Microsoft Breathes Down Apple's Neck

At the moment, Apple may have the upper hand when it comes to the digital music marketplace, but this situation is about to change as Microsoft is breathing down the Cupertino-based company's neck. Tucked away in a Microsoft press release related to a recent agreement with the South Africa's Gallo Music Group for the delivery of original SA content on Zune Marketplace, is a reference that points to the growth of the service.

"Zune is Microsoft's music and entertainment platform that provides an end-to-end solution for Connected Entertainment. The Zune experience includes a 30GB digital media player, the Zune Marketplace music service, and a foundation for an online community that enables music fans to discover new music. Zune Marketplace offers for purchase more than 3 million song titles, ranging from popular hits to leading-edge new music," reads a fragment of the Microsoft press release.

And the "more than 3 million song titles" points to an over 50% growth for Zune Marketplace since the service was debuted at the end of 2006. Initially, according to the Redmond Company, Zune Marketplace offered a total of 2 million songs to the users of the Microsoft digital media player. Since the launch, the content of Zune Marketplace increased by more than half.

This growth brings Microsoft very close to Apple, as iTunes features an estimated 3.5 million songs. Zune Marketplace has been gaining proportions fast and it contained 2.5 million titles as of January 2007. Microsoft's plans for Zune are still modest, meaning that the Redmond Company only aims to ship 1 million digital media player devices by mid 2007.