Microsofts Latest Ad Campaign | The Coffeehouse

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

Microsoft seem to have settled on price again - this time for the zune store over iTunes. Is it really a valid point though, because for your $30,000 on iTunes you get to keep all the songs, but for your $15 Zune pass you only get 10 songs?

CKurt
while( ( !succeed=try() ) ) { }

It is 10 songs without DRM , but unlimited if you take DRM with it. I don't mind DRM as long as i can play it on any of my devices.

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

This price thing is going to bite them in the ass when the Windows 7 retail price is announced

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

This is just a redo of Napster's much-derided "Do the math" campaign from a few years ago.

Yes, you get a lot of music available to you for a reasonable amount of money per month, but when Zune goes down (and it will) you lose access to the music you subscribed to (as opposed to buying outright a lifetime-license). Given that even the MSN Music store went down after about 4-5 years that's $14.99 * 12 * 5 = nearly a thousand dollars, gone.

Also, the advert is wrong about it costing $30,000 to fill an iPod, reasons include:

People ripping their CDs and putting that music onto an iPod (and old CDs go for about £4 or even less in bargain bins)
People using their iPod as a Mass Storage device
People using *gasp!* free music
and of course, bittorrent

Also, the Zune pass limits you to 3 Zunes and 3 PCs. I've got 4 PCs I use regularly (home desktop, laptop, halls desktop, and terminal server), I guess I'm stuck then.

John Gruber had a good take on this back in 2005 when it was Napster doing it.

Duncanma
Just Coding for Fun...

Advertising is funny... the $30,000 # is easy to attack, but I am happy they are promoting the Zune Pass ... I own both an iPod and a Zune and I went out and bought a second zune for running (that is what I had the iPod for, a Nano) because I found that I never wanted to buy new music for the iPod, while I pull new albums onto my Zune several times a week... I'm listening to way more music this way.

I totally get the DRM concerns, I see the Zune Pass music almost like a lease and the 10 restriction free songs are really just a bonus.

As far as the 3 PC limit... do you really need to access the Zune software on all of those? And download? Assuming you can sign in, you can still play music on the 4th PC without any problems. Do you keep an authorized version of iTunes on all 4, and copies of all your downloaded music?

I have 4 machines as well, and I use the Zune on two of them only... never really found it to be that restricting.

Ray7

If Amazon folds its store, then I still get to keep the music and play it anywhere.

When Microsoft cans the Zune service, I'm stuffed.

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

In reply to Duncanma

#May 12th @ 11:32 AM

duncan: yes, actually Tongue Out The TS is nice to playing music whereever I am in the world (well, in reality I've got my MP3s in a directory on my webserver).

I don't use iTunes or own an iPod, I just use PocketPlayer on my PDA, but it's really flaky and freezes up at times, also the battery life has really gone down in the 3 years I've owned it now. I'm considering moving to an iPhone eventually to replace both my PDA and Smartphone.... or maybe the Palm Pre if it lives up to the hype. I'm looking for battery life-while-playing-music and none of the WinMo devices I've seen offer that, also WMP on WM sucks.

rhm

Who the hell actually spends even a few hundred pounds/dollars on iTunes? Most music on iPods is rips and mp3 downloads (illegal or otherwise) as can be established by dividing the number of songs sold on iTunes store by the number of iPods sold. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple is making more money on App downloads than music right now.

figuerres
???

In reply to Duncanma

#May 12th @ 11:32 AM

Hey on the DRM stuff...

just ask Sven (hope i spelled that right) about his issues with the MSFT e-reader.

DRM + Activation some day will be a problem.

I really hate to say it but so far MSFT has a poor track record of keeping subscription stuff going for any length of time.

One care is going away, the old msft music thing that was closed and so on...

MSFT needs to make sure that stops. and that device activation is not a problem for the legit user.

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

In reply to Ray7

#May 12th @ 12:07 PM

Isn't there a lot of DRM free stuff on the Zune store though? And the 10 free tracks per whatever you get with Zune Pass are DRM-less as well, right?

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

In reply to figuerres

#May 12th @ 1:17 PM

One Care's hardly a fair comparison here though, because they're honouring all existing subscriptions untill they expire and it's not like you'd have got to keep it after your subscription ran out anyway.

stevo_
Human after all

In reply to W3bbo

#May 12th @ 11:04 AM

w3bbo you should watch the ad again because he clearly says it would cost 30,000 to fill an ipod using itunes.. clearly he means buying from the store considering the only way to put anything on an ipod is from itunes anyway.. piracy is irrelevant, free music is rare and using it as a mass storage device isn't what an ipod music player is about.. all your arguments were really weak, and not to mention the point of commercial was to twist facts to make a case.. I think theres real people out there who blow tons away on itunes.. hell I buy all my music on cd, and I'm starting to want a subscription service because:

A) I'm running out of space to store all these cds
B) DRM free music is more common now

figuerres
???

In reply to GoddersUK

#May 12th @ 1:21 PM

yes and no...

the rub is that they start something and then kill it.
I just don't like that, it might be the right financial call but it also gives a feeling that they might not support me later.
MSFT has done good with some lines, xbox for example....

just my worry....

VB Man
Year of the Linux MCE.

When will Microsoft learn? You get what you pay for. Ownership vs. Lease. Can we all be certain the Zune Store will be here tomorrow? Is Apple's pricing structure really the only thing they can attack?

Microsoft should stop slamming their competition and start pointing out great things in their products..... wait.... they tried that with the ads they shot at Best Buy advertising Windows Live Gallery etc. and were atrocious. Hire a new marketing team!

Ray7

Not all the stuff you can download is DRM-free from what I understand, and if you fill your Zune with the DRM-laced stuff as part of your subscription, then $10 is going to look pretty small when you're trying to get hold of the tracks you like when MS cans the service (and judging from their past record ...)

I imagine that you have to dock your Zune every so often so that it knows that the subscription is still live. If you have to go away for an extended period (four weeks by the looks of it) then you will lose access to your music, and ten dollars doesn't buy you enough for a road trip.