MTV & Microsoft team up to build online music service

MTV announced Tuesday that it is joining with Microsoft to build a new online music service that will be integrated into Microsoft's Windows Media Player. The new service, URGE, will not be compatible with iPods or Macs, according to Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research.

The Associated Press reports that URGE will offer more than two million tracks for individual download or by subscription. Pricing has not been disclosed. There are also plans for the service to offer online radio. MTV Networks will own and operate URGE, with Microsoft building the technology.

Although this sounds like a couple of the big boys teaming up to challenge Apple, MTV's chief digital officer Jason Hirschhorn says URGE will not target iPod users.
"We think the iPod has done a great job. Our aim is not to switch people from iTunes and the iPod. We need to concentrate on where there's going to be a bigger market."

If URGE concentrates on attracting subscription users, it won't pose a direct challenge to Apple's music services. A subscription service is like renting music. A listener pays a monthly fee to download music to a computer or a music player, but can't play the music when the subscription runs out. Apple has avoided a subscription scheme in favor of popular individual downloads.

MTV has been promising to launch URGE for a while now, but the service hasn't yet materialized. Launch is now targeted for early next year, with more details expected at CES in January.