Microsoft is gearing up for a tremendous marketing blitz as the launch date for Windows 8 approaches. The technology giant has been giving out tid-bits of information as the buildup continues and the latest news is that Canada and 22 other countries around the world that get Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 products can access Xbox Music on October 26th. The new streaming music service from Microsoft is expected to have a library just as big as Apple’s iTunes. The Windows 8 creator has also promised to have versions of Xbox Music for the iOS and Android platforms soon. For now, Microsoft users will be the first to get the services at $10 a month for streaming services called Xbox Music Pass.
Windows 8 and Windows RT users in Canada can also get the free version of Xbox Music but will need to deal with advertisements. However, Windows Phone does not have a free version customers will need to get the monthly subscription to get access.
The Microsoft service has tried to grab the best features from its competitors and put them into one service. For example, a user can buy a song and then save it to the cloud much like Amazon. Furthermore, users can get Rdio like service because they will be able to cache music and listen to it offline. Xbox Music Pass users will not just be getting the songs but also a video collection on the Xbox 360 which can be viewed with the Xbox Live Gold subscription.
Xbox Music also has a ton of other features like “intelligent playlist support, dubbed Smart DJ, plus an iTunes Match equivalent dubbed CloudStorage, which will add your current music collection to the cloud, even those tracks from other services, even if it’s not available on Microsoft’s catalogue.”
Micrsoft is trying to create services that will complement and support its ecosystem which will soon include an OS that seamlessly runs on PC, laptops, tablets and smartphones. The company is try to get users of music services from Apple, Amazon, Spotify and Pandora to make their way to Microsoft products.
According to Michael Gartenberg, an analyst for Gartner Inc., “This gives Microsoft a strong music story which they’ve lacked for years and extends the Xbox brand to media and entertainment. A free streaming service with ads every 15 or 20 minutes is pretty compelling. This is will put a lot of pressure on the Spotify’s, the Rdio’s and Pandora’s.”
The Xbox Music service is expected to have a worldwide catalog of 30 million tracks.
Source: MobileSyrup , Business Insider
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