URGE, Brought to You by MTV

Microsoft may never be able to match the experience that millions of iPod buyers have
had downloading music from Appleís iTunes Store. But you canít blame the Redmond
company for trying.
URGE, shown in Figure 18, is a new music service featured in WMP 11 that has its roots in
the American video cable channels MTV, VH1, and CMT. The parent corporation, MTV
Networks, imbues URGE with a music library thatís said to be two million songs strong
(which should be enough to keep you entertained for at least a few weeks). The service,
available only in the United States at this writing, provides unlimited listening for a
monthly subscription fee, or you can buy individual tracks, similar to iTunes.Besides the usual 99-cent music downloads, URGE offers over 6,000 music videos, more
than 500 playlists by genre, and some 130 commercial-free radio stations in a wide variety
of styles.
If you canít find what you want on URGE, WMP 11 still boasts partnerships with several
other online audio stores. These include the selections of Audible.com, Napster, XM
Satellite Radio, Microsoftís own MSN Music, and so on (see Figure 19).

mtv, satellite radio, MSN Music