Windows Phone vs Zune HD: Song Sharing Amongst Friends!

When Zune was originally released in 2006, the mantra of this new technology was “Welcome to the Social”. The idea was that Microsoft was going to make music social again, much like the experience one could have at the record store or at a concert.

In the original Zune devices, they introduced a method of sharing that was lovingly called ‘squirting.” Funny name aside, the concept was that you could share songs between two Zune devices. The recipient would have 3 plays and 3 days to listen to the track and decide if it was something that they would want to add to their own local collection. Over time, Zune removed the 3 days limitation, but with so few Zune owners out there in the world the feature was seen as lackluster.

With the introduction of Zune Social, users were able to share playlists, songs and comments about the music as they heard it. With the use of Zune cards, a person could share and show off what music they were listening to, marked as favorites, etc.

With the explosion of Twitter and Facebook, being able to share songs through these social networks became a great way to spread the word of music even to those who didn’t have any part of the Zune ecosystem. Many forget that there was a Zune Social application for Facebook, but all it really did was give updates based upon your Zune card. You really weren’t able to instantly share what you were listening to at that exact moment.

#ZuneTune, a twitter-based song sharing project between myself and Shane from the Zune Team aimed to inject community into the Zune community. Curiously, there’s a website promoting #ZuneTune. I have no idea how long it’s been there but I hope that Zune continues to expand on the concept. It was doing very well, even going so far as becoming a series of playlists that are still available in the Zune Marketplace if you search for Zune Tune. Yet the true power of sharing music, that instant share of "this is what I’m listening to right now” was lost.

With the Zune HD Twitter and Facebook applications, users can easily share the songs that they’re currently listening to through their social network accounts. While they were great additions, the Twitter application didn’t include the #ZuneTune hashtag which, by this point, was becoming popular and widely used. The Facebook application did a commendable job of song sharing, by including the album art, song information and a link to the song.

With Windows Phone, that instant song sharing seemed to had taken a step backwards. While it’s possible to share a song you’re only allowed to do so via Hotmail (email) or Text Messaging. I honestly don’t know of anyone who would share music in this manner. The great thing is that there’s an excellent Windows Phone 7 app for song sharing called Song Tweeter that let’s you instantly share via Twitter what song you’re listening to. I’m a huge fan of the app (it allows me to tag #ZuneTune to every tweet) and I think it’s a much needed addition – I’m hoping honestly that an app such as this could be make backwards compatible for the Zune HD.

So which device is better for song sharing? It’s gotta be Zune HD. The native Facebook and Twitter apps for Zune HD include sharing capabilities, while the Windows Phone device needed to have an app developed, even though they have ‘share’ as an option in the native OS – go figure that one out!

What are your thoughts on song sharing capabilities, either for Zune HD or Windows Phone 7? Where do you think improvements can be made?

Windows Phone vs Zune HD: Zune Social Integration

I know. I could stop right there, huh? Windows Phone has absolutely no Zune Social integration right now. Whereas, on the Zune HD, you’re able to sync your friend’s Zune Cards to the device as well as sync recent messages that have been sent to you via Zune Social. Why would a person want to sync the Zune Cards of their friends? Well it turns out that your friends can be a great, trustworthy source of discovering music. For example, Jessica Zahn is a serious electronic fiend. What that means is that by syncing her card to my Zune HD I can know what’s good in the world of electronic – although she has branched her listening out more and more.

Now some consider the whole Zune Social Integration a needless feature to talk about for Windows Phone, but I disagree. Zune, in its original context, was meant to make music a social experience; much like the experience of going to a concert or sitting with others inside of the listening lounge at a record store. Features, like Zune Social, have pushed that forward, even though there needs to be more done in this space.

Currently, when you want to sync friend cards to your Zune HD, you kick on the software, head to the SOCIAL tab, click on friends and then drag cards down to the lower left device icon. The software will then sync the card plus 8 recent songs, 8 favorites and a collective sampling of 2 of your friend’s top artists. On Windows Phone, this is a no-go.

So what would the be the solution?

Go to the SOCIAL tab again, click on friends and then click on a friend’s Zune card. See that listing of recent songs that they’ve listened to? What if you had the ability to save that recent plays list as a play list in the software? What if each of these cards came with a download button that would create a playlist called “[zunetag]’s recent plays”? How about a dynamic playlist, like channels that automatically updates every so often with the MOST recent plays so you wouldn’t have to hit the download button every time? Then you could make this playlist part of the music sync group.

I still find it educational to go through my friends plays (especially on quiet weekend mornings) and see what they’ve been checking out. Most of my friends aren’t filling their time line with the newest releases. Some are able to find the obscure, indie, small-name stuff that I wouldn’t have considered.

What do you guys think about Zune Social integration, in any form, appearing on Windows Phone?