 "Photo: Courtesy oF Wikipedia.org")
Microsoft's self-described iPod-killer, the Zune, might soon be on its deathbed. The fight won't even be close if a digital content debacle involving major record labels Sony and Universal is not solved.
Microsoft boasted its ability to "squirt" songs - allowing Zune owners to share songs with other Zunes via built-in Wi-Fi for three plays or three days - as well as listen to FM radio, two features absent from the iPod. But the Zune's slogan, "Welcome to the social," seems to be less and less true as time goes on - there's a roadblock of Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions with Zune and its online music store.
Microsoft's textbook definition of DRM on its corporate Web site is "any technology used to protect the interests of owners of content and services (such as copyright owners)."
The Zune's highlighted feature has been proven to not work 50 percent of the time, with users getting failed transfers because of "copyright restrictions." Interestingly enough, the biggest culprits of failed squirts stem from Sony and Universal artists. The music moguls claim that intentional failure of transfer from Zune to Zune is wholly untrue. However, with a recent decrease in CD sales, a general increase in Internet piracy and a disdain of online content delivery, Universal has every reason to not trust the Zune. One report even showed that of the top-50 songs in the nation, nearly half of them were not able to be "squirted" via Wi-Fi, according to Zune blog Zunerama.
Universal Music Group's fear of its consumers is even more evident with Microsoft's shaky royalty deal, with the payment of an undisclosed sum to Universal for every Zune sold. Microsoft is already admitting guilt that its users will pirate music with such a deal. Nevertheless, this is not the first time record companies and artists will receive royalties for products that may not even include the use of their music. The sale of writable CDs, or CD-Rs, include royalties that go directly to the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies because of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. However, digital mediums like the MP3 are exempt from the royalties of the act, and record company officials feel, as always, they need a bite out of the profit, whether it includes their music or not.
This crippling issue with the Zune, along with a failed dominance in the music player market in December 2006 shows that Microsoft has a lot of work to do to keep up with the iPod, which dominates almost 80 percent of the market share of digital music players, according to a Penton Media Inc. report.
If the Zune is to compete against the iPod, representatives must take some huge steps in verifying that every single song available for its product will be able to be shared under its "three-days or three-plays" limit. Also, music under the Creative Commons license -free music, distributed freely and legally over the Internet - needs to be exempt from the limit, as per the musicians who use the Creative Commons license want their works to be shared limitlessly and not controlled by a blanket DRM tool, courtesy of Microsoft and Universal. If Microsoft thinks that the "three-days or three-plays" sharing limit will help boost sales, it needs to work in order for people willing to go out and purchase the music. Or, possibly, Universal wants people to just purchase the music out of frustration of not being able to get it from another Zune. Record companies may find that setting restrictions on digital music will only hinder sales with online piracy being so easy to access and distribute. If Microsoft wants its product to fully become the now fabled "iPod killer" the Wi-Fi feature on the Zune needs to be opened up, allowing the transfer of any type of file, such as photos, video and other formats - not just music. The three-days or three-plays system inherently does not trust its own user because it's programmed to think that anything transferred will be copyright infringement.
If Microsoft is ever able to open up its Zune, it could pose a threat to the iPod by allowing more freedom to the user. There shouldn't be no limitations on the sharing of music, but Microsoft should allow a more open approach to better trust its consumers. While both products have their own strengths and weaknesses, the weaknesses of the Zune will consistently be its own demise, unless its producers can somehow market it as a product that can be trusted despite the stranglehold of the recording industry.
-John P. Gamboa is a journalism
sophomore.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.
Be the first to comment on this article!