Microsoft Discontinues Zune Music Service
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(NEW YORK) — Microsoft has officially buried its Zune music service, though it was already a distant memory for a lot of music fans.
The Zune music service was discontinued on Sunday and users are now no longer able to stream or download content. Instead, Microsoft encourages users to try out their 3-year-old Groove Music, a digital music streaming service which boasts a music catalog of over 38 million tracks.
Zune device owners are not affected and can continue to listen to and transfer music without a problem.
Microsoft launched its Zune portable player and music service in 2006 as a response to Apple’s successful iPod and iTunes that had already cycled through a few generations. It was lauded as the “iPod Killer” by media before release but never lived up to the potential.
The Zune hardware player was discontinued in 2011.
The end of Zune is the latest mark of the lessening popularity for downloading content for MP3 players, as more people turn to streaming music instead.
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