MS Spotify competitor could hit 360
PC version could be out this month.
Microsoft plans to launch a music-streaming service this month, according to a report in the Telegraph, and it may make its way to Xbox 360 afterwards.
According to the report, the unidentified service will be comparable to Spotify, with which users can already stream a broad range of popular young-persons' beat combos interspersed with adverts or, if they cough up a fee, not.
"It will be a similar principle to Spotify but we are still examining how the business model will work," Peter Bale, executive producer of MSN, told the Telegraph. "We are looking at how other similar businesses have structured their business models and trying to figure out what will work best for both consumer and Microsoft."
The Telegraph goes on to say that Bale dropped hints about tying the service into the Xbox 360, but wouldn't say how that would work. We'd imagine it would work by tying it into the Xbox 360.
The console is already set to gain one musical option this year when Last.fm launches, along with social services Facebook and Twitter. Apparently Last.fm will be available as an unlimited but ad-supported offering to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, while full Last.fm subs will get undiluted access as you might expect.