Player. The collaboration unites MTV Networks’ music DNA, marketing strengths and powerful MTV, VH1 and CMT brands with the technology leadership and consumer reach of Microsoft.
URGE will offer rich entertainment programming and innovative tools designed to guide musical discovery and connect fans to the artists and music they love. Offering more than 2 million songs from the major labels and thousands of independents, URGE will encompass all musical genres, from alt-country to zydeco. In addition to a broad catalogue of music choices, URGE will deliver a deep well of exclusive MTV Networks programming and original, hand-crafted content.
URGE has garnered early support from Clive Davis, Chairman and CEO BMG U.S., Lyor Cohen, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Recorded Music for Warner Music Group, and musical superstars Alicia Keys, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and Gretchen Wilson.
“We live to connect artists and fans in the most imaginative ways possible,” said Van Toffler, MTV Networks Music Group President. “With our new service, we will be able to satisfy music lovers’ urges for all things music. In many ways, URGE will serve as a ‘psychic concierge,’ introducing fans to new artists and helping them to develop a deeper connection to old favorites.”
“By combining our expertise in digital media with the music leadership and marketing savvy of MTV Networks, we have created a powerful and unique way to experience music,” said Blair Westlake, Corporate Vice President of Media Technology and Convergence at Microsoft. “This landmark collaboration will bring innovative new experiences to millions of music fans.”
“As with everything we do at MTV Networks, every element of URGE is being developed with our audience in mind,” said Jason Hirschhorn, MTV Networks’ Chief Digital Officer. “Beyond providing a simple transactional service, URGE will provide a musical playground where fans can explore, customize, discover and download new music.”
Upon its debut next year, URGE will be promoted through multiple venues, including the MTV, VH1 and CMT channels, which on average collectively reach more than 165 million viewers U.S., as well as through the respective brands’ Web sites and Urge.com. Additional details of the new service will be unveiled in January at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Another Windows-only music service that sells music in a format that’s incompatible with Apple’s iPod (unless you burn a disc and import into iTunes)?
A WMA-based, Windows-only, iPod-incompatible two million+ song library doesn’t trump the market-dominating iTunes Music Store’s two million+ song library that integrates seamlessly with the market-dominating iPod and also happens to offer major TV shows and thousands of music videos. Speaking of music videos, does MTV even run them anymore? You want to see your favorite artists’ music videos? That’s right, you just pop into iTunes Music Store.
iPod is the key and MTV and Microsoft don’t have it, no matter how much marketing they put behind URGE. Too little, too late, Microsoft. For the health of Real’s Rob Glaser, however, hopefully the defib was charged up and nearby when he heard about this. It sounds like Real’s new partner Microsoft wants to finish them off once and for all.
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Related article:
MTV: URGE music service with Microsoft not targeting iPod, iTunes users; Real may be hurt by deal – December 13, 2005
Keep a knock’in but you can’t come in.
I wonder if MTV will ban videos with iPods in them? I’ll bet they’ll still take Apple’s money for iPod commercials!
They make it sound like they are going to introduce some new innovation. I suppose they might do something neat with some interface feature but that isn’t enough to unseat the iPod.
I’ve got a number of windows friends that don’t yet have an MP3 player. They use WMA rather than iTunes. I try to get them to download iTunes but they somehow think they need an iPod before it makes sense.
Microsoft and MTV must have money to burn…this will be a waste…and will be another big disaster of a failure for Microsoft and MTV …they both need a reality check…I love the quote ” …..expertise in Digital media….etc”…just made me bust out laughing…Microsoft and MTV must have been smoking crack together or something….what a joke !
MTV still plays music videos? I thought they were all reality TV now?
This is by far the biggest threat to Apple’s ITMS. With all that free advertising to the MTV gen, this will heat things up to be sure. Interesting times ahead…
#1 MTV has to get their content from the Labels.
#2 In the past the Labels thought MTV was getting too powerful and cut their chian.
#3 The Labels don’t want M$ having any control, the reason Apple got it was because the iTunes Music Store was suppesed to be a experiment on the Mac platform with less than 10% market share. Steve Jobs then took the iPod/iTMS to Windows users, that wasn’t expected, that’s why the Labels are bitching for price adjustments, to regain control.
#4 M$ is attempting to gain control through MTV, but MTV’s game is already checkmated by the Labels. So where does that leave M$?
Shouldn’t that service be named “PURGE”?
Another opportunity for Microsh*t to F*CK something up…. Next
“MTV is to music as KFC is to chicken” – Lewis Black
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lewis_Black
I am in if they are selling better quality than 128bps and if someone shows me how to convert those wma-files into my iPod. Maybe that’s two ifs too many …
THIS COULD BE THE BIG ONE!!!!
big flop that is.
MORE evidence -if it were needed- that MS is in the shit. It’s desperately trying to show it has exciting new products and partners…
..it will be obvious to everyone eventually that the products don’t exist, and the ones that do, don’t make the grade.
It’s more evidence that MS is on the way to the corporate graveyard.
Interesting choice of name… isnt it the same as what the Rapist, Murderer, Alchoholic etc etc have already, or if it wasnt the Urge, maybe the devil made them do it
“will be integrated into a forthcoming version of Microsoft Windows Media Player”
Another layer of code tied into a media player tied into an already unstable kernel. Just another avenue for the bored and dangerous to get into an unstable OS.
Their newest effort is called URGE
On this they wish that you would SPLURGE
It only makes me want to PURGE
And sing a DIRGE… for URGE.
let’s wait and see before we rush to judgement, I know too many drones who watch MTV as i just graduated from college. Trust me this is something that might threaten iTMS but I don’t know about actually beating iTMS though. When I 1st started using my iPod on campus nobody knew it what the hell it was, 2 years later it was a mindless amount of zombies flocking to apples stores on campus to get one. I mean don’t get me wrong it was good for the company but alot of people got one just because it was the in thing not because they actually wanted it. I mean some kids didn’t even know it was a damn harddrive or how many songs it could hold, they just bought just cuz everybody else had one. So MTV has alot of zombies to feed this one too also. The only question is whether it’s too late to convert them from iPod/iTMS zombies to “URGE” zombies, only time will tell.
Hey, REALITY CHECK –
When do you suppose Microsoft and MTV will make this new service available to Mac users? I’m not really feeling the urge at all at this point to pay any more attention to this new service, except to point out the following
Just have some simple questions: How many formats does the iPod support?
See this link and look under “Audio Support” – http://www.apple.com/ipod/specs.html
If you’re too lazy to click the link, here’s the list: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF
And you said Apple has a “closed-source” format? Certainly doesn’t appear that way to me.
And here’s a dose of reality especially for you, Mr. Check. You may also be painfully aware (or not – I’ll bet on “not”) that iPods work on both a Mac and a PC, and so does the iTunes Music Store, and quite seamlessly at that.
What Windows-based music player or Microsoft-supported music store can make that claim?
Please enlighten us with your wisdom. I invite you to prove me wrong.
To anyone viewing this forum who has experience in this industry, I have a serious question: Do you think Apple would’ve had word of this via insider channels while it was still in the planning stages? Or is it more likely that they — just like the rest of us — only learned of it as it was announced today?
I just wonder how much of this kind of stuff is a true “surprise” to the crack team that Jobs seems to have put together. Or how much they have their ears to the ground and know about these competitive challenges well before we do.
Very short on facts. Anyone with even half a brain will wait to pass judgement until after the details are known. Since the statement says, “Set to debut domestically in 2006…” this might not come out for a year. Details might not be known for nine months or more.
Why is Microsoft doing this now if it might not happen for a year? Pure FUD. It is a lame attempt to keep within the fold those WMA and “Plays For Sure” users who are considering dumping them and moving to iPod/iTunes/iTMS/FairPlay. While I do believe many people fall for FUD since it has worked as a negative marketing tool since IBM was using it in the 70s (my first exposure to it), I don’t believe it will work as well this time. More and more people are becoming truly aware of Microsoft’s marketing techniques and how those statements compare with the disappointing reality of the final, shipping product.
I urge Viacom networks to reconsider aligning theirselves with such a losing proposition.
Does everyone who buys a copy of MS Office and MS Windows know that the reason the cost is so high is that they’re subsidising Microsoft’s loss earners such as this.
I would be pretty angry that my sales weren’t going into improving the products I am buying.
“MTV networks music DNA”
MTV barely plays music anymore.
“deep well of exclusive MTV Networks programming and original, hand-crafted content”
What, oh what is “hand-crafted content”?
“psychic concierge”
Where do they go to make up these phrases?
“Microsoft Windows Media Player”
Now calling this “psychic concierge” would be better than “WiMP”.
And where does this leave the MSN music store? Will it quietly fold?
BTW, iTMS offers 2 million songs (and counting) already, so there’s nothing new there.
This PR has absolutely nothing new. Just a bunch of words. It’s almost like someone said, we have to slow down the iPod train, so let’s put out a press release to get some attention and maybe cause 1 or 2 people to think twice about buying an iPod.
Pathetic.
BTW, I don’t think anyone here is saying MTV and MS shouldn’t try. But if they do, they had better leapfrog the iTMS/iTunes/iPod combo with major innovation and improvements. Nothing in the PR gives any indication that MS/MTV has anything significantly better.
Three months ago, there was an opening for Creative to put out their new Zen Vision:M and for MS/Real/Napster/etc along with WiMP to kick off a video content store. That would’ve been innovative, even if all us Mac users would’ve pooh-poohed the small screen and bemoaned the lack of Mac compatibility. But that opening is gone.
This month, Creative should’ve released an iPod-sized player with a full-face screen and either flip/slide-down or touch-screen controls. But Creative’s me too knockoff has only minor additions and some big drawbacks (like depth and weight). Has anyone tested how well Creative’s video sync and playback software works yet?
Until these companies move faster and smarter than Apple, they are all iPod/iTunes/iTMS road-kill.
MTV, the network that cut Pink Floyd off during Live 8, wants to sell music?
Again, there’s danger here.. MDN shouldn’t dismiss the threat so quickly. It’s nice that NBC/Uni and ABC/Disney are onboard with Apple, and hopefully others will be, too. But Viacom owns a LOT of content that’s watched by a LOT of young people. Their declaring for a competitor is a major deal.
Maybe they’ll fail.. maybe they won’t support OSX.. but maybe they’ve been watching. Maybe they’ve got a plan. They’ve already got the content that the kids want. If they can just execute it…