http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27774454/page/2/
Zune dancing to a different drum machine
Microsoft’s distant also-ran to iPod becoming the butt of fewer jokes
SEATTLE - A video for the title track on hip-hop veteran Common's forthcoming album, "Universal Mind Control," begins with a digital music player pulsing to the beat. The viewer is pulled through the screen into the gadget's guts, where the cool, collected rapper lets loose an easy stream of lyrics.
It takes hitting rewind a few times to notice that the music player isn't one of Apple's slim new iPods. It's a Zune, and it's made by Microsoft Corp.
Since it first landed two years ago, the Zune has been the butt of many jokes, like how its wireless music sharing feature would be great, if only a second person would buy one. But while Apple Inc. has counted on the sex appeal of its ever-thinner devices to keep consumers turned on, the Zune team has been beefing up its software and courting artists like Common, a dashing MC with mainstream appeal who might just help make Zune — dare we say it? — cool.
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In an interview, Common described Zune as "progressive, fresh, innovative," a far cry from critics' refrain that it's an also-ran in a race iPod has already won. When he's pressed to explain, it becomes clear that Common is hooked less on the device than the way the Zune's software makes connections between artists, turning up new sounds for him to explore.
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In the TV ad, Zune pairs Common with one of his biggest influences, Afrika Bambaataa. The two men trade lines about music and personal style from their places in a moving collage much like the "mixview" screen.
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Common, a brand-savvy rapper and actor willing to team up with big companies — he promoted Gap clothing in a 2006 holiday commercial — is an apt poster child for Zune, because he appeals to hip-hop fans but also plays well in the mainstream. A second TV spot features Tennessee rockers Kings of Leon talking to The Band's Robbie Robertson, a nod the college-age indie music crowd. Online, Zune ads feature lesser-known artists. In keeping with the theme of the current campaign, discovering new music through connections, Zune is using Web ads to promote Mr. Hudson and The Stills, groups suggested by Common and Kings of Leon.
Playing to its strength among Hispanic consumers, Microsoft in September made an exclusive deal to sell digitally remastered albums by some of Fania Records' biggest names, including the Fania All-Stars and Celia Cruz. The company also started working recently with Univision, which now devotes a section of its Web site to promoting Zune's Latin music collection.In contrast, Apple's marketing tends to be more about the iPod itself, pairing catchy anthems with images of the iPod, not artists. Apple had no comment.
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I cried watching this, especially the look on his face and the paint sputtering out 
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