Monte

Microsoft’s Zune player will be released tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to following the public’s response. The more I read about the Zune and it’s crippled DRM scheme, lack-luster software, and disingenuous pricing, the more I’m convinced that not only will the Zune fail to deliver on the promise of being a worthy competitor to the iPod, but will also prove to the general public that DRM technology is inherently dangerous to consumers’ rights.

To begin, the Zune music store incorporates a “points” system similar to the Xbox Marketplace. Music is purchased with points which you may buy only in increments of five. Of course, the reasoning behind this is that people will spend more money if they are made to purchase with an intangible monetary unit. It’s very clever, actually. However, each song in the music store costs 79 points (or 99 cents), and because you are only allowed to purchase points in increments of five, you will either need to continuously buy more points to complete a transaction, or leave the leftover money sitting on the table. If you were really hell-bent on trying to break even, you would need to buy 495 songs before 99 cents would add up to an amount that is a multiple of five dollars. I’m not sure consumers will appreciate this.

Early reviews of the Zune (which were mistakenly, and curiously, released early at BestBuy) point out that the Zune software suffers from sluggish behavior and constant crashes. And yes, you heard right, the Zune uses its own special software rather than the obvious Windows Media Player which already supports the ability to purchase music through other online music services. But whatever.

While it may seem obvious that Microsoft would use its existing PlayForSure DRM with the Zune music store, this is not case. Microsoft began the PlayForSure strategy last year as a means of slicing into Apple’s portion of the MP3 pie. Microsoft created and licensed the WMA-based DRM technology to it’s partners for use in their own music stores. It provided a quick, ready-to-go solution for any company which wanted to sell online music but didn’t want to go through the hassle of creating yet another DRM technology. Online music retailers and MP3 hardware manufactures used the PlayForSure moniker on their products and services so that consumers could make sound purchasing decisions without worrying about whether or not the music they bought online would be compatible with their MP3 players. Needless to say, Microsoft’s attempt to monopolize the DRM market failed. The iPod remained dominant, mainly because of the iPod’s coolness factor and the simplicity of the iTunes + iPod, end-to-end solution. While Microsoft has historically specialized in software, they realized that in order to effectively compete against the iPod, they would have to follow Apple by creating their own end-to-end solution. But rather than use their exisiting PlayForSure DRM technology, they opted to create an entirely new DRM scheme which would be incompatible with PlayForSure. In essence, their decision to create a new DRM technology not only pitted Microsoft head to head with Apple, but also with the very same partners who had bought into Microsoft’s PlayForSure program. Now, PlayForSure is all but dead, and customers who were once allies of Microsoft are now competitors.

The most disturbing result of the Zune is Microsoft’s agreement with the Universal Music Group to pay them a fee for every Zune sold; this is based under the assumption that any and all customers who buy a Zune, or any MP3 player for that matter, will undoubtedly pirate music. Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music Group, has hinted that they may re-negotiate their contract with Apple to include such a fee, as well. Canada currently attaches a similar fee to blank recording media, again with the presumption than anybody who buys blank CDs is a pirate. Is there no end to the music industry’s greed? If their goal is to reduce piracy, why do they insist on making it difficult for honest citizens to purchase music legally? And why do they blatantly accuse their customers, the very people they financially depend on, of being pirates? I predict, and hope, that soon, the general public will realize that there is something terribly wrong with this business model and denounce this abuse.

We’ll see what happens tomorrow.