Music Reports to handle Zune music licensing

(Updated with Music Reports' comments) Microsoft today quietly tackled the problem of vanishing Zune Pass music by striking a deal for a new company to take over a key part of the Zune Marketplace. Music Reports will now oversee the licensing, publishing and royalty handouts for the subscription side of Microsoft's music store. The California company is a veteran in the field and already provides the same help to a number of other companies, including Slacker and recent Apple acquisition Lala.

The move follows just a few weeks after those with the $15 monthly Zune Pass noticed many artists' music disappearing from software and players, in some cases wiping out all the titles from major musicians. Microsoft acknowledged the problem and in the past few days has brought back most if not all of the affected content but has never fully explained why other than the evident licensing problems. Zune licensing has usually been outsourced and suggests a problem with previous deals.

Critics of subscription music have often to pointed to licensing as a major problem. Without guaranteed access, the services can often lose significant value if a licensing dispute takes certain music down or if technical issues prevent access for long stretches of time.

Update: Music Reports tells Electronista that it had "no prior knowledge" of the disappearing Zune Pass music and that an agreement to take over managing the content has been in negotiation for an "extended period."

By Electronista Staff