Microsoft and MTV Launch Urge

Posted on May 16, 2006

BetaNews reports that Microsoft and MTV have announced plans to launch a music service called URGE along with its release of Windows Media Player 11.

Microsoft's next chapter in its battle against the iPod and ITunes begins this week, as the company releases Windows Media Player 11 to the public. Additionally, Microsoft will promote heavily a test version of the URGE music service, a project it co-developed with MTV.
Seeing that a seamless ecosystem is what has propelled the iPod to its iconic status, Microsoft has also taken a page from the Apple playbook and co-developed a portable player called the "Clix." The new device is a project between Windows-based player market leader iRiver and the Redmond company.
The deluge of media-related announcements is seen by some as an indirect admission that the company's previous strategy of allowing freedom among its partners to do as they wish in the digital media space was a failure.
Companies like Creative have struggled to succeed in a crowded market where more than a half dozen major players plus dozens of smaller outfits compete for less than a fifth of the market. The result has been a disaster not only for most of these companies financially, but for Microsoft in the minds of the consumer.

Microsoft will have a difficult task ahead of them in chasing online music leader iTunes.com. But Microsoft has managed to compete in gaming with the Xbox when many thought they would fail. Windows Media Player 11 (WMP 11) can be found here.

Update 5-17-06: Urge has debuted and USA Today has a story on it. The Urge website is located here. They are currently offering a free 14-day trial.