Microsoft has launched their iTunes-like music store (see it here). It’s not much to look at and certainly is not as user friendly as iTunes but I guess it’s a start.
Having said that, the same artists that aren’t available on iTunes (e.g., the Beatles and Led Zeppelin) aren’t on MSN either. In addition, MSN is charging the same as iTunes. So, other than downloading in a different format, MSN seems to be on the short side of the ledger.
It seems to me that if MSN wants to get a larger share of the business, in an environment in which they are not the leader, they have two choices: sell at a lower price or provide a better user experience (Did he just say “user experience"? -ed.). Since MSN has historically done everything except lower prices (removing functionality, yes. Prices, no.), they had better get going on re-doing the interface.
For example, they provide a short clip of a song so you can preview it before deciding to buy. Only, they don’t make it obvious how to hear it. Even when you click on the song, nothing appears to be happening even though the clip is in fact being downloaded. They need to give the customer some visual feedback that indeed, something is happening (especially on slow dial-up accounts).
Oh, by the way, depending on what browser you are using, you may in fact get no response when you click on a song. I tried using Firefox and Opera and couldn’t get either to work but using MS IE did (after I added the URL as a trusted site).
Another example: you shouldn’t have to scroll around the screen to find navigation links. They have some links at the bottom of the page that go to complete listings of, for example, the most popular songs and new albums. This means you have to scroll down to use them (unless you are running on a screen resolution higher than the 1280 X 1024 I’m running). This assumes, of course, you hang around long enough to discover the links. Many people won’t because they don’t have the time to waste.
In addition, upon clicking one the links, IE blew up. After restarting I tried to see how I was supposed to create an account. I figured I would try “My Account.” I clicked on it and was taken to page saying I had scripting disabled so I had to go through a different process by clicking on a button marked “Continue.” So I clicked on the button and was taken to what looked like a login screen. It asked for my email address and below it was a box for something. I assume it was for my password but there wasn’t anything saying one way or another. Since it looked like my Hotmail/.Net Passport would work (they had a small .Net/Passport graphic) I tried that. Nope, no joy. In fact, since all there was on page was the two boxes, plus a small check box I’m not sure how I’m supposed to setup an account. Trying to click on “Buy” just took me to the same place.
On the bottom of the home page was a link to Customer Service so I tried that. From there was a link to creating an account. Okay, but what I see there isn’t what I see when I try to create an account. I assume again it’s because I have IE running with no “features” enabled. I checked out the system requirements page and found I must enable cookies, ActiveX controls, navigation across domains, and accept the installation of something called MSN Music Assistant (requires that something called “Background Intelligent Transfer Service” is enabled). And, of course, you would need to be logged in with Administrative rights to allow the background installation of MSN Music Assistant.
From this, as far as I can tell, MSN wants you to run only IE and only with very little security enabled. I’m not going to go into a long rant about just how insecure IE is and how even CERT recently took the unprecedented step of recommending people think about using, as one of several possible steps towards higher security, another browser. But if MSN wants any money out of me, they better try creating a site that is standards compliant and doesn’t require me to use insecure procedures to access it.
I then tried downloading Microsoft’s new Media Player 10. It’s a 12MB download and took a little less than 20 seconds to download. After installing, it appears using the Media Player is a much better way of listening to music on the MSN site. But, when I tried to buy some music, I ended up at the same page with the two boxes that I saw before. And as before, I was not able to create an account. Sigh.
The only good thing I can say about the MSN site is that I heard a couple new songs that I wanted so I fired up iTunes and bought them there.
Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!
