Zune Subscription

I've been scrounging around online and thought I might be able to get a definitive answer here.

Currently, I have Napster-to-go with my Dell DJ. The DJ is on it's way out the door, and I'm looking at getting a Zune. Will this Zune subscription thing for 15 bucks a month allow me to transfer music to the player itself, or is it simply to let you listen to music on your computer

In other words, will there be something like napster-to-go that works with the Zune

TIA!

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Zune Subscription

Steve Wenck

duck thing wrote:

Just how large is their music library My biggest concern with online music stores has always been that I perceive them as having all of the new "hot" artists who are receiving lots of radio play, but nothing that I'll actually be interested in paying to listen to. I'd be extremely disappointed if I signed up for a service and discovered that their music collection doesn't include anything that hasn't made the Top-40 lists.

The MusicNet library, which most of them use, is pretty large. In addition to the top 40 stuff you would expect, they also have a good selection of alternative and older tracks. I've found a lot of alt-country and alternative/punk rock albums that I like. The only things really lacking from the library are titles on indie labels that haven't contracted with them yet, titles that have conflicts between copyright holders and titles by certain major acts that have a luddite and/or greedy streak when it comes to online music.

Christian Sparre
It will allow you to transfer the tracks to the player--it works just like Napster to go, just better and much more reliable!
masternav
How is the system working so far How does the library compare with other companies (Napster, Yahoo, Rhapsody)
PJFINTRAX
I'm really confused about the Zune Terms of Service, specifically section 14, Content Usage Rules. The way it reads, it sounds like I will lose access to any content purchased during my subscription if I end my subscription. For example, I buy a Zune today, subscribe to Zune Marketplace for 6 months and download music onto the device. After I end my subscription, I can't listen to any of it. This sounds like I'll have to pay for the rest of my life to listen to Zune Marketplace content that I paid for. Is this true Am I getting this right
Mongsreturn
Thanks Joel, that really cleared it up though I think it should be stated more clearly on the Zune site. I agree that it would pay for itself assuming you usually buy 1 CD per month (forever ). I'm more of the 'a few here, a few there' person, so the purchase option would work best for me.

Thanks again!
Janice_777
I have been using Zune since my kids gave me one for Xmas, and it is the iTunes killer. The subscription is a bargain. I have been downloading and listening to literally hundreds of songs I would NEVER pay for on iTunes, and have really been expanding my musical vocabulary. Sure, if I stop paying I'll lose them, but I'll always get the chance to buy them, and Zune's average price seems to be .79 for a song vs. .99 for Apple. The marketplace has run exceedingly well and FAST for me... you can stack up tons of albums to download, walk away, and they'll be there in a couple of minutes. Syncing to the Zune is much faster than iPod, and I have been able to use my player on all 3 of my computers with no hitches. My only fault is that you can't edit a playlist on the player or on the computer -- you have to create a whole new one and sync it as best I can tell -- of course, I'm probably doing it wrong. Microsoft has to come out with a tinyZune that is a lot smaller, and then AAPL will be trading down at 50 in a couple of weeks. I suspect Jobs played around with the Zune website, and realized that, after a while, iTunes growth is dead (except for all the morons who just keep buying Apple's second rate overpriced junk because they're too stupid to try anything that isn't white.)
ccharlesb

mykenk wrote:
How does the library compare with other companies (Napster, Yahoo, Rhapsody)

From what I understand, all of them use the same online licensing company, MusicNet, for their files so the selection is virtually the same on all of the subscription services. It's really a matter of how well the software offered by the provider integrates with your portable player and the quality of the UI.
Coach24

Yes, it's true. Think about it though--you pay $14.99/month, and have access to a library of around 2 million songs. So, for $14.99/month, you can listen to whatever you want. It's true that when you stop paying, you stop being able to listen to the music--the subscription is more of a music rental service than a music buying service. Think about it though--if you buy more than one CD a month, it's already a good deal to get the subscription. The subscription also offers you the ability to listen to entire albums that you otherwise would have had to pay for before listening to it. I've been doing it for 2 years, and I have to say that I'm glad I went this direction rather than continuing to waste money on CDs that I often didn't like.
huabing78
You don't have to use the Zune market place if you don't want to. I haven't even tried out my 14 day free trial that comes with a Zune.

For the most part, the Zune works like any other player out there, just put your songs on it and go.
Dave9999

Sounds about right. Not to worry, some clever hacker will find a way around the DRM system.
AI_for_all
What is Zune ....I Have no clue I'm out of the tech loop
cjacquel

Just how large is their music library My biggest concern with online music stores has always been that I perceive them as having all of the new "hot" artists who are receiving lots of radio play, but nothing that I'll actually be interested in paying to listen to. I'd be extremely disappointed if I signed up for a service and discovered that their music collection doesn't include anything that hasn't made the Top-40 lists.
Todd Biggs - Windows Live

...and if you've ever used Napster, Yahoo, or Rhapsody, you'll know that "stable" isn't really a word you'd use to describe using their software. I prefer the Zune experience the best so far for a subscription service, although I still find iTunes a cleaner interface overall.
Anton Dimitrov
Hi - somewhat related question about previously purchased (prior to my Zune) wma files form MSN Music store:

I expected Zune to automatically add my purchased .wma format songs (about 70 of them) to the Zune library. It did not happen. The My Music folder where these songs are stored was automatically stored in the Zune Library, however it will not recognize/add the songs to the Zune Library.

I tried burning a few songs from the MS Windows Media player, and ripping them back to the Zune library and this did work somewhat - the files can be played and synced with the device, but for the majority the album/artist/song info does not come over - it all shows as unknown.

Zune support was not helpful. I checked the license properties on all the songs and all can be played, burned and synched unlimited number of times

Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated
Zune Subscription

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