Digital Home Thoughts: Is "PlaysForSure" the Real iPod Killer?

Last week Microsoft unveailed PlaysForSure which should allow consumers decide if the hardware they buy supports Windows Media DRM. The PlaysForSure website allows customers to learn about all the media stores and media players that are supported as well as links to places to buy them. Unlike Apple's iPod, there are many choices to buy both your music/video from and what player to listen to them on. In the past, many consumers were very confused about what software they could use with their media players. Sometimes both Musicmatch and Real players were bundled, confusing the consumer even more as to which one to use. With Windows Media Player 10, Microsoft finally has a player that is head and shoulders above any other player on Windows and on par with iTunes. So their player is as good as iTunes, they have a selection of stores that together nearly equal iTunes' and even a much superior video format than Quicktime, but is that enough?

But the big question is, will Microsoft be able to get the word out to consumers? When Intel decided to let consumers know that their processor was inside most computers, they ran so many ads that most of us hum their jingle in our sleep. Even today many people only will buy a computer that has the Intel Inside logo on the outside. For Microsoft to get consumers looking toward Windows Media products, they'll need to convince them that going the iPod/iTunes route is not in their best interest. Trying to take the iPod on today is a task that no current Windows Media hardware vendor has been able to do, but I say they have been going about this the wrong way.

First, you can't beat Apple on style points. Most high school students want an iPod and nothing else. To them, having those white ear buds hanging from their ears is the only way to listen to music. Trying to convince these students to change their tastes is no easy task and parents who have been told over and over again that their children need an iPod won't dare make another choice (especially if the cost difference is only $50), so trying to make an iRiver look as hip in an ad as the iPod does no one any good. This might all change though if the Xbox has a PlaysForSure logo on the outside as well as being featured in ads. Microsoft must get the Xbox to support WMP10 and then they will be able to show the PlaysForSure logo at the end of every Xbox game ad.

Next, I can't tell you how many times I saw that U2 iPod ad this weekend watching football. Microsoft needs to start advertising PlaysForSure the same way. Let consumers know that there is only one format that is supported on tons of hardware today and even more in the future. Let them know that there are car stereos that will be supported, that XM Radio is supported on WMP10, that they can buy music from almost 10 stores at last count. Tell them that you can buy music from your mobile phone or that you can watch video on your Dell Axim X50. Tell them that WMV HD is going to be the HD standard. And finally don't forget to tell them that unlike the lousy 128 kbps downloads from iTunes, WMA downloads can be of much higher quality at no extra cost.

PlaysForSure is finally the way for Microsoft to pass Apple in the music market but unless they start running ads letting consumers know about it, the consumer will be remembering U2 and the iPod and nothing else. The PlaysForSure logo should be as easy for consumers to remember as Intel Inside. The iPod killer isn't the hardware, its the ability to use your music how you want, not how Apple wants. Apple isn't scared of iRiver, or Creative and I'm sure they are laughing at Virgin. What does scare them is WMA and the support that could be thrown behind it. If Microsoft can advertise PlaysForSure and get consumers thinking about their music, Apple is in deep trouble. If they don't and leave it up to the hardware companies, then the iPod will continue to be successful and a logo on a webpage won't change that.