Contrary to the impression you might have got from numerous press reports, Microsoft has not launched a music download service. MSN has signed up to brand OD2's music service, and if you follow the link from MSN.co.uk, you will find it takes you to the OD2 site, not to any Microsoft-run service. Tiscali and probably several other companies will offer the same service with the same download library with no reference to the Microsoft MSN version.
The idea of buying tracks for 62p each may be attractive to some, but you only get them at that price if you sign up for a £9.99 per month subscription. The cost of a one-off download is "from 99p". As far as I can see, the statement that it's "the first time European consumers can purchase song downloads off the Internet for under one euro ($1.13), and without requiring a monthly subscription" just isn't true of the MSN.co.uk service.
Finally, it is being reported that the MSN service is available via the Premium Services tab in Windows Media Player. Not at the moment, it ain't -- I just downloaded it to check. However, the Premium Services tab does offer the rival PressPlay and MusicNow services. Also, you don't actually need WMP9 to use the service: WMP7 works fine.
Reuters has one of the better reports here.
Comment: It could well be possible for Microsoft to go round and do deals with music companies and create the software to run a Microsoft music service from Microsoft servers. It hasn't. If it did, it would probably get a mention on the front page of the Microsoft.com Web site. What has happened is that MSN.co.uk (not MSN US, and so far not MSN France or MSN Germany etc etc) has put a sticky label on OD2's service. It could just as easily take it off and stick it on a different service. But if MSN.co.uk had stuck its label on iTunes instead of OD2, I don't think there would have been much hysteria about "Microsoft's" music service.
