What is the big deal about Xbox Music or Zune?

[Laura Knotek]

I never owned a Zune or an Xbox.

I buy my music from Amazon.com and also stream music from Slacker, Pandora, iHeartRadio, last.fm, TuneInRadio.

Since I've never used Zune Pass, Zune or Xbox, I really do not understand the hype about Xbox Music.

What does Xbox Music offer that is any better or different than the other things I mentioned? Why would I bother paying for an Xbox Music subscription when I can buy songs from Amazon.com and actually own them/install them wherever I want and stream music for free with the other services?

I am not bashing Xbox Music. I really just want more information.

How would Xbox Music benefit a person who does not own an Xbox and already has so many other choices for listening to music?

 

[gzlesk]

Its like Amazon music place, pandora and spotify wrapped into one. You can buy music, stream specific songs and pick a band or artist and it will play songs that are like it. And you dont need an xbox or xbox subscription to use it. It will work on windows 8/rt, xbox 360, wp8, ios, and android. You can also store them to skydrive and play them down from there.
I mean if your fine with pandora and such thats fine. But one of the big emphasises on it is you can have you bought music and streaming music all in one place instead of 3 differant services, like your doing now.

 

[Laura Knotek]

So does that mean Xbox Music actually allows one to purchase DRM-free MP3s like Amazon.com?

If so, how much do songs cost compared to Amazon.com?

 

[theefman]

I dont see the benefit either in paying $10 a month for streaming that you can get free elsewhere. You still have to pay for tracks you want to own so its not something I would use.

 

[andrelamont]

Consolidation.

Like the above poster mentioned, all the service in one store

* itunes match / amazon cloud / xbox music scan and store
* streaming
* purchasing
- subscription services for local playing of music

There are some advantages to having all your music services under one brand. Just like the other services you can buy songs from XMusic.

What would make this service valuable is to having it work across all iOS devices, android devices as well as MS devices. So you will have effectively decoupled your music services from any platform. So I can buy music on my imaginary iPhone and pickup where i left off on my android tablet and still get access to it on my windows desktop

 

[andrelamont]

I dont see the benefit either in paying $10 a month for streaming that you can get free elsewhere. You still have to pay for tracks you want to own so its not something I would use.

I wouldn't pay $10 either, but some people find value in that. If MS has scan and store services for music backup I would do that. I use itunes match currently and it doesnt work too good plus it doesnt work on my my WP7 phone

 

[gzlesk]

I dont see the benefit either in paying $10 a month for streaming that you can get free elsewhere. You still have to pay for tracks you want to own so its not something I would use.

Where can you get it for free

 

[Laura Knotek]

Where can you get it for free

Pandora, Slacker, last.fm, iHeartRadio, TuneInRadio all stream music free of charge.

 

[cgk]

Pandora, Slacker, last.fm, iHeartRadio, TuneInRadio all stream music free of charge.

And you can select and download albums to listen when you like ?- Pandora isn't available in my country but I have used both last.FM and tunein - one is simply access to radio stations and the other allows you to select genres - the user control is fairly limited.

 

[Laura Knotek]

And you can select and download albums to listen when you like ?- Pandora isn't available in my country but I have used both last.FM and tunein - one is simply access to radio stations and the other allows you to select genres - the user control is fairly limited.

That's why I use Amazon.com. I buy the song, not just stream it on a specific device. It's DRM free, so I can put it on any device or even physical media.

I can't see paying to stream music that I don't own. If I pay for it, I want to own it and be able to use it wherever I want, including on physical media.

 

[pavvento]

That's why I use Amazon.com. I buy the song, not just stream it on a specific device. It's DRM free, so I can put it on any device or even physical media.

I can't see paying to stream music that I don't own. If I pay for it, I want to own it and be able to use it wherever I want, including on physical media.

I use the Zune service and love it. The benefit of paying $9.99/month is if you like discovering new music. I use the Smart DJ (like pandora) to create a playlist of random songs from the marketplace and all those songs get downloaded to my computer/WP7 so I can listen to them without streaming. It works out well and I'll usually create 3-4 new playlists a week and then if I really like a new song I hear I'll download it DRM free.

 

[cgk]

That's why I use Amazon.com. I buy the song, not just stream it on a specific device. It's DRM free, so I can put it on any device or even physical media.

I can't see paying to stream music that I don't own. If I pay for it, I want to own it and be able to use it wherever I want, including on physical media.

I'm not bothered and for the ?4 a month I pay for spotify, I could maybe buy four singles - so maybe 46 songs per year - I could listen to more new music than that in a couple of days.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I'm not bothered and for the ?4 a month I pay for spotify, I could maybe buy four singles - so maybe 46 songs per year - I could listen to more new music than that in a couple of days.

I see that you have used last.fm. I actually used last.fm on my PC before I even had it available on a mobile. I actually find a lot of new music via last.fm. Did you dislike last.fm or not find many new songs via last.fm?

 

[cgk]

I see that you have used last.fm. I actually used last.fm on my PC before I even had it available on a mobile. I actually find a lot of new music via last.fm. Did you dislike last.fm or not find many new songs via last.fm?

Unless it has changed radically since the last time I used it - Last.fm is essentially a radio station - I have broad control over genre or "music like artist X" but if I hear a song and want to hear the rest of the album, I can't simply select the rest of the album.

If I hear something on the TV or playing when I'm out and about, I can't simply select that specific track in last.fm and play it there and then can I?

 

[palandri]

I don't listen to a lot of music, but I have bought some music and movies from Amazon.

The movies from Amazon can come with a mobile file that can be loaded on up to two devices.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Unless it has changed radically since the last time I used it - Last.fm is essentially a radio station - I have broad control over genre or "music like artist X" but if I hear a song and want to hear the rest of the album, I can't simply select the rest of the album.



If I hear something on the TV or playing when I'm out and about, I can't simply select that specific track in last.fm and play it there and then can I?

You are correct. I've never been that interested in hearing the rest of the album, though.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I don't listen to a lot of music, but I have bought some music and movies from Amazon.



The movies from Amazon can come with a mobile file that can be loaded on up to two devices.

I've never purchased a single movie or even purchased a single DVD.

I stream movies and TV shows on Netflix.

 

[shingi_70]

I've never purchased a single movie or even purchased a single DVD.

I stream movies and TV shows on Netflix.

So if you use netflix why would you be wondering why people would be using a music based service of the same idea?


Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Laura Knotek]

So if you use netflix why would you be wondering why people would be using a music based service of the same idea?


Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk 2

Because there aren't any free services for watching movies and TV shows.

 

[johnmcd348]

I dont see the benefit either in paying $10 a month for streaming that you can get free elsewhere. You still have to pay for tracks you want to own so its not something I would use.

That's pretty much been my argument for Satellite radio also. I have a huge collection of music on my computer and I can say, that for the most part, the selection I found on Xbox/Zune/Amazon/iTunes, et al., have nothing I am missing. I converted or have found digital copies of every album, tape I have ever owned and wanted to listen to. I have nearly 1 terabyte HD on my computer that is loaded with my music collection and there's probably a pretty good bit of it not available in the online stores. Try finding David and David's: Welcome to the Boom Town at any of the online stores.

I'll load a few files onto my phone through Zune but I can't see loading up my skydrive account since I am 3G and the ability to stream really isn't good enough for listening.