Normally when Microsoft makes announcements it affects millions of users. This time they did something that should have been done years ago and really many thought probably already happened. The tech giant announced that it will be discontinuing Zune Services later in 2015, meaning you will no longer be able to stream and download content from the Zune music service.
Your Zune will still act as an mp3 player and you will still be able to transfer files back and forth from your computer. You just can't use the Zune service starting November 15, 2015. However as time goes on, you may lose access to music if your Zune contains digital rights management technology (DRM) "if the license can't be renewed" for certain songs.
Any Zune Music Pass subscriptions will be converted over to Groove Music Pass subscriptions.
The first question we must ask is why any of you out there still might have a Zune beyond a novelty item to save as a time capsule from the mid-2000s. If this news impacts you, then maybe it is time to jump into 2015 and get a smartphone that can hold music.
Zune was first introduced in 2006 as a way for Bill Gates to compete with Steve Jobs in the portable mp3 market. It never caught on versus the iPod that dominated the market. In 2011, Microsoft had no choice but to cut their losses and discontinue production of the failed mp3 player. They tried to integrate it into Xbox Music, but that also did not work.
Now they are cutting off the music service for the 20 people still using it.
