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Xbox Music goes head on with Spotify: web streaming now free, iOS and Android apps out today
Xbox Music is going free over the web today, and its long-awaited iOS and Android versions are also set to launch at some point today. The move puts Xbox Music and Microsoft on a new course, positioning the service to rival major streaming music providers like Spotify and Rdio. "The Spotify model is the most disruptive thing that's happened in the music industry in the last five years," Xbox Music GM Jerry Johnson told Engadget in an interview this week. With the move to free streaming on the web -- something that's been available to Windows 8 users for some time now -- Johnson and Microsoft are hoping to get in on that disruption. The first six months of streaming are entirely free, and becomes more limited after that. Like Spotify, Johnson reasons that users will be drawn in for free on the web and upgrade to the Xbox Music Pass ($10/month or $100/year). Also like Spotify, the mobile apps are essentially useless without a paid subscription. It's unclear if streaming will be free for the Xbox One version that launches this November, though we'd bet that the first 30 days are free (like with the Xbox 360 iteration). There are some new images of what it'll look like on Xbox One in the gallery below -- it's essentially a shinier version of the one you're used to on your current Xbox 360. Sadly, the iOS and Android apps don't launch with the ability to save and play tracks offline; offline playback functionality is coming "in the coming months," we're told. Oh, and when Windows 8.1 launches in October, the Web Playlist tool (which creates playlists based on whatever website you're viewing) will arrive alongside the OS update for Windows 8 users. We'd leave you with a link to Tears for Fears' timely song, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," but Xbox Music doesn't allow users to link out. Instead, there's a YouTube embed below. Dance with us like it's 1985!
Editorial: The most exciting Xbox SmartGlass application isn't what you'd think
In Microsoft's ongoing battle to alter your association between "Xbox" and "Video Games," SmartGlass is its latest volley. Employing your favorite mobile device -- Windows Phone 7.5/8, Android, and iOS devices are all supported -- SmartGlass enables you to control your Dashboard experience, explore the web, input text, and much more. But what Microsoft's really banking on is its "second screen" functionality, essentially enabling another layer of interactivity with video, music, games, and the Xbox 360's other, less ballyhooed service: sports. It's this final layer that I found most enticing during a recent hands-on meeting with Microsoft. Could sports be the "killer app" that MS needs to get SmartGlass out of its tiny niche and into the hands of the masses? I think so.
With the launch of Xbox Music, Zune is truly no more (update: Zune Pass users get 1,000 Microsoft point parting gift)
It's over, folks. Or at least nearly over. Write it down -- time of death: 12:01AM ET, October 16. That's when the Zune brand is officially no more, and "Xbox Music/Video" and its store replace the Zune Marketplace; the final, quiet end of a brand that's been waning for years. "Yes, the Zune brand is gone, and the Zune products are gone," Xbox Music GM Jerry Johnson told us in a meeting last week. While Zune devices will still work with Windows 7, and the Zune Pass simply becomes the Xbox Music Pass, the brand is effectively no more, joining the Kin and Microsoft Bob in the annals of MS history. Bizarrely, the branding will continue on for Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 users, with the Zune Marketplace mirroring Xbox Music's content. That's likely due to Xbox Music being exclusive to Windows 8 devices (which includes the Xbox 360, despite its age, and Windows Phone 8) -- Microsoft promises a continued focus on Xbox Music going forward, while Zune support drops out. In the end, though Zune was a failure for Microsoft, Johnson said it was a worthwhile learning experience for the company. "The Zune brand got associated with a device, and what we did with Xbox Music is actually turn around and say, 'Let's build something from the ground up, leveraging what we've learned from a lot of these different things.' But it's not gonna be device-centric, it's gonna be service-centric," he explained. In Johnson's eyes, the failure of Zune as a brand is directly tied to the failure of Zune as a device -- and having the highly successful Xbox brand tied to its media offerings, he's hoping to skirt previous negative perceptions and relaunch Microsoft's place in media delivery. Whether that'll happen remains to be seen, but either way, this is the final nail in the Zune's coffin -- not just as a device, but as a thing in the world. Update: Looks like Microsoft hasn't forgotten the loyalty of the diehards who stayed with Zune until the end, as Zune Music Pass users are getting 1,000 Microsoft Points for free along with the switch to Xbox Music.
