Zune Pass Pricing Update


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I can't access twitter at work but I was just notified on my cell phone.

They are starting a yearly subscription instead of just monthly or quarterly. It's $150 for a full year. This breaks down to two months free but you still get the 10 songs free a month which comes to 120 free songs a year. (All prices in USD)

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They are starting a yearly subscription instead of monthly or quarterly. It's $150 for a full year.

No. They are still doing the monthly and quarterly, just adding in a yearly one as well for those who want it.

No, it's just an added option. You can do monthly still.

Yup:

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No. They are still doing the monthly and quarterly, just adding in a yearly one as well for those who want it.

Yup:

Oh, I typed that wrong :-P it was supposed to be "instead of just".

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It's a good deal, if you work out the math it's a lower price than paying monthly and you get 2 months free out of it in the end. Now where's that pesky Zune Video Pass option? :)

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It's a good deal, if you work out the math it's a lower price than paying monthly and you get 2 months free out of it in the end. Now where's that pesky Zune Video Pass option? :)

They have done the same thing for the UK pricing 2 months free if you buy 12 months:

zune.png

Also does anyone know about the UK free song credits.

On the software it says you get them:

zune1.png

However, MS said in their press release that the uk dont get them.

I asked for clarification on the official zune forums but that place is more barren than the sahara when it comes to official MS responses.

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They have done the same thing for the UK pricing 2 months free if you buy 12 months:

Also does anyone know about the UK free song credits.

On the software it says you get them:

However, MS said in their press release that the uk dont get them.

I asked for clarification on the official zune forums but that place is more barren than the sahara when it comes to official MS responses.

Yeah, I've been wondering that too because without it, the deal really isn't that great when other services like Napster do it better and the US version of Zune.

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What is your opinion on the ZUNE PASS? I've been using it for about 3 months, and am indifferent on it. I have not really purchased anything on it yet, I do download from it, but noticed after a while, even though the song appears in my collection, it is no longer available after a certain amount of time.

So what is your pros/cons with the ZUNE PASS?

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The Zune Pass itself is just for unlimited streaming plus the 10 free tracks so it's like you control a custom radio station that plays what you want. I figure things don't stay in your collection because you haven't actually bought them just streamed them recently etc. If you don't care for the streaming then there's no point, you can just buy music off of it like any other store if you want to do that.

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I used to use it with my Zune HD, but I find sometimes certain albums/songs are not available for download, so I cancelled my service. Otherwise it was great. I guess I still like to purchase CD's.

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What is your opinion on the ZUNE PASS? I've been using it for about 3 months, and am indifferent on it. I have not really purchased anything on it yet, I do download from it, but noticed after a while, even though the song appears in my collection, it is no longer available after a certain amount of time.

So what is your pros/cons with the ZUNE PASS?

Huh? Songs you download are always available, as long as you continue to pay for the Zune Pass (and sign in at least once every 30 days). If they're not available to play from your collection, then you probably need to sign in again so that it can refresh the useage rights, or you canceled your membership.

The 10 free song credits don't obey these rules of course, since you actually bought those 10 songs a month. Those last forever, even if you cancel.

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Don't care what the price is, I will never buy songs on a subscription service. If they had the option to buy music without a subscription/with no drm that I keep forever I'd use the zune market.

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Don't care what the price is, I will never buy songs on a subscription service. If they had the option to buy music without a subscription/with no drm that I keep forever I'd use the zune market.

Well, you can then. Subscription is an option. Buying drm free tracks as you please without a subscription is the other option.

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Don't care what the price is, I will never buy songs on a subscription service. If they had the option to buy music without a subscription/with no drm that I keep forever I'd use the zune market.

Lol... it's like you haven't used a digital music marketplace in the past decade. Almost ALL digital music marketplaces (Zune, Amazon, iTunes, etc.) allow you to buy the music (without a subscription) and without DRM (some songs on some of the marketplaces still have DRM, but fewer and fewer).

The subscription is a benefit for those who enjoy finding new music, without the risk of wasting money on albums or songs you're not sure you like yet. The 10 free songs per month (which is equivalent to buying the music) makes it completely worth it in my opinion.

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Lol... it's like you haven't used a digital music marketplace in the past decade. Almost ALL digital music marketplaces (Zune, Amazon, iTunes, etc.) allow you to buy the music (without a subscription) and without DRM (some songs on some of the marketplaces still have DRM, but fewer and fewer).

The subscription is a benefit for those who enjoy finding new music, without the risk of wasting money on albums or songs you're not sure you like yet. The 10 free songs per month (which is equivalent to buying the music) makes it completely worth it in my opinion.

Did zune store used to be subscription only? I swear I used it once and it was (wasn't recently though admittedly) I do know amazon and itunes are as I use them often (mostly amazon)

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Did zune store used to be subscription only? I swear I used it once and it was (wasn't recently though admittedly) I do know amazon and itunes are as I use them often (mostly amazon)

Nope... I don't think it was ever subscription only. However, at first there was a lot of DRM music - which I did not like. However, that quickly changed and when I got my Zune HD I finally got the Zune pass (right around the time they added the "10 songs per month" feature). Now with full integration with the Xbox 360 (the Fall 2010 dashboard), and soon Windows Phone 7, it's even better.

I also used to use Amazon, but Zune started giving you higher quality MP3s when you purchase or use your 10 free credits (320Kbps vs 256 Kbps), so I stopped using Amazon also, for the most part.

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Nope... I don't think it was ever subscription only. However, at first there was a lot of DRM music - which I did not like. However, that quickly changed and when I got my Zune HD I finally got the Zune pass (right around the time they added the "10 songs per month" feature). Now with full integration with the Xbox 360 (the Fall 2010 dashboard), and soon Windows Phone 7, it's even better.

I also used to use Amazon, but Zune started giving you higher quality MP3s when you purchase or use your 10 free credits (320Kbps vs 256 Kbps), so I stopped using Amazon also, for the most part.

Yeah I remembered it was DRM's or subscription only, guess I just confused the two.

Amazon gives you lame encoded V0 mp3's (usually, occasionally it gives you 256kb/s cbr for some reason but this is rare, they need to work on having more consistency) V0 mp3 is equal to 320cbr in quality with slightly smaller filesize.

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Yeah I remembered it was DRM's or subscription only, guess I just confused the two.

Amazon gives you lame encoded V0 mp3's (usually, occasionally it gives you 256kb/s cbr for some reason but this is rare, they need to work on having more consistency) V0 mp3 is equal to 320cbr in quality with slightly smaller filesize.

The 10 songs you get to keep per month are DRM free. The ones that you download through the Zune subscription have DRM, and are valid for the length of your sub.

So if you decide to cancel your sub oneday, you can still keep the songs you downloaded through the 10 songs per month thing forever but the other ones will stop working.

And if you think about it, 10 songs a month = $9.9 (each song being $0.99). And the other $5.1 you pay is for the unlimited music through the subscription. Makes it quite worth it imo.

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The 10 songs you get to keep per month are DRM free. The ones that you download through the Zune subscription have DRM, and are valid for the length of your sub.

So if you decide to cancel your sub oneday, you can still keep the songs you downloaded through the 10 songs per month thing forever but the other ones will stop working.

And if you think about it, 10 songs a month = $9.9 (each song being $0.99). And the other $5.1 you pay is for the unlimited music through the subscription. Makes it quite worth it imo.

There should be a good chunk of MP3s you can buy even if you have a zune pass though, or I could be wrong?

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There should be a good chunk of MP3s you can buy even if you have a zune pass though, or I could be wrong?

Yup. Any songs you purchase through the Zune player (either through the 10 free songs a month or using MS points / credit card) are DRM-free.

A lot of songs are available for purchase, but a few aren't due to licensing.

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