Microsoft has unveiled it’s Xbox Music service, it will replace the Zune Music service and offers subscriptions like Zune pass. Xbox Music will debut tomorrow, Oct 16th on Xbox 360 first later on other devices. It will compete with the Spotify Music service, it will have a 30 million song catalog to choose from.
Tomorrow it will be available on Xbox 360 consoles. It will come pre-installed on Windows 8 PCs and Windows RT tablets on October 26th. The service offers music subscription packages, free ad-supported streaming and allows users to purchase tracks of their interest. But all the options are not available in all platforms.
“There are a lot of individual services that do a good job, but today there isn’t a service which can pull together the benefits of download-to-own, music subscription, or free streaming services,” Mehdi says. “With Xbox Music, what we wanted to do is bring all of that value in one simple, easy-to-use service, then build some additional value on top — make it really beautiful, and have it work across all of your devices. We’ve been able to simplify the music experience in a really powerful way.”
Windows 8 PC and tablet users can listen to the songs for free on their machines, create music mixes and playlists, it also allows to create artist based Internet radio stations. Use Smart DJ to create playlists and purchase music of their interest. But Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 users are not lucky, they won’t be able to use the Xbox music service, as it was designed for Windows 8 and Xbox devices. But Windows 7 users can continue to use the Zune service and will have access to the same music catalogue.
The free ad supported streaming is only available on Windows 8 PCs and tablets, if you want to have Xbox Music on Windows Phone 8 or Xbox 360 you need to buy a subscription plan (Xbox Music Pass) at $9.99/ month or an annual subscription at $99.90/. Xbox Music will be the default music player for Windows 8 machines and comes pre-installed according to Microsoft. Xbox Music is cloud based so if you create playlists or purchase music you can access your lists from any device by signing-in to the device.
Xbox Music for Windows Phone 8 devices will come after Oct 26 availability on Windows 8 and the app will also be available on rival phone platforms like Android and iOS at some point in the future according to Microsoft.
The free streaming service on Windows 8 devices will launch across 15 markets worldwide and Xbox Music Pass will be available on 22 markets worldwide. Microsoft will introduce the service to more markets in the coming year.
Via Microsoft 1, 2
