# iTunes Store vs Zune Store



## mazirion (May 22, 2005)

iTunes Store: one song = 99 cents 
Zune Store: one song = 79 points

iTunes Store: buy one song for 99 cents, charge it to credit card
Zune Store: buy $5(US) credit for 395 points. Then use 79 points (99 cents) to buy one song, leaving MS with a 316 point credit (or $4.01)


Reported on MacSlash this morning. Is this confusing or what? This really can't be the way they intend it to be, can it? I'm glad I have a Mac!


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## Heart (Jan 16, 2001)

I wonder if I can trade in any of these other points for MS points.

PC points
Petro points
Esso points
Bonus points
Air Miles
Aero Miles
Sharp Points
Ninja Points
CTC Advantage Points
Pepsi Points
Coca Cola Points
Vacation Points

...... and the list goes on and on and on....


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

mazirion said:


> iTunes Store: one song = 99 cents
> Zune Store: one song = 79 points
> 
> iTunes Store: buy one song for 99 cents, charge it to credit card
> Zune Store: buy $5(US) credit for 395 points. Then use 79 points (99 cents) to buy one song, leaving MS with a 316 point credit (or $4.01)


Please, you're kidding me right? This is so classic Microsoft, take something easy to do and make it more difficult. What if somebody wanted to buy only one song from the Zune Store? That one song would actually cost $5.00!  XX)


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## contoursvt (May 1, 2005)

Ya but if you buy all the time, they could employ promotions and things on qualifying peoples profiles where you could buy 2 for 1 on points..etc without changing the price for the rest of the people on the website...

I think its a smart idea.


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

Zune Store = closed in a year.


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## Fink-Nottle (Feb 25, 2001)

Almost unbelievable were it not so bloody typical. They specialize in turning the simplest processes into exercises in frustration.


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## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

contoursvt said:


> Ya but if you buy all the time, they could employ promotions and things on qualifying peoples profiles where you could buy 2 for 1 on points..etc without changing the price for the rest of the people on the website...
> 
> I think its a smart idea.


And what prevent iTunes from doing the same thing?


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## Stonehead (Jun 5, 2005)

iTunes???, Zune??? who the hell would want to by that DRM'ed crap anyway? Im suprised itunes is still making money. Apple & MS can both take a flying leap when it comes to their music stores.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

Bjornbro said:


> Please, you're kidding me right? This is so classic Microsoft, take something easy to do and make it more difficult.


Oh come now. To be fair, MS has certainly taken great pains in trying to make their products easy to use in the past!

http://toastytech.com/guis/bob.html


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## TrevX (May 10, 2005)

Stonehead said:


> iTunes???, Zune??? who the hell would want to by that DRM'ed crap anyway? Im suprised itunes is still making money. Apple & MS can both take a flying leap when it comes to their music stores.


I buy some tracks from iTunes because its convenient. I don't even notice the DRM, so it doesn't affect me one bit. I think that goes for pretty much anybody who buys from iTunes.

Trev


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## Heart (Jan 16, 2001)

TrevX said:


> I buy some tracks from iTunes because its convenient. I don't even notice the DRM, so it doesn't affect me one bit. I think that goes for pretty much anybody who buys from iTunes.


I don't notice it either.

--
Per: Microsoft Points
I just heard a quote on a podcast:

Stanford University Technology Ventures Program
http://edcorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1579



> *Nick Earl, VP and General Manager of Electronic Arts* shares his thoughts on the future of the gaming market. He discusses the changing global market space, the latest generation of consoles, mobile game distribution, user generated content, social networks and EA's strategy in the online gaming space.


The specific quote comes at:
20min:30sec mark talking of the Microsoft XBox 360 and XBox Live online communities. 



> 2 Billion Microsoft Points have been spent to date, it is just a staggering number, considering that it has only been around for a short while.


XBox was launched November 22, 2005

.


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## BobbyFett (Jan 12, 2005)

yeah it's the same system MS uses in their xbox live marketplace. and it works with zero confusion.


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## Stonehead (Jun 5, 2005)

TrevX said:


> I buy some tracks from iTunes because its convenient. I don't even notice the DRM, so it doesn't affect me one bit. I think that goes for pretty much anybody who buys from iTunes.


The point is if i buy something its mine. I dont want anyone telling me i cant make a mix cd for my car because some rich slimy RIAA bastard says he needs another buck from me to do so. i'm not just renting the song, im buying it! 
I'm thinking of some tunes right now in my head...hmmm my brain is a differnt medium..lets lable it "organic medium" i suppose i owe the RIAA some more money. Itunes...Zune....RIAA and Lars can all kiss my ass. I wish the recording artists themselves could put together a forum where their music could be sold online and the money we spent went right to them. Im sure the artists themselves wouldnt care (except for Lars) if you paid to download a song then copied it to a cd. Until then i will not pay for a single downloadable song. I still buy cd's and rip them but i will not pay to download them. I sincerly hope Itunes and Zune go tits up.


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## TrevX (May 10, 2005)

Stonehead said:


> The point is if i buy something its mine. I dont want anyone telling me i cant make a mix cd for my car because some rich slimy RIAA bastard says he needs another buck from me to do so. i'm not just renting the song, im buying it!


So what, exactly, is your problem with iTunes? You do realize you can burn all of your purchased tracks to a CD as many times as you want, right? Make a playlist and you can burn it 5 times. Make one change to it and burn it another 5 times. Why would you need 5 CDs of the same playlist anyway (unless you're giving it to friends, which is why we have DRM in the first place, isn't it?)?

Like I said, convenience and the fact that I don't even notice the DRM is why I buy tunes from Apple.

Trev


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

I agree with TrevX. I'm not defending RIAA and the labels because they can be greedy and misguided (shall we say "delusional" at times?), but iTunes' DRM is reasonable... and unfortunately necessary.


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## Kirtland (Aug 18, 2002)

Macaholic said:


> I agree wirh TrevX. I'm not defending RIAA and the labels because they can be greedy and misguided (shall we say "delushional" at times?), but iTunes' DRM is reasonable... and unfortunately nessesary.


Exactly :clap: 
Apple, iTunes, and iPod have enabled me to rediscover my love for music. DRM has never stood in my way.


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

I love using the iTunes store because:
- Downloads are freaking fast, near instant gratification, no sitting in queues for ages only to have the user you are trying to get the tracks from go offline. No slow torrent speads either
- Good sound quality (no dropouts, glitches etc you never know what you are going to get off of the net)
- Also believe it or not there is a lot of RARE and HARD TO FIND music that you can ONLY find in the iTunes store or your local CD shop IF you are lucky


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

Oh and not to mention that with tunes bought from the iTunes store you also get correct ID3 tags. How many times have you downloaded tracks that are incorrectly labeled?


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

Heart said:


> I wonder if I can trade in any of these other points for MS points.
> 
> PC points
> Petro points
> ...


Don't forget 7-Eleven Big Bucks.


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

fjnmusic said:


> Don't forget 7-Eleven Big Bucks.


Crappy Tire funny money?


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## MannyP Design (Jun 8, 2000)

Sounds like Stonehead is making excuses... you can easily remove Apple's DRM regardless--for free. Or, depending on what tracks you want, you can get DRM-Free itunes music at a slightly higher cost.

I mean, come on. Once you burn the music to audio CD the DRM is removed anyway. Backups are a good thing, right?


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## G-Mo (Sep 26, 2007)

MannyP Design said:


> Sounds like Stonehead is making excuses... you can easily remove Apple's DRM regardless--for free. Or, depending on what tracks you want, *you can get DRM-Free itunes music at a slightly higher cost*.
> 
> I mean, come on. Once you burn the music to audio CD the DRM is removed anyway. Backups are a good thing, right?


iTunes Plus tracks (which are DRM free) are now the same cost as regular tracks, 99c... they did this to match/compete with Amazon MP3 a while back...


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## slicecom (Jun 13, 2008)

I refuse to buy anything when a stupid point system like this is employed. It was one of the reasons I didn't buy a 360, I don't buy anything on my Wii because of it, and I buy things on my PS3 all the time because its a straight up charge to my credit card, like all purchases should be. They use point systems to distract stupid people from the fact that they're spending real money. All it does is complicate things, and you will almost always have money left over that the company just gets to keep.


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## DempsyMac (May 24, 2007)

I have a 360 and must admit that I have spent a fair bit on points, the thing that I dislike about it (although it has not stopped me <not like there was another store I could buy from though>) is that I am not smart enough to know what something costs, I mean don't get me wrong I know about what it is but 800 points vs 1000 points all I know is that I usually need to get more, and the really annoying part is two fold,
1) they let you buy in bulk but don't offer a discount
2) you are always left with a few left over points that you can do almost nothing with


At the end of the day I find that you will buy from where is convenient for you, I have spent hundreds of dollars on iTunes because I have iPod's (and now an iPhone) and I have spend a fair bit on the xBox market place because I have a 360, I am sure if I had a PS3 I would be spending cash on there too, and if I had a Zune <shudder> I guess I would use the Zune market place, I think right now you get a store based on what gear you have, I am sure that this can not and will not last but for right now it is what we deal with.


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## ahMEmon (Sep 27, 2005)

TrevX said:


> I buy some tracks from iTunes because its convenient. I don't even notice the DRM, so it doesn't affect me one bit. I think that goes for pretty much anybody who buys from iTunes.
> 
> Trev


I remove the DRM using iMovieHD the minute I make the purchase just so I can play my tracks on other non-Apple devices. I still keep 'em as AAC files, though....


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## Drizzx (Jun 30, 2008)

Bjornbro said:


> Please, you're kidding me right? This is so classic Microsoft, take something easy to do and make it more difficult. What if somebody wanted to buy only one song from the Zune Store? That one song would actually cost $5.00!  XX)


That is the entire point. It's also why the number of points you buy never buy an even amount of product...so that you have leftovers. Who wants left overs? So to spend those they go buy yet another card.

It's creative marketing, but in this day an age customers are pretty much fed up with it.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

MannyP Design said:


> Sounds like Stonehead is making excuses... Or, depending on what tracks you want, you can get DRM-Free itunes music at a slightly higher cost.


Yeah, but to be fair the comment was made back on Nov 11th, *2006*, before Apple made DRM-free iTunes tracks available.


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## zlinger (Aug 28, 2007)

Not to change the subject, but this is so funny from the Zune website...

"Wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing. Share full-length tracks of your favorite songs, albums, playlists, pictures and even audio podcasts. Listen to the full track of any song you receive up to three times, and even pass along songs you receive to other friends nearby who have a Zune. If you like a song you receive, you can easily add it to your wish list and then buy it from your PC the next time you sync."

I don't know anyone who has a zune or have even seen these things being sold in stores. Does Microsoft seriously think people are going to switch from iTunes to yZunes?


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

^^^
I have never seen anyone with a Zune, nor have I ever seen anyone in a store looking at the Zune. On the "big day" when Canadians were "blessed" with the Zune, the only store I saw with a display was The Store Formerly Known As Radio Slack But Is Now Only Half As Good - which was this weird red plasticy thing with a strange symbol thing spinning on it. Two dudes who "work" there were hanging around, looking rather bored considering that no one was bothering to even look at the display or to ask any questions.

Half the problem is with the pathetic software which is special M$ only proprietary garbage, and from everything I have read, the Zune Store is prone to crashing, and their DRM is so good, you can't play half the tracks you download in the first place.

Perhaps the only thing the Zune has that the iPod should have (at least as an option), is a radio. The WiFi? Like, as if it's hard to connect a buddies iPod to a computer and download whatever. I think the WiFi can probably be ripped off by some means, as I would not expect the Evil Empire to know anything about security issues, judging from their OS offerings...

I don't think Apple has anything to worry about... Actually, Creative, San Disk and the other fake iPod wannabes don't have any worries either. The only outstanding thing going for the Zune is it is available in the poo brown colour - which no one in their right mind would steal!

And the funny thing is the reps try to stay away from even mentioning Apple or iPod - but the dumb thing handles PodCasts...


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

zlinger said:


> Not to change the subject, but this is so funny from the Zune website...
> 
> "Wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing. Share full-length tracks of your favorite songs, albums, playlists, pictures and even audio podcasts. Listen to the full track of any song you receive up to three times, and even pass along songs you receive to other friends nearby who have a Zune. If you like a song you receive, you can easily add it to your wish list and then buy it from your PC the next time you sync."
> 
> I don't know anyone who has a zune or have even seen these things being sold in stores. Does Microsoft seriously think people are going to switch from iTunes to yZunes?


Well, they DO come in babysh*t green--something we haven't seen from Apple yet.


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## zlinger (Aug 28, 2007)




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