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Comment by lsh123 | Hacker News Reader

Amazon just launched their own music service. I can easily see someone like Microsoft trying to jump in and buy Spotify to create their own version.

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Microsoft already has their own version: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/music/music-pass

I guess it shows that I don't have xbox :)

They have had their own version for years in http://www.xbox.com/music.

In fact, Microsoft was one of the first major players in the streaming subscription market. Before Google Play Music Pass, before Spotify, there was the Zune Pass. It was a sweeter deal back then, $10/mo for all you can eat and you got $10 in credit for songs every month that you could keep even after you cancelled your subscription. Basically pre-pay for 10 songs every month and you get the entire streaming catalog.

Rhapsody was the only competitor at the time that I knew of. The Zune Pass service didn't really catch on because, well... you needed a Zune.

$14.99/mo, though at one time I was offered $100/year, should gave grabbed it. The credit plan was discontinued and only the $10/mo for streaming/no credits is currently offered as an xbox music pass. I was grandfathered in and still receive the monthly credits to this day. Usually it's a scramble at the end of the month to use the credits since they don't roll over. Overall, it's a good deal though. Bit clunky though since you can stream music using the latest clients (HTML, xbox, ios) but must use old Zune software to purchase it.

That doesn't seem to usually stop Microsoft from making an acquisition, though. They seem happy to pay for a brand even when merging it into their palette will be a major technical or bureaucratical headache.

They had in-house versions of everything Skype offers, yet they spent $8.5 billion on Skype. They had an in-house hardware team, yet they spent $7.2 billion on Nokia Mobile Devices.

If I had to guess, Microsoft is probably considering a Spotify purchase. The Xbox brand is ailing recently, and they must be getting a bit scared.

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