Continuing on our coverage of MSFT’s music announcement today (full coverage here), what happens to MSN/Microsoft’s music partners, especially MTV, which recently launched Urge music service on the backs of WMP11? And then, what will happen to its music-hyped-yet-damp-squib “Playsforsure” strategy, where it was touting choices? Now, with its own full-fledged music service and hardware, that might be a no-go down the line.
News.com asked that exact question to execs at these companies. Will Zune music service work with all of the third-party players out there, such as the Clix and devices from Samsung, Creative and others, and whether rival music services, such as Urge, RealNetworks’ Rhapsody and Napster, will work with Zune hardware?
MTV’s spokesperson told News.com that the company couldn’t say anything. Napster spokesperson said it would welcome a cool product that works with its service, but declined to comment on the real question.
On the device side, iRiver America CEO Jonathan Sasse expressed hope that the Zune could help raise awareness of non-iPod devices such as the Clix.