While Steve Jobs call for the record labels to end DRM has been warmly received around the world, his remarks’ reception from competitors and the labels themselves has been downright chilly.

The harshest criticism, though, comes from Apple’s iPod competitor, Microsoft, who recently entered the portable media player market with its Zune.

Jason Reindorp, marketing director for Microsoft’s Zune portable media player, said Mr. Jobs’s call for unrestricted music sales was “irresponsible, or at the very least naïve.”

“It’s like he’s on top of the mountain making pronouncements,” adds Reindorp, “while we’re here on the ground working with the industry to make it happen. ”

Meanwhile, the RIAA seized on an option that Jobs raised in his comments yesterday, but dismissed - licensing Apple’s own copy-protection system. “Apple’s offer to license FairPlay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels,” the Recording Industry Association of America said.

The major music labels agreed to support a new music service, Ruckus Network, that will offer free music downloads, with some substantial restrictions, to any college student.

Though it offers free music, the company has still struggled to find a way to pay for the service and may struggle to generate interest with students because the free songs are delivered with Microsoft’s PlaysForSure DRM, making tracks incompatible with both iPods and Zunes.

The service, from Ruckus Network, will be supported by advertising on its Web site and in the software used to download and play songs. The four major record labels and several independent labels agreed to license their music to Ruckus at reduced rates on the theory that college students would rather steal songs than pay the $10 to $15 a month that such services normally charge.

Phil Leigh, president of Inside Digital Media, a research firm, said that the move also represented a way for labels to experiment with advertising-supported music, a model that he said might be better for the labels than radio, because they could share in the advertising revenue. Music publishers, which represent the composers, are paid by radio stations, but the labels, which represent performing artists, are not.

The release of the Microsoft Zune portable media player is turning out to be a huge fiasco for the company.

Despite months of Internet buzz, Microsoft’s attempt at an iPod-killer has gotten terrible reviews, its share of the portable media market has been sinking like a rock. Microsoft is now faced with not only fixing the Zune’s problems, but rehabilitating the Zune brand.

10 Ways Microsoft Botched The Zune Release

• The Zune release was boring. Microsoft released the details of the Zune well before its release. At the time, many people pointed out potential problems with the player, and many figured these problems would be addressed before the player was released. Instead, Microsoft released a player with no surprises, making the actual release seem like a let-down.
• Microsoft got the wrong domain name for the Zune. Zune.com was registered by a UK company, Gate Market Research, in 1998. Microsoft settled on Zune.net instead. As a result, people going to Zune.com get what looks like an error page.
• Lack of podcasting support - podcasting is one of the hottest trends in Internet media, and it appears to be missing in action with the Zune and the rest of Microsoft’s media technologies.
• The brown Zune - Apple is offering a variety of sexy high-tech styles for its iPods. Where did Microsoft come up with the idea that muddy brown was a good idea? Gizmodo said the brown Zune looks like it’s made of swamp water jello.
• The Zune is clunky. Popular Mechanics calls the Zune “the husky, ugly cousin of the iPod”. The Zune is bigger and fatter than comparable iPods.
• The Zune’s wireless features are useless to most users. The device’s wireless feature can’t be used to sync, purchase music or download podcasts.
• The Zune uses an arcane point system for digital music purchases. According to Microsoft, Zune users can “purchase songs individually using Microsoft Points for 79 points per track. Similar to a pre-paid phone card, Microsoft Points is a stored value system that can be redeemed at a growing number of online stores, including the Xbox Live Marketplace.” Or you could just spend your $.99 at iTunes.
• The Zune Tax - every Zune purchase includes a cut for the Universal Music Group. To many music fans, this seemed like an ominous pact with the devil.
• The Zune is incompatible with everything. Microsoft wanted to create a closed, controlled digital music system like Apple has created. In doing this, the company made the Zune incompatible with Microsoft’s PlaysForSure technology. This means you can’t buy tracks from the Zune from Apple or just about any other major music service.
• Microsoft released the Zune before it was ready.As a result, reviews have been scathing, ranging from Engadget saying that “Installing the Zune sucked,” to a New York Times review, that said that the list of things that iPods do that Zunes don’t could stretch to Steve Ballmer’s house and back 10 times, to Business Week calling the Zune “a dismal failure“.

Continue reading ‘10 Ways Microsoft Botched The Zune Introduction’

Microsoft recently announced that it’s Zune portable media player would retail for $249.95 and come preloaded with a variety of free audio and video content. The company also announced that the Zune digital media player and online service will be available to consumers in the U.S. on Nov. 14, 2006.

The player will ship with these music videos pre-loaded:

• 30 Seconds to Mars, “The Kill” (Virgin Records)
• BT, “1.618” (DTS Entertainment)
• Chad VanGaalen, “Red Hot Drops” (Sub Pop Records)
• Coldcut featuring Roots Manuva, “True Skool” (Ninja Tune)
• CSS, “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above” (Sub Pop Records)
• Fruit Bats, “Live: The Wind That Blew My Heart Away” (Sub Pop Records)
• Grandaddy, “Elevate Myself” (V2)
• Hot Chip, “Over and Over” (Astralwerks Records)
• Kraak & Smaak featuring Dez., “Keep Me Home” (Quango Music Group)
• Kinski, “Live: The Snowy Parts of Scandinavia” (Sub Pop Records)
• Paul Oakenfold, “Faster Kill Pussycat (Featuring Brittany Murphy)” (Maverick Records)
• Serena-Maneesh, “Drain Cosmetics” (Playlouderecordings)

But why wait to check out the free videos? You can check out most of them right now:

Continue reading ‘Zune Video Preview’

It looks like Microsoft’s iPod killer wannabee will come with preloaded music:

Thanks to everyone who wished me a good vacation. I’m back now and have a little bit of Zune news for you. A while ago, I posted about Zune having some content pre-loaded on it. But at that time, I wasn’t able to confirm any of the content. My buddy Richard yesterday wrote that we’ll have content from CSS and Hot Chip. Sweet. And yes, that’s both audio and video.

I just got the green light to post about some more pre-loaded content: 30 Seconds to Mars. From our friends at Virgin Records, 30 Seconds to Mars’ video “The Kill” is nominated for an Best Rock Video at this year’s MTV VMAs (go vote for ‘em!)

With Microsoft getting into the game and willing to lose a lot of money trying, it looks like Apple may finally get some competition.

via Zune Insider Blog