Ending months of confusion about MSN’s download music strategy, the two-year-old MSN Music store—which never really gained traction in the competition with Apple—will stop selling downloads Nov. 14. Traffic being redirected instead to RealNetwork’s Rhapsody or the new Zune Marketplace, according to a note on the site.  A message with similar info went out today to MSN Music users, Cnet News.com reports.; the site had the story first.
Zune runs completely contrary to the MSN Music notion of selling WMA-based music that could be played on any PlaysForSure devices, opting instead for a closed system relying on a new format. Why Rhapsody? It goes back to the 2005 settlement between Microsoft and RealNetworks; one aspect keeps Microsoft from promoting any music service more prominently than Rhapsody.
—MSN Radio will be free
—The recent MSN deal with Control Room (formerly Network Live) highlights the new emphasis of MSN Music on content, not sales.
—Downloads already purchased can still be played, transferred to PlaysForSure devices and burned to CDs for personal use.
—“Buy” buttons will change to links to Rhapsody and Zune.
Update: Meanwhile,  the Zune site is now online.
Related: MSN Music Launches Formally; European Stores Launched
—MSN Music: It’s Really About Windows
—RNWK-MSFT: The Music & Games Agreement