Microsoft’s plans for the Zune

Take one look at the Zune and you know that even though its a great media player, it’s not one to really create any splash in the digital music industry, and definitely not one to pose much of a threat to the iPod, the current leader in the media player market. Why?

Because Zune wasn’t meant to create a splash nor pose any threat to other competing products……yet.

To understand Microsoft’s strategy, you need to realize that the Zune is much more than a media player, its a platform. With the Zune out of the door Microsoft is not only gaining a customer base, but an assortment of accessories and services specific to the Zune, as well as media content providers.

A lot of work is being done on Zune as we speak, and the best part about it is that you’ll be able to get most of the planned features with a firmware update.

Here’s a list of some of the things planned:

- Buy songs, music videos, movies, TV Shows, etc. from the Zune Marketplace. You’ll also be able to purchase accessories online from Microsoft partners.

- Get a whole range of free content like artist interviews, video biographies, podcasts, etc.

- Get music from independent artists at a cheap price (anywhere from 0 to 50 points).

- Access the Zune Marketplace from your Zune, and buy/download content through your Wi-Fi connection.

- Add upto 5 friends with whom you can share music without the “3 day 3 play” restriction. [not sure if it will have another form of restriction]

- No “3 day 3 play” restriction on music not purchased from the Zune Marketplace.

There are some other stuff planned that may fall through, one of which is quite interesting. Microsoft is planning on placing a small (10-20 seconds) audio advertisement at the end of certain songs, currently only indie labels. You’ll be able to stream and listen to these songs on your Zune for free, however you’ll still need to pay to download them. Apparently you may listen to the songs as many times as you want but you’ll have to listen to the ads each time as well. If this plan comes through and the program expands to all major record labels, the Zune might be you pass to all the music you ever wanted. Personally I feel that this is a great idea, where we get the music, and record labels get their money from the advertisers.