Microsoft quits the MSN Music store

In another strong example of Microsoft's continued "investment" in PlaysForSure, it's pulling out of MSN Music, the big M's very own store for selling the not-completely-dead-yet music format. Now, instead of offering up fairly generic tracks at fairly generic prices, the MSN Music store will offer prospective listeners the choice of hopping over to Microsoft's Zune store, or Real's Rhapsody. We've gotta give Microsoft props forwarding on to a competitor like that (or, at least props for following the terms of a 2005 legal settlement), and in its defense, the URGE store Microsoft started with MTV is still going strong, but with Real slowly moving over to their own DRM, FairUse4WM alive and kicking, and now the MSN Music shut-down, things aren't looking great for PlaysForSure. The changeover happens on November 14th, and Microsoft promises that purchased tracks will continue to work. MSN Music will live on as a music content site, with the "Buy" buttons forwarding users on to Zune or Rhapsody.

[telepheedian @ Nov 3rd 2006 3:51PM]

This doesn't come close to the end of PlaysForSure. Anybody who has used WMP 11 knows that MSN Music will be replaced with URGE. This is just a transition to edgier marketing, URGE is a much more "hip" service compared to MSN Music. Microsoft is just trimming it so they can exclusively run Zune and URGE.

[Dave95 @ Nov 3rd 2006 3:55PM]

Purchase tracks will continue to work sure! Just not on the Zune. But with MS killing their own PlayForSome Store, do you need more solid proof that PlaysForSome is dead?

[George @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:00PM]

Why Engadget is slowly getting into some daily Microsoft news site? I'm considering removing my RSS subscription if this trend continues.

[Jason @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:11PM]

You should use your RSS reader to subscribe to some sort of grammar blog.

[Scott @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:07PM]

George, No one cares about your RSS Subscription.

[MarxMarvelous37 @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:13PM]

George - lol. Nice, that was a good one.

[George @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:23PM]

@Microsoft shareholders/fanboys Jason and Scott

Me conformo con que se me entienda medianamente en un idioma no nativo. Teniendo un Mac y varios iPod todo esta movida MS y Zune me resulta pat�tica y lamentable e incluso pronostico que no s�lo no reducir� menos cuota de mercado para Apple sino que eliminar� peque�os competidores. Menuda basura de corporativismo.

Pues eso chicos de Engadget, si veo que las lamidas de culo a MS siguen, me quito de vuestro RSS y me quedo s�lo con TUAW. Saludos desde Espa�a.

[Matt B @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:30PM]

George's translation via google translater.
"I am satisfied whereupon it is understood to me moderately in a nonnative language. Having a Mac and several iPod all this moved MS and Zune is to me pathetic and lamentable and I even foretell that not only it will not reduce less quota of market for Apple but that will eliminate small competitors. Slight sweepings of corporativismo. Then that boys of Engadget, if I see that the licked ones of ass to MS follow, I clear to me of your RSS and I remain only with TUAW. Greetings from Spain."

[Lester @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:42PM]

They should change the name to NotCertainIfItPlaysOrNot

[Jon @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:47PM]

what are you talking about...this doesn't bode well for Plays For Sure???
Um...have you ever heard of Napster, URGE, Yahoo Music, Wal-Mart Music...and several other stores out there?

Plays For Sure is far from being dead.

[frabgod @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:50PM]

You've got to wonder how long the strange bedfellows of Zune and Rhapsody will coexist on the MSN Music site. Prediction: MSN Music will be shut down completely within 6 months.

Harvey
http://www.zunerama.com

[dextro @ Nov 3rd 2006 5:02PM]

I just don't get it... Microsoft makes Urge the default store in WMP but then the same Microsoft comes out and releases a completely different store and DRM scheme dubbed Zune that is incompatible with the current software/hardware... Does anyone see anything wrong in one company creating two "equal" products? And worst yet: make it so they don't work together? :|

[AlphaGeek @ Nov 3rd 2006 5:43PM]

Microsoft has unwittingly provided a stunningly effective justification for the existance of FairUse4WM and similar de-protection programs.

[Molly C @ Nov 4th 2006 11:36PM]

How do you figure that?
The songs already bought from MSN Music store will continue to work as the already have. You can transfer them to PlaysForSure devices, transfer them to up to 5 computers where they will be authenticated by the MSN server, back them up, transfer them to Vista, etc. There's no need to break the DRM simply because MSN is stopping the selling of songs since the songs you already bought will still work.
See http://music.msn.com/help/music/changes

[ernest leitch @ Nov 3rd 2006 5:46PM]

I signed up for the URGE music store yesterday I like it alot. I'm using their streaming service and the audio quality is VERY good. I just canceled my subscription with yahoo because it's the same price as URGE but better audio quality.

[Jarod @ Nov 3rd 2006 6:48PM]

Microsoft = garbage; Microsoft fanboys = idiots; Microsoft fanboys that got screwed (again) by Microsoft = priceless!

[Molly C @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:46PM]

Most people suspected that MSN Music would stop selling downloads once it was announced that URGE would be WMP11's "default" PlaysForSure store rather than MSN. But I'm surprised that, besides Zune and Rhapsody, MSN Music's "buy" buttons wouldn't offer URGE as well.

[sol.. @ Nov 4th 2006 10:13AM]

man..if playforsure kicks the bucket it will be steamed and do something illegal. I just bought a gigabeat because i know zune will be gayed for a while. Playforsure is important to me for at least 2 more years.

[mvan @ Nov 4th 2006 7:28PM]

With Zune (and assume the zune marketplace) delayed to a possible 2008 (or never if the US "beta" fails) launch in Uk/Europe?World outside.. another nail in the wma/plays for sure format outside the US (urge never launched outside US) Shows risk of committing to drm from closed sources, if they close down or pull out of the market your face the risk of losing your rights to play purchased music! Microsoft seem to change strategy every couple of years, pre-plays for sure / plays for sure / zune marketplace / etc..at least you know where you are with a CD!

[tekdroid @ Nov 4th 2006 7:52PM]

mvan @ Nov 4th 2006 7:28PM
at least you know where you are with a CD!
---------
Yes, and open formats like Ogg Vorbis and FLAC (both truly open source, both unpatented, both superior to proprietary offerings)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flac

[bobdole @ Nov 5th 2006 9:58PM]

I'm not sure I understand the legality of marketing something called "playsforsure" which does nothing more than reduce the ability to play it... isn't that some kind of false advertising?

[Julian Bond @ Nov 7th 2006 8:34AM]

Will someone (preferably Engadget) please do the investigation to work out what's really going on here and what it means for customers. I refuse to use DRM so I'm not quite sure why I care, except that my PMP of choice is a hacked Creative Zen Xtra with PFS firmware. So:

- How dead is PFS? And how dead is MTP? Can we expect PFS/MPT to fade so that at some stage in the future, WMP xx (where xx >11) won't be able to sync with PFS/MTP hardware?
Will that then mean that PFS/MTP plugins for things like Winamp will start to fail?

- What will the PFS hardware manufacturers do now? Ideally they should just turn their backs on this sorry mess and produce a non-DRM PMP that uses plain old USB Mass storage.

- Why would anyone allow themselves to get caught in a Zune DRM trap when people in the PFS DRM trap were cut loose? Who's to say it won't happen again?

- Zune is apparently being delayed outside the USA because the music stores aren't ready. But ISTR that the iPod was a perfectly good PMP sold in these markets before iTMS was launched there. Is it really no good unless there's the download service back up?