Lets face it – a Zune music subscription is not going to be included in our cell phone contracts (ample proof of this exists in the KIN One and Two). It is therefore welcome news that the Zune subscription itself may be dropping from the current $14.99 per month (which includes 10 free MP3s) to something a bit lower.
According to Zune senior product manager Terry Farrell Microsoft is facing un uphill battle with the product, and have seen many of its competitors lower their prices to around $9.99 or even free for streaming music.
“It’s definitely a challenging business,†Farrell said.
RealNetworks Inc.’s Rhapsody service in April slashed the monthly price of a premium music service to $10 from $14.99.
His admission to BusinessWeek that prices may be dropping, at least for streaming, is therefore no real surprise. So far the Zune music service has only managed to gain 2% of the market, while Amazon has managed to claw back 12% largely related to their presence on Android handsets.
How many of our readers who get a Windows Phone 7 device will also get a Zune subscription? Let us know below.
Read more at BusinessWeek here.