Microsoft continues to break the ties between its key brands and Windows, an important hedge in the mobile market, should its purchase of Nokia’s device business not result in success for Windows Phone. It has been releasing key products like Office on rival mobile platforms, and now Xbox Music has come to Android and iOS too, with free web playback.
The next launch for the two dominant mobile operating systems will be a cloud locker for pre-owned tracks, setting Microsoft, and its best consumer brand, firmly against music services from Apple and Google themselves, and challengers like Amazon and Spotify.
Xbox Music will be the first Microsoft entertainment service to be available on Android and iOS, and it is gaining free music streaming options, supported by advertising. The software giant launched its Spotify-like offering last year and added some eye-catching differentiators like Smartglass integration. The aim was to put the Xbox brand and user interface at the heart of Microsoft’s identity with consumers, and create a common experience across consoles, TVs, PCs and handsets ‘ part of a broader strategy to extend Xbox beyond gaming to video and other multimedia.
However, as so often, Microsoft was not brave enough to go all the way and create a fully Xbox-centered music platform, with some customers complaining that some of the Windows 8 design features limited usability.
As a result, Xbox Music has now been redesigned with a simpler interface ‘ less distinctive, and less well integrated with the Windows 8/Windows Phone interface, but easier to use. There is left sidebar navigation in addition to Microsoft’s trademark tiles, and familiar terms like Radio have replaced the vendor’s own creations, like Smart DJ.
Microsoft has high ambitions for the free web music element, which will offer 30m tracks, and plans for the free songs to be available from all its main web platforms ‘ tracks will be included in Bing results when a user searches for a band, for instance. And Windows 8.1’s upcoming Web Playlist feature will turn all kinds of data, such as reviews or concert listings, into playlists with a few clicks.
Jerry Johnson, general manager of Xbox Music, told GigaOM that he wants music to permeate and enhance a whole range of Microsoft products ‘ the kind of approach which independents like Spotify cannot emulate, though other platform providers like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook, of course, could. “Xbox Music now, more than ever, powers music experiences between Windows 8, Xbox, Windows Phone, and now iOS, Android and the web,” Johnson said in a statement.
Subscribers to Xbox Music get unlimited access via the Music Pass, which costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. The web player is available on an ad-supported basis or ad-free with a subscription.