What is the true value of a Zune Pass?
After three years last week, Microsoft finally released its first real campaign aggressively pitting the Zune Service against iTunes. This is not an ad espousing the hardware features of the Zune over the iPod, rather it is a campaign about the actual music service. Check the fruits of their labors here.
The ads feature some dude named Wes Moss. I am not the biggest fan of the ad, I don’t think Wes Moss really represents a current Zune subscriber, I think he represents the average Joe looking to save a buck ($0.99/track). I would have preferred to see a musician up there saying why they preferred their fans to use Zune. This ad, however, is not targeted to me – its targeted to my wife and the expert music lover who is not loyal to any brand, loves music, and is looking for the best deal to acquire music. When all is said and done … that’s who the best customer for the Zune is anyway.
Regardless of the personal issues with the campaign one might have, it raises a very salient point: The Zune Pass is a more affordable way of acquiring music in a post CD world. Of course if you bought an iPod and b ought into the sham that is iTunes just for Podcasts and not music, for instance, you have other issues; namely you over-spent on a device to listen to what equates to free talk radio.
Regardless, the point of the ad was made very clear to me this morning after watching “Biography: Billy Idol” on A&E. The kids were playing, the wife was getting a morning to sleep in (deservedly so) and I was waiting for my Sunday morning news shows … give me a break.
In any event, after the show, I considered that I liked Billy’s discography and sought out to grab his popular songs and the albums I had not heard – specifically his punk stuff with Generation X. I went to the Marketplace and downloaded:
Kiss Me Deadly by Generation X 
Charmed Life – Billy Idol
Devil’s Playground – Billy Idol
Rebel Yell – Billy Idol
Billy Idol – Billy Idol
Looking at the Billy Idol Albums
Next month I will pay another $15 to listen to Billy Idol, but that $15 will also cover the cost to listen to everything else I downloaded via the subscription. Over the past three years that amounts to thousands of songs. In order to acquire those tracks, I have had to pay $540 for my Zune pass subscription over the 3 years.
Let’s say, for instance, I download, on average, 60 tracks a month (I actually believe this is fairly accurate). Over the course of 3 years, that would be 2,160 tracks. If I paid $0.99/track using either Amazon.com or iTunes, I would have paid $2,160 straight up. Using the Zune Pass, however, in this real world example I spent only $540. This further ignores the fact that for the past few months as a Zune Pass subscriber, Zune has let me download 10 DRM-free MP3s each month.
I defy anyone to tell me that there is another legal service out there that can beat $540 for 2,160 songs. There simply is none. That is, you cannot download 2,160 songs for less than $2,160 unless you use Zune Pass. The key to the service, however, is that the more you download, the better the deal is.
If you are looking for a music download service that has value, Zune Pass is hands down the way to go. Combine it with all the other features of the Zune hardware and the Zune software and Zune really possesses the best all around package.
One thing to consider is that the Zune model is the model of the future. iTunes follows the traditional pay-for-play model of brick and mortar record stores whereas the Zune model is much more akin to the Netflix model – and millions of people have bought off on that model. Zune takes it a step further though. Specifically, Zune lets you keep the media while you are paying your subscription fee where Netflix digital rentals expire even if you still pay your subscription fee. So if you like Netflix, it would be hard to argue against the Zune model.
Obviously, if you kneel at the altar of Steve Jobs it will be pointless for you to even consider the ad or the value propositions. If, on the other hand, you are more objective, then truly consider the Zune Pass and look at real world examples like mine in addition to Wes Moss.
