Microsoft started to bring into action its cunning plan to copy Apple’s iTunes. As a result, the company recently announced the launch of its own music service.
This isn’t the first time that the software giant has had a crack at copying Apple’s music service. The first attempt has failed dismally: Microsoft’s Zune entertainment system has got the thumbs down by the Tame Apple press. Now the company has decided to take advantage of Xbox console’s success as its selling point, and announced that Xbox Music, a new digital music service, is now available for its consoles. Moreover, the company promised to expand the service next week to Windows software-based PCs and tablets, including the upcoming Surface tablet, after its new Windows 8 OS is released. Finally, the service will also be rolled out to phones.
It looks like the software giant has just realized that its efforts to turn the Xbox console into an entertainment hub are able to help give Apple a run for its money. Over 67,000,000 consoles have been sold within the last 7 years, while Microsoft reasons that they could provide the potential users for the new service.
Nevertheless, the company has been slow off the mark. The company first noticed that Xbox users were spending almost twice less time on entertainment services compared to video gaming last year.
The Xbox is streaming Netflix, ESPN and a few other channels. In addition it is also bolstering its service with music and video material. The plan is that the company will offer a free ad-supported music streaming service, alongside with a premium $9.99 per month subscription service for unlimited and ad-free streaming.
Xbox users can download music from the online store offering more than 30 million tracks in its global catalog. This actually is more than iTunes’ library of 26 million songs. In addition, Microsoft’s service also carries more than 70,000 music videos, which can only be available on the Xbox console.
It is known that the software giant is providing cloud-storage features, just like iTunes and Amazon Cloud Player. Microsoft also offers an artist-based radio function, such as well-known music streaming services Pandora and Spotify. Xbox Music is announced to be launched across 22 countries.
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