MSN Music Customers No Go For Zune

Just when you thought Microsoft had finally got something right, they go ahead and get it wrong. How? It’s simple really. You allow users to buy music from your very own music store for years and years and then excite them with the release of a fantastic new media player known to you and I as the Zune. Sounds nice, I know, but in typical Microsoft fashion you then stop your very own customers from using your very own music player.

It seems that when Microsoft release the Zune media player in the United States on 14th November, they’ll also be closing down the MSN Music store to replace it with their new Zune music store service. However, for some reason they aren’t allowing songs bought via the MSN Music store to play on the Zune media player – something which will potentially anger customers of what looks to be another flop of this MP3 player.

The reason behind this is down to the PlayForSure DRM system, a certification given by Microsoft to verify that music stores using the Windows Media Audio/Video (WMA) format will play on players that back the PlayForSure system. Apple has its own system called FairPlay DRM which uses the AAC format (Apples version of WMA) and is only used on content purchased from the iTunes Store – this content can only be transferred to devices supporting it, which is currently only the iPod.

A few of the vendors that support the PlayForSure system are Creative Labs, Samsung, Toshiba and San Disk, etc. However, Microsoft aren’t allowing the Zune to support the PlayForSure system, giving it its own DRM system to stop customers from buying music on other stores and transferring it to the Zune device. Microsoft is basically trying to attempt an Apple scenario where media purchased on their store must be played on their player.

Possible solution?

Rhapsody, an online music store owned by RealNetworks, currently allows users to convert tracks purchased on the Rhapsody music service (which uses the Helix DRM) to Apple’s AAC FairPlay DRM, allowing music to be transferred to the iPod. Apple has constantly challenged this by updating the firmware on iPod, but RealNetworks continually responds with further updates to their own store to allow this conversion to carry on. There is no reason why Microsoft couldn’t offer the same service with the Zune store when it is released, allowing its users to convert previously purchased tracks from its MSN Music Store to the Zune format. The only downfall of this is that tracks purchased from other services using the PlayForSure service will also be playable on the Zune device, further stopping Microsoft from achieving their plan.

What about MSN Music customers and others with supporting devices?

It seems as though music purchased via MSN Music will still be listenable, allowing users to transfer music to and from supporting devices. Of course once the store closes there will be no chance of buying more music from it. Most devices should still be usable though as Napster, URGE and Yahoo! Music still offer content using Microsoft’s PlayForSure system.

It seems as though Microsoft is willing to cut off a large number of current customers just to set up a closed group on the Zune player. Their past ‘mistakes’ could offer a bleak future, despite Microsoft claiming to pump billions into the Zune player in order to make it successful, even if the success isn’t apparent at first.