Zune Marketplace Goes Exclusively MP3, Will Hit 10 Million Tracks
To let the major tech news outlets tell their story the only updates coming to Zune Marketplace this fall will be applications for Windows Phone and international releases. However there’s an untold story here. A story of what happens when music makers realize that it’s time to give the people what they want.
According to Michel Yeager of the Zune Team, starting sometime this fall the entire Zune Marketplace catalog will convert to MP3 files, killing the WMA standard the service launched with back in 2006.It may not be getting much press because every other music store has done the same, however who doesn’t want music they purchase from one place to be compatible with all their devices. We’re told Zune Pass will remain WMA format, so don’t get excited about doing nefarious things, but if you do enjoy the Zune software, now you’ll never have to leave it to get your favorite tracks on other devices.