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Make Money With Your Zune

by Terrence O'Brien on July 20, 2007 at 06:12 PM

Make Money With Your Zune?

Zune Scene has uncovered a rather interesting patent from the Microsoft Labs that, if put in place, would pay Zune owners (all six of you) for sharing music. The patent lays out a system by which a commission would be paid to those who share music with another Zune owner via the portable media player's social networking features. The only catch is that the recipient of said share must eventually buy the song.

Currently, a song sent to a Zune user can only be listened to three times for free, after which it must be purchased from the online Zune Marketplace. The new system will encrypt songs sent between Zunes, including pirated songs, with a unique identifier that will credit the sharer's account should the share-ee buy the song. Sound confusing? It is, but luckily most users (all six of them) won't really have to worry about the behind-the-scenes stuff.

The interesting part is that the patent specifically says that the system will work with pirated music, potentially converting illegal downloads into legal music sales. Essentially, it's a way of at least partly legitimizing pirated music as a form of free promotion. Again, for this newfangled form of viral guerrilla marketing to make a difference, more than six people will have to own Zunes.

There are no indications of if or when the system might roll out, but it's nice to see Microsoft offer incentives for turning others on to new music.

From Engadget and Zune Scene

Related Links:

  • Microsoft Readying 80 Gigabyte Zune?
  • A New Color in the Zune Rainbow
  • No Zune for Europe

    • Tags: marketplace, microsoft, zune

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