Microsoft plans to launch a streaming music service a la Pandora, Spotify
The service is apparently far enough along that Microsoft expects a launch by late July.
Taking aim at existing music streaming sites like Pandora, last.fm and Spotify, Microsoft spokesperson Peter Bale indicated the new service would be modeled on the latter and may be ready to launch as early as the end of this month. Details are still scarce but depending on how closely Spotify is used as "inspiration" for the new service, we could see free ad-supported streams and ad-free subscription levels, with the ability to purchase tracks for download as well.
There's some early evidence showing that streaming services may be on the rise at the expense of peer-to-peer downloads. Although the impartiality of this particular survey may be in question, a quote from one of the respondents does indicate a legitimate market preference that may indeed come to hold sway: "I don't really feel the need to own all that music, I know it's always there."
This story around the web:
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Microsoft is launching a music streaming… [telegraph.co.uk]
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Microsoft to Challenge Pandora, Last.fm… [readwriteweb.com]
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