Zune Community Brings New Shared Experience to Music

A few weeks ago a few members of the Zune community including myself took some time to explain why has Zune Social become such an important part of our music experience.

Redmond, Washington - Last November Zune launched “Zune Social,” a music community Web site where music fans can discover new music, browse each others’ playlists, and comment on their discoveries and tastes.

In just its first five months, more than two million users have joined the community. With enough members to populate a major city, the community is almost as diverse as the world of music itself, from hardcore audiophiles and passionate music fans to people who are just crazy about the Zune player.

Brian Seitz, a Group Marketing Manager for Zune, says it’s a core goal of his team to create an experience where the diversity and knowledge of all those music fans is tapped to inspire Zune listeners to explore new music. With that in mind, the Zune team worked to incorporate extensive customer feedback into a refresh of the online music community and Zune software, which is being launched this week.

Continue reading Zune Community Brings New Shared Experience to Music…

The Zune experience- it really is the social.

Many people that own a Zune, have a hard time finding others with it. So, in a way, you are missing out on the Zune experience. This, of course, will take some time. Others need to be sold on the product and look further than just an iPod, which is an established entity. But, when that time comes, when a good amount of people have it, It will be AMAZING!

Why am I saying this? Because I had my first real “welcome to the social” experience. I was in Union Square with my boyfriend and friends, going to see a movie. We got there a bit early so we went inside Virgin Megastore, because it was cold ( finally, winter weather). As we navigated the store we ran into the Zune display and wanted to get the cables to hook it up to our TV. While waiting in line to pay, a guy from the store started talking to us about the Zune and about the cable we were about to purchase. He saw the Wallpaper my boyfriend had on his Zune ( the Gears of War wallpaper i made) and loved it. Other times people would say ” wow nice, i wish i had that!” but, this time.. he could REALLY GET IT. So instead of saying “wow nice, i wish i had that!” he could say ” do you mind sending that to my Zune?” immediately after he made it into his wallpaper, which made me very proud. After that we all just started talking about music and about how to create wallpapers.
How awesome is that?! After that we all started talking about the wallpaper. ect, ect. Keep in mind this is New York City, people don’t talk to you for the hell of it. But we can all be brought together if we have a thing in common. The Zune can offer that thing in common. Also, allowing us to share the music we carry with us, pictures and art. It is really a great experience to be able to do that.

Do you have your own Zune experience to share? Let me know and i will be happy to post it! Please include your location! send me an email over to pinksage@generationzune.net!

How Zune got it’s Name

If you even wondered how the Zune became “Zune” you are in luck. SG Gate has an article with an interview of a branding company and asks about the Branding of the Zune name. However keep in mind they did not brand the Zune. JDK created the branding, name, colors, packaging, you name main they did it all. But it is an interesting read non the less.

Article

Source 

Orange Zune!

ok so this may not really be a Orange Zune in the wild. This is John Porcaro’s daugter. He is Sr. Group Manager in Microsoft’s Global Games Marketing Team. Also handeling the Zune. So it’s no surprise he would have one. But it’s safe to say, the Zune is for all ages!

John P.’s Flickr

Zune Ambassador Update

If you applied to the Zune Ambassador program and live in the NY/NJ Area and have not receive an email yet, it’s most likely you have not been selected. I was told by a representative at Zune Masters that they have selected all the people they can from this area. For the ones that have been accepted- congratulations!

What do the Zune Ambassadors get? Well they get a welcome kit including:

1) One Zune Media Player Custom Zune Masters Edition
(1) One Custom Zune Masters Messenger Bag by The North Face
(1) One Custom Zune Masters Cap by The North Face
(10) Ten Zune T-Shirts, 2 for you and 8 for your friends
(10) Zune Posters featuring official artwork from independent artists There will probably be more, like Zune.net gift cards and stuff, but it will be a surprise!!

What will they be doing?
We wanted to lay a few important aspects of this project out for you in writing we encourage you to hang on to this email as a point of reference as you get started with Zune Masters.

Activities As discussed, some activities are paid and some are not. Here’s the basic distinction between the two:
Paid Activities are required. There will be at least two paid activities a month. Paid activities will require promotional efforts at specific locations during specific times. They are more like fun work projects. Some months will have more required activities. Some paid activities will be determined by us, based on Zune concerts or events in your areas. Others will be suggested by you, based on campus events, concerts, etc.

We will try to give you more than enough notice for these activities.

All Activities require feedback but the paid activities will require that you send us reports. Do not fret- we will have a report page online for you to easily submit to. No mailing required. The paid activities involve taking pictures/video that can be uploaded to the site along with feedback such as:

* How many people were at the show/event/store/party?
* How many people did you talk to?
* How many people interacted with the Zune?
* How many promo items did you give out? (these will be provided for you)
* What was the overall feeling about the Zune?
* Questions asked about the player.

Because of the exclusivity of the team, it is critical that you take these activities seriously and execute them with passion and charm. If we see that you are absent from these activities more than not we will have to reconsider how much time you are able to devote to the program.

Unpaid Activities are not required but are still a very important part of the team and experience. These activities are simpler and involve less effort than paid activities. They allow us to not only get to know you and your campus better, but in turn, help us to make the program even better and get the Zune in the hands of more people and make sure that the paid activities that you execute on are more successful.

We ask that you log on and check the site at least every other day as it will be changing and updated frequently.

Ongoing Product Support  very important for us to show appreciation for the work that you do. To keep you in the loop with the latest promotional items for Zune, we will be putting together packages of new Zune promotional products and information. We expect to send the first packages together within one month of getting you your welcome kit.

Throughout the course of the Zune Masters program we ask you to please share feedback on what items you would like to see coming your way. And I am not talking an email or two every day on the topic, just if something strikes you. We will definitely keep suggestions in mind.

Time Commitment As a Zune Master it is important that you are always aware of opportunities to bring the Zune experience closer to your friends and peers on campus. We ask that when using your Zune or showing it to other people that you always remember that every interaction with another person is a potential new customer. The more Zunes that are on your campus, the more folks you will be able to reach out to for hosting Zune Meet-Ups for wirelessly sharing music and photos via the Zune WiFi sharing features.

Specifically, we see each paid activity as being about five hours of work, some more, some less.

Zune FAQs It is essential that all Zune Masters be experts with the Zune player. To this end, we will be sending you FAQ sheets and info sheets about the product. That said, you will become trie experts by using the player and trying things out. We are always available to explain how to use the player and we reqire that all Zune Masters be proficient with the device before demonstrating it for others. If you ever have any questions, please email me, Nicole. Reporting There are several ways for you to keep us in the loop on where you were:

* Set up a Flickr account for tracking your events and send us the link
* Submit videos of your events and activities to YouTube and send us the link
* Make a Facebook group for your friends on campus to follow for news on Zune concerts, shows, and parties!
* Upload photos and videos to the Zune Masters site in the custom fields

Sounds like a great program! I am an Xbox Ambassador and I would love for that program to be similar to this! You hear that Xbox!!