Microsoft Announces Xbox Music

We had already heard many rumors, and today we finally have the official confirmation and all the details of the new music service from Microsoft. Xbox Music will offer streaming songs for free, although we will also have the possibility of having an unlimited pass as in Spotify. And, as if that were not enough, Xbox Music will also allow you to upload all your music and keep it synchronized in the cloud.

Free streaming on Windows 8 and Windows RT, paid on Windows Phone 8 and Xbox

As I said before, Xbox Music's streaming model will be very similar to Spotify's.Any user of Windows 8 or Windows RT will be able to listen to songs from the Internet without much hassle than searching for an artist and pressing play. During the first six months, the listening time will be unlimited. Thereafter, you will only be able to listen to up to ten hours of music per month .

Although not clearly specified in the press release, it appears that free streaming will be ad-supported .

For those who also want to listen to music on Windows Phone 8 or Xbox, an Xbox Music Pass will be required. For ten dollars a month, we will have unlimited access to all the music on any of our devices. Very similar to what the Zune Pass was, and at the same price.

Whether you're free or paid, Xbox Music will allow you to create unlimited playlists, which will sync automatically and instantly across all your devices.They will also include Smart DJ , a feature that already exists on the Zune but with Xbox Music it will have much more potential.

Xbox Music Store, Microsoft's MP3 Store

The Zune Marketplace disappears and is renamed the Xbox Music Store . According to Microsoft, the 30 million songs make theirs a catalog on par with iTunes. The only thing we need to know is the price, which if it doesn't change compared to the Zune, it is a little more expensive than other alternatives.

The Xbox Music Store will be available on Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 from day one of its official launch. Windows users will be able to try it from the 26th, the launch date of Windows 8. To try it on mobile we will have to wait for the first terminals to come out.

The Xbox console will not have access to the music store. Unfortunately, you will not be able to download songs on Xbox and you will only be able to listen to music through the streaming service.

For the coming year: cloud synchronization and applications for Android, iOS and web

Next year, Microsoft will also include a very interesting feature: cloud synchronization of all our music in the style of iTunes Match. What is peculiar about other synchronization services is that if we have songs that are already in the Xbox Music catalog, we won't need to upload them: they are simply marked as having them and we can access them from any device.

The advantages are obvious: we take much less time to synchronize our songs, we will have the MP3s in the highest possible quality and we will not be restricted by the Xbox catalog (the songs that they do not have will continue to be uploaded to the cloud).

Xbox Music apps for other mobile platforms, primarily iOS and Android, are also planned for a future release. In addition, there will be a web version from which we can listen to music, although we do not have many more details about the features it will offer.

What about Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7?

Interestingly, in Microsoft's press release there is not a single mention of Windows Phone 7, let's hope this doesn't mean we're left without Xbox Music. Windows Phone already has the Zune Marketplace and streaming with Zune Music Pass, so it would be foolish to do this.

We may have to wait until Windows Phone 7.8 arrives and they include all Xbox Music services, or they may decide that the effort would not pay off.

There is also no mention of Windows 7 or earlier versions of Windows. Does this mean we won't have Xbox Music on these systems either? Personally, it would seem like a serious mistake. Many users are going to stick with Windows 7 and earlier, either because they can't or don't want to upgrade, and leaving them in the lurch would mean losing a lot of potential Xbox Music customers.

Xbox Music, another great leap from Microsoft

A few days ago, Ballmer commented that Microsoft was becoming a platform of devices and services. Xbox Music only confirms this idea. It competes directly with iTunes and Spotify, with the advantage that it will be more integrated into the system and that it will reach many more users more easily thanks to the web version.

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It only lacks, as I said before, not leaving those of us who use old versions stranded>"

Via | Blogging Windows