The forgotten Microsoft music player that had one feature Spotify still hasn’t copied
Everyone remembers the iPod, but Microsoft’s competing music player is often forgotten. During the iPod’s heyday, Microsoft introduced the Zune — a line of MP3 players with hard drives and flash storage options that integrated with the Zune Pass and the Zune Marketplace. The former was an early music streaming service, while the latter was a digital storefront that oddly required buyers to purchase large amounts of Zune “points” that could then be redeemed for songs. The Microsoft Zune’s design and software looks surprisingly modern today, but the more innovative part was the streaming service and social features. It’s easy to look at platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music today and think that going all-in on streaming and social was the obvious choice for Microsoft. Back then, it wasn’t. People still wanted to own their music and were naturally wary of streaming services. The iPod’s success was directly linked to the iTunes Store, which revolutionized legal digital music ownership. The Zune Pass and the Zune Marketplace were nothing like iTunes, and that’s partly …
