EU 360s get Zune update in autumn

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 21 September, 2010

Nine quid a month for unlimited music.

European Xbox 360 owners will be able to buy digital rights management free songs and stream download-to-own movies when Microsoft updates the expanded Zune Marketplace this autumn.

The launch will bring the previously US-only experience of listening to music and buying download-to-own movies through the Xbox 360 to the UK.

A Zune Pass, which grants subscribers unlimited access to music, costs £8.99 / €9.99 a month, but everybody will get access to a 14 day free trial. An Xbox Live Gold subscription, which costs 40 quid a year, is required.

"Download to own pricing, we're not being specific on that today, because there are different pricing options for different albums, but you'll find the download-to-own pricing will be very competitive compared to other download-to-own marketplaces," international PR manager Scott Rowe told Eurogamer.

The launch is part of Microsoft's expansion of Zune Marketplace to Europe for PC, Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Live.

This is how it works: when the service launches you'll be able to buy DRM-free MP3s from the Zune Marketplace and listen to them on your PC, Windows Phone – due out in the UK by Christmas - and Xbox 360.

Zune pass will launch in the UK, France, Italy and Spain. Nine quid a month gets you unlimited downloads and streaming from the catalogue across what Microsoft calls "three screens". You can access the content on your PC, Windows Phone and Xbox 360, but on Xbox it's a streaming-only experience.

When it launches you'll automatically get a 14 day free trial, which requires a credit card authentication. After the trial expires you'll be asked to fork out your hard-earned cash. The decision, then, is yours.

We saw Zune music in action at Microsoft's London offices yesterday morning. If you've bought the music video that accompanies the song you're playing, it'll run on-screen in the background. If not, a custom background will play out – all running from the cloud. The Smart DJ gubbins from the PC client will also integrate itself into Xbox 360, so you'll get instant play lists as well.

Meanwhile, the launch will allow UK Xbox 360 owners to buy download-to-own movies for the first time and stream them on their console. All your snazzy media can be synched with your PC and Windows Phone, if you're so inclined.

Zune already allows you to rent high definition movies. 2009 data from Screen Digest had Microsoft down as the number two video-on-demand provider in Europe. Since Zune's November 2009 launch Microsoft has seen the volume of HD rentals double, and a 157 per cent increase in the amount of time people spend watching movies on Xbox Live.

"We're really happy with the way that growth has come about," Rowe said.

When Kinect launches on 10th November, you'll be able to control the whole operation with your hands and voice commands.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (49) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • scottycam #1 2 years ago

    But can you stream music whilst playing a game?

  • Iain815 #2 2 years ago

    "Today at lunch, you were ashamed to be with me!"

    "No! I was ashamed to be seen with you. I like being with you."

  • kadooosh #3 2 years ago

    Meh

  • Eraysor #4 2 years ago

    I had an 80GB Zune, it was really nice until the screen cracked, then I got an iPod Touch and never looked back. The Zune was definitely superior to the old fat iPods though.

  • Spence1115 #5 2 years ago

    £9 a month for unlimited downloads? Does that mean that if we end the service we still keep the music? If so thats not a bad price really for those who get a lot of music. That's what, 12, 13 songs on iTunes? *is not sure on iTunes pricing*.

    If you don't get to keep it, then fuck it, its just Spotify.

  • coolbritannia #6 2 years ago

    That's ok, EG aren't sure on xbox live pricing either. 1 year of gold is currently £23.

  • Hobo #7 2 years ago

    Not on the RRP it's not.

  • smelly #8 2 years ago

    Depending on the tunes availalble, that could be a good deal!

    Screw apple and that it usually costs more to download an album than buy the physicla cd!

  • woodnotes #9 2 years ago

    I just wish they'd get a decent selection of movies on the UK video marketplace. Instant streaming is great, but the selection of movies isn't.
    Edited by woodnotes at 21/09/10 @ 05:20

  • Fab4 #10 2 years ago

    And the payment methods available are? If its only via credit card then fuck them.

  • fatboy996 #11 2 years ago

    I wish eurogamer would not use europe in the article when its only a small part of europe. Come on Microsoft bring the bloody zune service to the rest of europe.

  • Fab4 #12 2 years ago

    @fatboy

    Well if its anything like Spotify its down to haggling with the bodies who regulate the copyright/payment of the artists in the individual countries.

  • GiarcYekrub #13 2 years ago

    what they should do is a soccer saturday pass for the sky player

  • Wyrm #14 2 years ago

    If you can keep the music you download after your sub ends then this is a massive deal. Exactly the kind of thing to fight piracy, Spotify take note; I don't want to rent music.

  • vizzini #15 2 years ago

    Any new functionality or feature, whether free( or by subscription) that works is naturally welcome. But what I don't understand, is why the basic media hub software features of the 360 are so rubbish, even taking the one sided comparison with the obvious rival out of the equation.

    I find it completely ludicrous that a piece of hardware not too dissimilar from a Apple Mac G5 workstation(with tri-core CPU) wouldn't allow you to rip music using different audio codecs and then freely transfer the files to any USB storage device, including any brand mobile phones and portable music players that aren't Zunes.

    Why would anyone waste their time ripping all their CD collection to such a restricted device? are we still living in 2002?

    Say what you will about the DRM restrictions of Sony's 1st, 2nd generation of digital Walkmans, that effectively let DRM free iPods/players steal the market, but at least Sonic Stage's audio codecs options provided audio quality that was 2nd to none to make the tradeoff suitable for some customers.

  • linea #16 2 years ago

    I'm not sure I could actually hear music over the asthmatic wheezing my xbox makes

  • CosmicFuzz #17 2 years ago

    Wait, £9 a month to download unlimited music? That's a pretty great deal... How do you transfer it to your pc though?

  • Peew971 #18 2 years ago

    With the US Zune Pass you can keep 10 songs a month but that feature doesn't make it to Europe, I was looking forward to that :(
    Still it will be nice to use my Zune HD properly with my actual Gamertag.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #19 2 years ago

    Finally. It's a pretty good deal overall but to be honest I'm afraid that the store will simply not have much of the music I listen to (yes, I am an elitist prick). This is what I find so amazing about last.fm; You can find almost everything there. I have to admit though that the Zune software is pretty good tagging my files (I do have a Zune after all) and I guess it does use the store's database to actually get the tags. While it does not find a lot of the music I have it's still a lot better than iTunes' library ever was.

    Bottom line: I am a lot more interested in the movie rentals than the music. I've never used any of these services before, mostly because they never seem to be available in Europe. Come to think of it - it is kind of surprising that Microsoft seems to be the first company to really push this in Europe (that I am aware of)

  • t8yman #20 2 years ago

    @der_tolle....

    sky do movies on demand in europe, and have done for years IIRC.
    and apple.

    unless you meant *just* consoles.
    Edited by t8yman at 21/09/10 @ 08:06

  • Der_tolle_Emil #21 2 years ago

    No, I meant in general. Don't ask me how I could forget about Apple. All that came to mind was Netflix and how it is not available everywhere.

  • Yuroko #22 2 years ago

    Sounds good except I can't hear my stereo when my xbox is on. Neighbours think I have the Hoover on 5 hours a day.

  • geeza2020 #23 2 years ago

    Paddy29 - this has nothing to do with Sky.

  • Xardan #24 2 years ago

    ''An Xbox Live Gold subscription, which costs 40 quid a year, is required. ''

    Where do you do your shopping?!

    I think ill stick with last.fm unless this new service is much better.
    Edited by Xardan at 21/09/10 @ 10:26

  • J0rdan_KZ #25 2 years ago

    For those asking about PC's and stuffage. I had Zune Pass (used a US hotmail account) for about three years. In that time I had 3 Zunes (8, 80 and HD).

    You can sign into your Zune account on both your PC and XBOX. On the PC you must use the Zune client to play music, listen to podcasts and sync to a Zune (and now Windows phone 7) device. Ask ANYONE who works in the tech industry and they'll say that the Zune app is a billion times better than iTunes. Dear christ iTunes on PC is a bloated, horrible piece of software.

    I moved over to Spotify this year but at £1 less a month and the ability to use it across three devices (assuming I move away from Android and get a WP7 next year)? It's a hard deal to pass up.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #26 2 years ago

    Ask ANYONE who works in the tech industry and they'll say that the Zune app is a billion times better than iTunes.

    You really don't have to ask in the tech industry to know that. It only takes a library of 100 songs and 2 minutes using iTunes to realize that (at least the Windows version) is pretty much unusable. This is why I never got an iPod, the software just could not handle my MP3 library.

    I was really surprised how well the Zune app actually works. I was expecting it to get quite a bit sluggish when I put everything I have into the libraries but so far it keeps up very well.

  • schnide #27 2 years ago

    Why is this stickied..?

  • scottycam #28 2 years ago

    If there is a Zune app released for the iPhone that allows offline playlists then I'd be all over this. The chances of that a pretty unlikely though so I'll have to stick to Spotify.

  • bivith #29 2 years ago

    Of course you can't keep it after your subscription ends. It's exactly the same as spotify. You pay to access the library, and you can buy individual songs or albums to keep for ever.

  • whoyouknow #30 2 years ago

    The fuck's the point when you still can't buy an actual Zune here?

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #31 2 years ago

    Why was the original article deleted, then this one created and made sticky?

  • IronGiant #32 2 years ago

    Waste of money, yet another rip off subscription model where you never actually own anything!

  • Fallen_Angel #33 2 years ago

    @whoyouknow
    The Zune HD is likely to be the last hardware MP3 specific player MS release, they'll be focusing more on WP7 and incorporating music into that. Mind I got a Zune 30 years ago and its still going strong, so its a shame there will be nothing out over here that I can upgrade to.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #34 2 years ago

    I get it, it makes sense, its a rental service like love film, but it will as always come down to the selection of films and how many a month you are allowed to watch. If they offered the same catalogue with as many as you want id cancel my love film subscription and get this straight away, but if it doesn't have all the major film studios signed up and it doesn't get the content as fast as other rental services, then i wouldn't be that interested.

  • stevetuck #35 2 years ago

    Why would i pay £9 a month when i can pay £30 a month for my internet and get Free games, movies, music and granny porn that i 'borrow' from the lovely people on the internet?

  • DarkMoon #36 2 years ago

    aren't you already able to buy movies on the zune marketplace instead of just renting them? I'm pretty sure there's 2 options when you pick a movie, rent or buy.

  • Peew971 #37 2 years ago

    @Fallen_Angel - They will most likely release a HD2 which will be their iPod Touch, a WP7 without the phone.

  • Shinetop #38 2 years ago

    So really, this isn't for the EU, just for a select number of countries in the EU? In fact, we could say that most of this article is completely incorrect.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #39 2 years ago

    "This is why I never got an iPod, the software just could not handle my MP3 library."

    In what way? There are 2300 songs in mine and I have no problems.

    (That's not to say that PC iTunes isn't a godawful piece of fucking shit, because it is. But I haven't had any problems "handling" a pretty large music library.)

  • StooMonster #40 2 years ago

    10,000 songs and plenty of videos in mine, and handles perfectly well; in fact, iTunes 10 is pretty snappy.

    But rather than Apple's iTunes, this Zune thing is in competition with Sky Songs. Anyone here subscribe to that? I guess Spotify too, a couple of my friends pay subs for that.

  • StooMonster #41 2 years ago

    Fallen_Angel: I got a Zune 30 years ago and its still going strong

    You got a Zune in 1980?

  • rivuzu #42 2 years ago

    I'm not an iPod fan, but I have an iPhone. Had them since release. As such, my only experience with this side of tech has therefore been with iTunes, and I can tell you - it's shocking. Horrendously so.

    This might give me pause for thought. On the one hand, I love my iPhone and think it's a great device for games especially. On the other, the simple functionality of being able to play my bloody music is a want.

    Zune, could you be my answer? o:

  • Xboxfanuk #43 2 years ago

    If you buy DRM free music on your PC you can then put it on your iPod, Zune, Windows Phone or burn it to a CD and play it on Xbox as a custom soundtrack. Zune marketplace will also allow you to buy music directly from your Windows Phone and that works like an iPod which can be plugged into the Xbox for custom soundtrack.

    It will work like Spotify.

  • Machiavellian #44 2 years ago

    From my Zune experience, Each month you get 10 songs if you have the Zune pass that are yours to keep. Not sure if this is coming to this market. So unlike other services, you do have the option to keep songs on the Zune pass which makes the price a lot more tolerable.

  • edhe #45 2 years ago

    So the zune devices don't make it outside the US? Win7 phones it must be eh?

    I don't buy music anymore but it would be nice to have a proper music app on my 360.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #46 2 years ago

    In what way? There are 2300 songs in mine and I have no problems.

    That doesn't really compare to my library which currently holds over 75000 mp3s. And yes, I do spend WAY too much money on music.

    To be fair though I haven't tried any iTunes for quite a while now, I think the last version I tried was 5 or 6. Since it never got even close to Winamp's performance I bothered trying the newer versions.

  • Phishfood #47 2 years ago

    Give it up that bird ain't gonna fly.

  • gjgjg #48 2 years ago

    One snag, any IP signed to Sony/BMG, and maybe Universal will not be available ... While its a good deal on paper i'll hold out to see the library selection first

  • Gromit #49 2 years ago

    I think Sony's service could be the one to look out for. They have a lot of content to put on there from the start.
    It's going to take a lot to take me away from Spotify's £9.99 pm 320 kbps package though.

    I still don't think there is one perfect service though. There are things that niggle me about all of them:

    Last FM - great for finding new stuff but poor bitrate, inaccurate song / artitst information.
    WE7 - Well presented, fair (192 kbps) bitrate, hard to find much older albums or obscure stuff.
    Spotify (premium) - Great bitrate, huge library, would benefit from more artist information & similar artists