Microsoft Launch Rival For iTunes

[GhostShip]

I wonder how successful this will prove to be for them as the "thunder" has already been captured by Apple  

http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/04/technology/ces_gates/

Using an appearance with Justin Timberlake, the Microsoft chairman debuted a new music service, Urge, to directly compete with the iTunes music store and interface. Urge launches with over 2 million tracks for purchase or as part of an all-you-can eat subscription, an option the iTunes music store doesn't have. The offering will include exclusive material from MTV, though it will not be compatible with iPods, which are currently the most popular MP3 player.

Music is just one part of Gates' vision for the impact he hopes Microsoft (Research)'s software will have on entertainment. Speaking at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Gates outlined his vision for a future where entertainment integrates with practical applications like messaging, word processing and Web browsing, with software that can work across various devices.

"We've talked about this as decade of digital lifestyle, work style," he said. "What that means is all these tools become mainstream. Software will come in and make things both simpler and more effective. Not having to think about disks, entertainment, having a digital jukebox anywhere in the house so you can call up the movies you want and see anything you want to."

Gates' vision extends to TV as well. Gates announced a partnership with Direct TV and its British Counterpart, BSkyB. The Direct TV partnership will allow consumers to get Direct TV video onto a Windows Media Center PC as well as on its gaming console, the Xbox 360.

I think we are just seeing Microsoft chipping away at a business rival, but its perhaps good news for the consumer to have a choice.

My interest is on the DRM features involved in the scheme, that will decide who will dominate the market in the long run, as folks do not like change for no benefit.

[KM]

Microsoft have always liked to completely dominate everything in the computing world, they have fallen behind and their competition is becoming too strong so they are reacting by trying to crush the competition again as they usually do... and unfortunately it'll probably work as it usually does

[Lysander]

My question is licensing costs. is it still going to be the unacceptable 99-cent, artist-gets-too-small-a-share crap that Itunes uses, or will it be something sensable? As an artist, I would go MSN's store all the way if they implamented a sane payoff infrastructure. If I could put trust in one company to not *need* to be greedy, that would be Microsoft.