With things having been a bit quiet in the Microsoft camp music wise since they dropped their original plans to launch an iTunes style platform, this could be interesting.
Microsoft are working with MTV to launch a new digital music service called Urge which will debut in the US next year. Quite what this will be isn't quite clear, though the aim seems to be to provide a download service that assists customers in navigating a million odd tracks through MTV created editorial. What is certain is that there will be one hell of a marketing push once this goes live, with the service bundled into Microsoft's Windows Media Player and considerable plugging across the MTV network. More details are expected at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month.
Clearly the aim is to take on Apple in this space, and the service might come at just the right time in terms of helping the major labels battle the dominant iTunes for a more flexible price-point model. SonyBMG and Warner are both confirmed as being signed up to the new Microsoft / MTV platform, and EMI and Universal are expected to follow.
The fact that the two corporations have to combine their efforts to take on iTunes shows just how dominant Apple has become in the digital music space. It's also a bit ironic, given that until recently it was the dominance of MTV and Microsoft in their respective sectors that concerned senior players in the music business. Now the labels need the two companies to combine forces to take on the overly-dominant Apple. Whether they'll succeed remains to be seen.