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Microsoft Kills Off Zune Music Service (networkworld.com)

Posted by timothy on from the it-was-never-really-there dept.

alphadogg writes: It's one of those "You mean it was still alive?" moments: Microsoft today officially has killed off its Zune music streaming and download service. The company notified users in September that Zune services would be retired on Nov. 15. Microsoft has been phasing out its Zune brand for some time now, with Zune music service being morphed into Xbox music and then Groove music. Devices were discontinued in 2011.

12 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Zune! Zune! Zune! by grilled-cheese · · Score: 2

    "And we listen to al our music on the most wonderful device created; the Zune. Zune! Zune! Zune!" - The Simpsons S24E02

  2. How do you know you can trust online services? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How can you trust these online services? One of the biggest IT related companies was behind this service, yet they pull the plug. This is not some service that you only use as long as you need it for your project. It is a service that replaces the old school 'buy a record, and keep forever' type of consumption goods. What when you want to throw a party with a couple of good friends within a decade or two and say "do you remember this song?" followed by a silence when you want to start that old song because the service no longer exists?

    For now iTunes seems to work. Steam seems to work. The cloud for files is only used as an online backup (in my case), so I'm safe there too. Steam is in fact a service that let many games evolve to newer and better platforms. Some old games didn't work anymore on newer operating systems, but I've found out that some of them now even work on Linux and Mac. But it is just a matter of time before they pull the plug.

    I still don't trust iTunes, although I only buy music through iTunes. It is just way too easy: What's this song, click buy, and you 'own' the song. I always sync the iTunes library to my main Linux desktop and hope I can safe my music collection this way, so I can throw a party when I'm 55, and do the shuffle on that old school drum'n bass tune I still have on iTunes in 2030 (and probably end up in hospital, in my mind I'm still 21 years old, but my body doesn't seem to follow my mind).

    1. Re:How do you know you can trust online services? by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How can you trust these online services? One of the biggest IT related companies was behind this service, yet they pull the plug.

      You can't. Microsoft has already done this sort of thing before with "Plays For Sure." Storing your data on other people's servers ("The Cloud") is a way to lose it when you don't have some kind of backup.

      Buying music on iTunes (or other places without DRM) is fine, though.....if iTunes goes away, you can still play it.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:How do you know you can trust online services? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I don't think this is any different than iTunes. This is mostly name and official support, my "Zune Pass" (I was grandfathered into the old 15$ version which gave me 10 credits for songs every month) has worked all along on the new Windows 8 Music apps and through the Xbox Music / Groove Music transitions. The email I got at the end of September just said my "Zune Pass" was now "Xbox Music Pass" and had dropped in price. I still have access to all the files I've bought in the past.

      My guess is that the DRM thing just means if you had Pass subscription files on a Zune, you're not going to be able to update the content licenses anymore: meaning, you won't be able to use Zune devices with anything but MP3s without content protection. It's basically the same as if you had Pass content and didn't sync for a month except now you can't update those licenses when you sync and thus will only be able to get that content through the new apps. I'd have to dig out my Zune to confirm but I'm pretty sure that it's only saying those particular devices won't be able to sync that type of content any more.

    3. Re:How do you know you can trust online services? by PPH · · Score: 2

      "do you remember this song?"

      We can remember it for you wholesale.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  3. Curse of DRM strikes again... by mTor · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you've been a honest customer and actually purchased music from the Zune Marketplace store, it most definitely has DRM. And after the service is shut down, your music collection will be rendered useless and you won't be able to play it again.

    From TFA:

    Note Content that was purchased with DRM may not play if the license canâ(TM)t be renewed.

    1. Re:Curse of DRM strikes again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      When Sony shut down their service, they recommended everyone burn the purchased songs to cds and rip them to have a drm-free copy as further use would be prevented in the case of a renewed license issue. I found this so interesting that I actually saved a copy of the web page. Within a few days Sony updated the information about the music service getting shut down and quietly removed the information about making cds and ripping them.

      Just showed me that their are real people that actually care working at these places and then the lawyers come into play.

    2. Re:Curse of DRM strikes again... by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 4, Funny

      What about the guy with the Zune tattoo? Will his skin stop working?

      More importantly, will his brain start working?

      --
      Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  4. Re:I would be genuinely curious by Snufu · · Score: 3, Funny

    Perhaps consumers never warmed to a product whose main selling point involved "Steve Ballmer squirting at you."

    http://fishbowl.pastiche.org/2...

  5. Re:I own two Zunes - both brown by globaljustin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The best media player ever

    from a purely hardware perspective, i'll allow it

    the Zune was made to take full advantage of all digital media has to offer...particularly video

    granted, with enough effort you can get the same functionality on an ipod, but still the hardware of the Zune is solid

    of course M$ ruined it, as they do with any good idea, but i can see why a person would really find one useful

    --
    Thank you Dave Raggett
  6. Re:I would be genuinely curious by Tough+Love · · Score: 2

    It was the thought of Ballmer squirting that killed it.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  7. Re:I own two Zunes - both brown by b0bby · · Score: 2

    I don't know about ever, but I have a brown Zune too, and up until this year (when I switched to Sonos) it was the main audio source for my kitchen/dining room speakers. I used the radio a lot, and being able to sync wirelessly was great for the time. When my kids were smaller I would load videos on it for traveling. I even prefer the Zune software to iTunes. I got it cheap from Woot, and it has been one of the best electronic purchases I've ever made.

    I never trusted MS for music purchases, but the hardware and software were really pretty good.