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"This is an entrance into the online music industry. This is the first service that we're going to be delivering to consumers."
——MSN Product Manager Sarah Lefko

MICROSOFT ROLLS OUT
MUSIC SERVICE

Rocker David Bowie Also Offers Music Service, Only His Is Less Gender Specific
Ah, in the old days a "sub race" was just an excuse to go make out.

Today, however, talking about subs implies more than just sinking Japanese fishing boats. It's all about the online race to provide music for music fans through some sort of agreement that will bring plenty of money to the music haves (the labels) without alienating the music have-nots (the fans).

Along those lines, two new services were announced today—one by computer giant Microsoft, the other by rocker and online pioneer David Bowie.

Microsoft announced today that it will roll out its own Internet music broadcasting service. The announcement comes just two days on the heels of the announcement by RealNetworks—Microsoft's top rival in the Internet media field—that it had pacted with AOLTW, BMG and EMI for a subscription service to be dubbed MusicNet (hitsdailydouble.com, 4/2).

"This is an entrance into the online music industry," said MSN Product Manager Sarah Lefko. "This is the first service that we're going to be delivering to consumers."

The Microsoft service, which will be free for the time being, will be part of its MSN.com Internet portal. It will be similar to existing Web radio services such as Musicmatch and AOLTW's Spinner.

The MSN music service will tap into digital song analysis and management technology Microsoft acquired when it bought privately held Mongo Music last fall for an undisclosed sum, Lefko said. The Mongo technology will allow users to not only listen to 22 preset music categories like pop and rock, and 200 sub-categories, but also set preferences to hear similar artists, or listen to music of a certain tempo or mood.

The stations will be played through a small application called the MSN Music Player that Lefko described as a stripped-down version of the Windows Media Player used for playing audio and video on a computer.

Down the road, MSN could offer things like songs for download, a service for consumers to store their digital music online, or music subscriptions, Lefko said.

"We're looking into all these different types of things," she added. "We're looking into what makes sense and what consumers are willing to pay for."

And speaking of knowing what consumers are willing to pay for, Bowie added another aspect to his online cottage industry BowieNet, which already includes online banking, when the site launches BowieRadio Thursday (4/5).

The service will include a comprehensive collection of Bowie recordings, as well as "stations" streaming non-Bowie material. It will roll out additional stations in coming months, including one that features Bowie as a disc jockey and another dedicated solely to androgynous fashion tips.

"The possibilities are endless," Bowie said. "We have developed programming that not only satisfies the musical tastes and personal requests of our members, but also does not infringe on the rights of the writers and publishers."

BowieRadio will not allow users to cope and exchange music, rather, they will be able to hear preselected tracks via streaming audio. Also, the service will bring users no closer to living on an island with supermodel Iman—despite their deepest wishes to the contrary.

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