Owner Or Renter?

The issue of whether it's better to own your music, or to pay a monthly subscription is not likely to get settled soon.  On the one hand, for folks that keep their listening preferences pretty steady, owning is likely the better deal (long term) as their playlist remains rather constant.  However, for younger folks that never listen to the same song twice that like to explore various types of music, an "all you can eat" subscription plan becomes an affordable way to have access to much music.  After all, at around a buck a download, and a large player to fill, it can become a sizable investment to fill it all up.

With that background, I found this on BusinessWeek:

One thing you can say for Microsoft: It doesn't give up without a fight. Its first music player, called the Zune, failed to even ding Apple's market-beating iPod, so Microsoft has come right back with version 2.0. And while I think iPod and iTunes will hang on to their leadership for now, an all-you-can-eat music subscription plan gives the Zune some real advantages.

I'm not sure why they are associating the Zune 2.0 with subscription music, because, after all, the Zune Marketplace works with the original Zune as well.  It's nice to see that Wall Street and Crew seem to be coming around, and looking at some of the differentiating features of the Zune line.  Especially for teenagers who constantly want the latest music, the Zune Marketplace is an affordable way to have the latest music, all the time.

The article goes on to say:

Subscription music has been slow to catch on. But with sales of CDs and of copy-protected downloads both crumbling, it may represent the only viable long-term business model for the music industry—despite Apple's stubborn opposition. As it happens, the Zune Pass is too expensive and too restrictive. The music can be played only on Zunes, Xbox 360s, and Windows PCs. Even devices compatible with the older Microsoft PlaysforSure protection, such as the Sonos music system (BusinessWeek, 11/26/07) are left in the cold.

Hmmm.  Seems pretty good to me.   Where else did he want to play his music?   Any Zune can be hooked up to the car or home stereo.  I doubt that by not supporting the way overpriced Sonos system that Microsoft is missing many (or probably any) customers.  I know that if I can play my music on my computer, in my car, and on my stereo that's all I'd expect from any player, and I'm a happy customer.

The comments at the end of their article are also informative to gauge how the current thinking is.  I'm at a loss to explain how folks can defend the "openness" of the AAC format that is exclusive to iPods.  After all, this format is equally restrictive in only allowing music to be played from the player and from the computer, and this is for tracks that the consumer has purchased and owns outright.  I can accept these restrictions a lot more easily in a rental model than I can in a purchased one.

In the end, it's ironic that the best way, even in our era of broadband access, to get unrestricted tracks is to rip them yourself from the CD.  Perhaps that's the current driver of CD sales in our current environment.

Comments

[Steve]

A subscription used in conjunction with a little program called FairUse4WM provides pretty much all the flexibility you'd need, although unethically.