by Daniel Allwin

Created on: May 19, 2009   Last Updated: May 27, 2009

Zune Pass - Microsoft's latest all-out-war on Apple's iTunes

Is Zune Pass Microsoft's latest all-out-war on Apple's iTunes? With a monthly Zune Pass music subscription, you can download millions of tracks from Zune Marketplace website for $14.99 a month. Will this move from Microsoft woo consumers from iTunes to embrace Zune Marketplace?

In the past, I used to be amazed at the marketing genius of Microsoft. Even before their products were launched, they quickly and seamlessly integrate their way into the mainstream vocabulary of personal computing. But lately Apple seems to be doing just the same with their iPods and iTunes. In fact, Apple's huge success with the iPod and iPhone is boiling over into the PC arena and more people are now talking "MAC" than "PC". Microsoft is definitely nervous over this fact and they have been trying to reverse this status quo with many campaigns. The most recent addition is Zune Pass.

What is Zune Pass?

With a monthly Zune Pass music subscription, you can download millions of tracks from Zune Marketplace website for $14.99 a month. You also get to keep 10 of your favorite songs each month to add to your permanent collection. If you drop your monthly subscription, you still can keep your 10 songs (for each month that you had the subscription).

Will it work?

Microsoft claims that to fill a 120GB iPod it takes a whopping $30,000. I did the calculation and it is true. A 120GB iPod can hold 30,000 songs and when you multiply that by $1 for each song purchased on iTunes, you get $30,000. Sounds great for a marketing pitch but it is misguided. I read somewhere that on an average, people only have 375 songs stored on their mp3 device, with iPod owners having a slightly larger average at 504 songs. For people like me, who download a few songs now and then, Zune Pass does not make a difference. But for someone who usually downloads more, Zune Pass is definitely worth exploring as you end up only paying $5 for the ability to listen to all the music you want each month while getting to buy and keep 10 songs to have with you forever. You could pay $10 on iTunes and get 10 songs, but that is all you could listen. For music savvy new new digital music player fans and younger people just building up their collection, Zune Pass may be the way to go.

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