Microsoft and MTV Team Up to Take On  iTunes
By: Lisa McDough

Microsoft and MTV Announce Their Partnership for a New Music Source: Urge

Microsoft and MTV announced in late 2005 a partnership to create a new online music source, Urge. The launch of Urge was not given a specific date, but is slated for

sometime in early 2006.  

Urge will be integrated into the next version of Windows Media Player, which comes with the Microsoft Windows operating system and is available to download for free on the internet.

The unreleased Urge already boasts a myriad of features. The service will offer over two million songs for download, at the launch. Urge will offer programming content form the various MTV brand channels. The fans will be able to customize the service and discover new music. Other features of the music source include music over online radio.

Microsoft and MTV plan on making the service more universally appealing by offering music downloadable via a set subscription fee, or a single song download fee, although no specific fee information has been announced.

Marketing for Urge will be done over MTV’s brands, including MTV, VH1, Country Music Television, which boast 165 million viewers each month.

Although Apple accounts for less than five percent of the computer market, the Apple iPod dominates over seventy percent of the music player market. This domination over the music player market will be problematic for Microsoft and MTV.

Music downloaded from Urge is not compatible with the ever-popular iPod, leaving Urge to battle for the remaining thirty percent of the market, or hope that other music player options, such as iRiver's H10 or Creative's Zen Touch, slowly dwindle Apple's hold on the market.