A new music service from Microsoft lets users download and play songs on their mobile phones - and that's it.
MSN Mobile Music, currently available in the U.K., offers more than a million songs and 10,000 videos from the four major record labels, but all the tunes are shackled by DRM. Once downloaded to a mobile device, the songs can't be played elsewhere, transferred to another phone or backed up onto a computer.
The songs are also more expensive than the going rate on iTunes, which recently announced that it will stop using DRM entirely, and Amazon, which never used DRM to begin with. Each song on Microsoft's mobile store costs £1.50 ($2.07). Videos and ring tones cost £2 and £3, respectively.
MSN Mobile Music's saving grace is compatibility, working with over 130 handsets, but for the extra cost you'd at least expect to have more control over the music. As it stands, this service won't even allow users to take their songs with them when they upgrade to a new phone.
Hugh Griffiths, head of Microsoft's U.K. mobile division, told PC Pro that the use of DRM is a "first step." He also said the company is constantly reviewing its pricing, meaning Microsoft will see how much it can get away with first and will scale the price down if customers aren't buying.
"This is an introduction - it's a toe in the water for MSN Mobile and we'll see how the service develops and we'll keep a very close eye on it, and we'll look to amend and change it as necessary as time progresses," Griffiths said.
The new store is reminiscent of another Microsoft DRM blunder: Two years after closing the MSN Music Store in favor of the Zune Marketplace, DRM servers for the old store were shut down in August 2008. Music Store customers could no longer authorize their downloads on another device. We called it the second-worst music DRM disaster of all time.
