Zune Music Pass heading down under to Australia on November 16

By Tom Warren, on 26th Oct 11 5:24 am with 13 Comments

Zune Music Pass Australia

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it plans to offer its Zune Music Pass subscription service to Australians on November 16.

The Zune Music Pass subscription will be available across Xbox, Windows and Windows Phone and priced at $11.99 a month or $119.90 per year. Gizmodo Australia notes that around 11 million songs will be made available to Australian Zune Music Pass subscribers at launch. Australian users, like British and Canadian users, will not be allowed to keep 10 songs per month. Microsoft offered this subscription to U.S. users but has since discontinued it.

Microsoft is also making Kinect’s voice capabilities available to Australians. Long Zheng at istartedsomething reports that the original launch of Kinect lacked the all important Kinect voice menuing capability. Voice enabled Kinect will be made available in mid-December and Microsoft explained that the delay of this feature was due to localization for the various regional accents.

Microsoft’s Australian Zune roll-out follows a launch in Canada earlier this month. The software maker made its Zune Music Marketplace and Zune Music Pass available to Canadian markets on October 3. Microsoft now offers its Zune Music Pass in Canada for C$9.99 month or C$99.90 annually. The company also lowered its U.S. service on October 3 to a new price of $9.99 per month. Both plans provide on-demand access to more than 14 million songs and tens of thousands of music videos.

  • Anonymous

    That’s it. I’m moving to Australia.

  • http://www.facebook.com/daniel.busoli Daniel Busoli

    “…the delay of this feature was due to localization for the various regional accents.”
    While some Aussies may have complained at the lack of Kinect Voice Controls, the difference between US and Aussie accents are dramatic.

    Say ‘water’ to Siri, and she’ll think you’re saying ‘worta’

    • Anonymous

      Say “winrumors” and she’ll think you’re saying “win room uhs.”
      Say “cheers,” and she’ll think you’re saying “cheese.”

      Right, Tom?

      Or shall I say… Tum? =)

  • Se7ensyns

    What about New Zealand!!!

    Add to that what about Netflix etc for Xbox in New Zealand why are we always left behind :(

    • phil jay

      You are not alone :P

  • Anthos

    Now what do I do :)
    I created an Xbox Live / Zune account just so that I could have this in Australia for the last 3 years…. Do I move my Xbox Live account to Zune (of which I have gold for both) or Do I just go with two separate accounts???

    I knew this day was coming – and finally I no longer have to use VPN’s to get around it – but damn :P

  • Cloud

    YES!

  • Anonymous

    I’ve suggested to Microsoft on their WindowsPhone user’s voice page that they need a device like Apple’s AiportExpress, a small networked device that lets you stream music from your computer to a small stereo. Microsoft has plenty of streaming option if you have a TV, but nothing if you just want to stream music to a stereo over Wifi. If you agree Microsoft should have a device like this in the WindowsPHone ecosystem, give my suggestion a vote, or two. :)
    WP UsersVoice site: http://windowsphone.uservoice.com
    My Suggestion, is in Accessories, here: http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions/suggestions/2337942-airport-express-wifi-audio-receiver

    So far it has 1 vote, mine. Hehheh. Guess I’m the only one who want an Apple Airport Express without iTunes.

  • brainstorm

    finally….awesome news…waiting for ages

  • http://twitter.com/blakey15 D.O.M

    Can’t believe some countries haven’t got it still! The UK pretty much got it when Windows Phone 7 was launched!

    • http://www.andrewtechhelp.com/ Andrew Tech Help

      D.O.M – only 6 countries of the 35 have Zune Music Pass (Canada, US, Spain, Italy, France & UK), Australia will be the 7th. It’s not “some countries”, it’s “most countries”

  • James

    I will be excited when it does not cost more, and lets us keep songs. At least its a step in the right direction. I’m wondering how much still will not be available in our region.

    I was trying to play the only johnny O’Keefe (Australia’s first successful rock singer) song to have it say it was not available here…

    • Anonymous

      The keeping songs option is dead, even in the U.S. with the exception of those that already subscribe.  And its my guess that at some point in the future the music Studios will force Microsoft to discontinue it for those that still have it in the U.S.