Addressing a technology entertainment market that media leaders call promising, Microsoft Corp. this week announced that consumers who borrow songs from its digital music service can own some of them for no extra fee.

 

Officials at the software giant say that Zune subscribers can select 10 tracks per month as part of their $15 per month subscription.

 

According to Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Zune at Microsoft (News - Alert), the way people consume music has changed, from CDs to digital content.

 

“People want the freedom to listen to whatever they want across millions of songs, combined with the confidence that they can keep their favorite tracks forever,” Stephenson said.

 

People in the business echo that sentiment.

 

Calling Microsoft’s announcement “great news” for the industry, Simon Renshaw, chief executive officer of Strategic Artist Management – a firm that represents musicians such as the Dixie Chicks, Miranda Lambert, Everclear, Tila Tequila and Aly & AJ – said the subscription model is redefining the digital music landscape.

 

“This breakthrough offer makes it easier than ever for consumers to discover new music and will encourage deeper engagement in the digital music space, and that is good for the entire industry,” Renshaw said.

 

Paris-based digital entertainment company Vivendi’s chief executive officer, Jean-Bernard Levy, reportedly told the Los Angeles Times recently that the Universal Music Group saw nearly 30 percent digital revenue increases already this year, and that digital sales alone contributed to more than 20 percent of the company’s recorded-music tally.

 

Eyeing digital music revenue, Levy reportedly told the newspaper that his company was “extremely active in developing new business models, new sources of revenues. We are working with all the big names in the field of Internet, in the field of telecom equipment companies, big media companies, and this is a big opportunity.”

 

Microsoft’s Zune service works the way that many such digital subscription services do.

 

Subscribers have access to millions of tracks that can be streamed or downloaded from a PC or directly from a Zune device – such as the company’s 80GB model, shown at right – when in a wireless hot spot. Downloaded music can be shared among up to three PCs and three Zune devices. Of the 10 “free” tracks per month that users now get to keep and add to their permanent collections, Microsoft officials say the songs can be burned to a CD or moved to other devices even if their subscription ends.

 

Though popular, according to The Associated Press, Microsoft’s Zune is a “minor player” compared with Apple (News - Alert) Inc.’s line of iPods.

 

“Apple snagged 71 percent of MP3 player sales from January to September of this year, to Microsoft’s 3 percent, according to market researcher NPD Group (News - Alert),” the AP reports.