Zune is a discontinued media management software for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

that functions as a full media player application with a library, an interface to the Zune Marketplace, and as a media streaming server. The software is used to sync with all devices with Zune functionality including the Zune 4, 8, 16, 30, 80, 120, Zune HD,

Windows Phone 7 Windows Phone 7 is the first release of the Windows Phone mobile client operating system, released worldwide on October 21, 2010, and in the United States on November 8, 2010. It runs on the Windows CE 6.0 kernel. It received multiple large upda ...

, and

Microsoft Kin Kin was a short-lived mobile phone line from Microsoft designed for users of social networking. The phones, aimed at people between ages 15 and 30, were manufactured by Sharp Corporation and sold through Verizon Wireless. Microsoft invested two ...

. Zune devices work exclusively with the Zune software, which applies many design principles of Microsoft's Metro design language. The software was discontinued on October 16, 2012 and replaced with the

Windows Phone App Windows 10 Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft. First released in 2015, it is a successor to Windows Phone 8.1, but was marketed by Microsoft as being an edition of its PC operating system Windows 10. Win ...

(available both as desktop app and

Windows Store app Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps (formerly Windows Store apps and Metro-style apps) are applications that can be used across all compatible Microsoft Windows devices, including personal computers (PCs), tablets, smartphones, Xbox One, Mic ...

versions) and subsequently the "Phone Companion" App built into

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on ...

for PC, which is used for syncing with devices running

Windows Phone 8 Windows Phone 8 is the second generation of the Windows Phone mobile operating system from Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft. It was released on October 29, 2012, and, like its predecessor, it features a flat design, flat user interface based on t ...

(including 8.1) and

Windows 10 Mobile Windows 10 Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft. First released in 2015, it is a successor to Windows Phone 8.1, but was marketed by Microsoft as being an edition of its PC operating system Windows 10. Wind ...

, respectively. The software's role as a music and video player and streaming service has been superseded by

Groove Music Groove Music (formerly Xbox Music or Zune Music Pass) is a discontinued audio player software application included with Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The app is also associated with a now-discontinued music streaming service, Groov ...

and

Microsoft Movies & TV Microsoft Movies & TV (US only), or Microsoft Films & TV (Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand), previously Xbox Video and Zune Video, is a digital video service developed by Microsoft that offers full HD movies and TV shows available ...

. Zune online services were completely shut down on November 15, 2015, but the Zune software is still available for download from the Windows Phone website for use with Windows Phone 7 and Zune devices, which do not work with the newer apps designed for Windows Phone 8/8.1/Windows 10 Mobile.

Content

As a media player, the Zune software supports the following formats: The Zune software organizes the media in its library and allows users to add to the library by ripping from CDs, syncing with a Zune device, and downloading from the Zune Marketplace. The Zune software also allows one to organize song

metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...

. It can automatically download album art and metadata tag data for content in the library. On the PC, the Zune software

streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams a ...

files to other PCs, the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

, and other compatible devices. The Zune software also connects with the Zune social and keeps track of files swapped with other users. The Zune software runs only on 32-bit

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was release to manufacturing, released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Wind ...

or 32-bit/64-bit

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is not supported. The Zune software is also compatible with Windows 8 and Windows 10 so Zune device users would have continued legacy support on the new operating system, despite the Zune brand's phasing out before the 2012 release of the OS.

History

The 0.1 versions of the Zune software were a modified version of

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP) is the first media player and media library application that was developed by Microsoft for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as ...

11 while versions since 2.0 are built independently with additional DirectShow decoders for AAC,

MPEG-4 MPEG-4 is a group of international standards for the compression of digital audio and visual data, multimedia systems, and file storage formats. It was originally introduced in late 1998 as a group of audio and video coding formats and related t ...

and H.264. The current version of the software is 4.08.2345, released on August 22, 2011. Several versions of the software have been released. As of October 16, 2012 Zune became

Xbox Music Groove Music (formerly Xbox Music or Zune Music Pass) is a discontinued audio player software application included with Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The app is also associated with a now-discontinued music streaming service, Gro ...

Zune Marketplace

Zune Marketplace was an online store that offered music, podcasts, TV shows, movies, music videos, and mobile applications. Content could be viewed or purchased on Windows PCs with the Zune software installed, Zune devices, the

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design lan ...

phones, or the

phones. Zune Music Marketplace has since been superseded by

Music

Initially offering 2 million songs, the Zune Marketplace had grown to offer 14 million songs, all of which were available in MP3 format at up to 320kbit/s and were DRM-free. Music on Zune Marketplace was offered by the big four music groups ( EMI,

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

), as well as smaller music labels. The home page of the Zune Marketplace shows featured music as selected by Microsoft, and the most popular music. Users can search, or filter by genres including rock, pop, dance, urban, and others. Prior to Zune Marketplace's music becoming DRM-free, songs were protected by Windows Media DRM however the Zune Software only allowed WMDRM content from the Zune Marketplace to be transferred to Zune devices. Zune Marketplace DRM content could be played by other WMDRM compatible applications and devices.

Videos

Zune Marketplace offers television shows from the following companies: A&E,

Anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

, Bravo,

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

, CBS,

Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chan ...

, E!, Fox, G4, GamerTV,

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

, Marvel, MLB,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Paley Center The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to t ...

, PBS, Spike,

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz cons ...

SyFy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

TNA TNA may refer to: Organisations * Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka * The National Alliance, a political party in Kenya * The National Archives (United Kingdom), a UK public body * Tonga Nurses' Association, a trade union ...

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...

, and Viacom. Movies from Paramount,

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

and other studios are offered for purchase or time-limited rental. Some movies are available in HD. Selected content purchased via Zune Marketplace on the Xbox 360 additionally offers 5.1 surround sound. Music videos were also offered for purchase. Zune Video Marketplace has been superseded by

Xbox Video Microsoft Movies & TV (US only), or Microsoft Films & TV (Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand), previously Xbox Video and Zune Video, is a digital video service developed by Microsoft that offers full HD movies and TV shows available ...

Applications

Zune Marketplace included an applications section where apps and games could be downloaded for the Zune HD. The store initially launched with nine apps, all of which were developed by Microsoft and released for free. The selection of apps expanded to sixty-two games and applications over two years. Apps that were available included several games,

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, and

Windows Live Messenger MSN Messenger (also known colloquially simply as "Messenger"), later rebranded as Windows Live Messenger, was a cross-platform instant-messaging client developed by Microsoft. It connected to the Microsoft Messenger service and, in later versio ...

. Applications are also available from various independent developers made using XNA Game Studio or OpenZDK, which use C# and C++ respectively. On August 31, 2012, the apps sections of the Zune Marketplace and users' media collections were disabled within the software. The Zune software also allowed users to browse, purchase, and install Windows Phone apps from Windows Phone Marketplace.

International availability

Zune Marketplace was originally only available in the United States. In October 2010, certain Zune Marketplace content became available in additional countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia. The following table shows content availability by country: It has been discovered that there are a number of workarounds for accessing the Zune Pass and other Zune Marketplace capabilities outside of the countries where it has been launched.

Platforms

The Zune software for Windows PCs offers the entire selection of music, podcasts, videos, and applications. The Xbox 360 offers movie and music video downloads, as well as Zune Pass streaming. Zune devices, Windows Phone devices and the Microsoft Kin phones permit the download and streaming of music; Windows Phone devices additionally allow the download of applications.

Pricing

Purchases are made in the

Microsoft Points Microsoft Points, introduced in November 2005 as Xbox Live Points, were a digital currency issued by Microsoft for use on its Xbox and Zune product lines. Points could be used to purchase video games and downloadable content from Xbox Live Marke ...

currency, which can also be used to purchase content from Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live marketplaces. The exchange rate is one United States dollar to 80 Microsoft points. Most music tracks are priced at 79 points or 99 points. This works out to US$0.9875 or US$1.24 per song.

Zune Music Pass

Zune Music Pass is a music subscription service, which allows subscribers to download an unlimited number of songs for as long as their subscription is active. The songs can be played on up to 3 Windows PCs and on up to 3 other Zune-compatible devices, but cannot be burned to an audio CD. Songs downloaded using Zune Pass are provided in WMA format at 192kbit/s and are restricted by DRM. Zune Music Pass subscribers in the United States and other select countries were permitted to keep 10 songs per month even after their subscription ended, however the incentive was ultimately discontinued. On October 3, 2011, the Zune Music Pass price was lowered to $9.99/month, and the 10 song credit was removed. On October 15, 2012, Microsoft re-branded Zune as Xbox Music on the Xbox 360 with the promise of a complete rollout on October 26.

References

External links

*
Official Microsoft Download
{{Video digital distribution platforms Zune Jukebox-style media players Microsoft software Mobile software distribution platforms Online music database clients Tag editors Windows CD ripping software Windows CD/DVD writing software Windows media players