Zune Forums: wishlist: the social (zune online community)

WHERE ARE THE COMMERCIALS???

coolcolin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:05:56 GMT

Zune team! Where is your competitive advertising? It is the perfect time to start creating some interest in the Zune HD! The commercials like the Droid and District 9 were great! they sparked tons of conversation and tons of interest in the mystery of the product. The ipod honchos are sitting back in their chairs thinking we're not going to spark any interest! A simple commercial could spark thousands of interest! I wish you could put more thought into advertising I know you guys are amazingly creative! Please make these ipod worshippers see the light! or maybe you could just broadcast a couple of the zune arts shorts Please think about it!

Please add Forum Themes !!!

Opulent One — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:29:17 GMT

Can we get some theme options for viewing the forum and our profile pages? This all white background is killin my eyes it's so bright.

Thanks :)

how about an actual "Marketplace"?

Wade Dillworth — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:16:59 GMT

How about a forum/thread where you can buy/sell/trade your Zune and accessories?

adding friends using your zune on the go

Velocity Zero — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:41:35 GMT

using your zune you should be able to send friend request to other nearby zunes.

bring back song play counts

eclipsemoonray — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:16:06 GMT

Bring back the play counts (individual songs and most played songs 1-13) like on the old software. It's helpful for me to know my own playcounts sometimes. Likewise, for someone browsing Picks the playcounts are helpful. Also, by seeing my own playcounts I know if I've listened to a song through my Channels more than once.

I like to do a lot of sampling and find the new version more time consuming. It was easier, more productive and interesting when Recent Plays were listed 1-24. Likewise, since I do a lot of sampling, I think my plays should reflect what I really like and am not just sampling.

I would love to have the option to click on an album or song and save it in a section to review later (like on eMusic.com). Also, it would be helpful to be able to click on a song and know what playlist/s I have it on. Last, someone suggested putting the volume control on the mini (not just mute). This is an good idea.

Otherwise, Zune is pretty.

Future Zune-y ideas for jetherealz

jamiethomson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:57:32 GMT

Hi jessica,

I wsa listening to the latest podcast and heard you say you wanted to hear crazy outlandish ideas for the future of Zune. Well, here's some! (I did email these to you as well but I guessed your email address so haven't a clue if they will have gotten thru or not)

-I want to listen to a song on my computer and then pause it, get in my car and turn the stereo on and have it instantly pick up from the place that I paused it when I was listening to it on my computer a few moments earlier.
-Give us an API so that us developer geeks can take all the data that you have on us (plays, top songs, favorite songs, playlists, smart DJ lists, podcast subscriptions, god knows what else) and make it available so that we can build our own mashups. I've seen heaps of requests on the forums for stuff that I know that you're simply never going to have the time to do - so why not give us the data and let us build it instead? For example, I'd really like a podcast recommendation service based on podcast plays - I suspect you guys are never going to do that cos you are laser-focused on music - so why not let the community build it instead? Another one - I'd like to build a chart of the most popular songs that have been "squirted" via Zune Social.
-Wouldn't it be cool if there were a "virtual DJ" in the software - a figure that actually talks to us and tells us all about our recommendations - maybe we could even have a conversation with this virtual DJ. Maybe we could tell him/her whether we like a song or not - save us from having to use the mouse to do the like/not like thing. Maybe...good god, maybe it could even be our favorite rock star talking to us (you asked for blue-sky, right?)
-I could tell Zune about stuff I'm interested in (sports teams, bands etc...) and whenever Zune "hears" something about that stuff on the radio and it thinks we'd be interested in it, Zune could interrupt what we're listening to and play it for us - or maybe store it away for later.
-The artist bios are cool but keeping them up to date can't be easy. Why not scour the web and pull out the latest news about bands and display that stuff as well?
-Broadcast gigs on Zune.net

-Jamie

Thank You for Making such a Wonderful Service

amlunmimnulma — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:48:11 GMT

This service is so incredible. In particular I think the Online interface has been nailed. It seems to have come to the point of truely artful refinement. This is better than Apple quality and definitely better than Apple value.

Maybe Zunes with a one month subscription could end up bundled with the new 360 offerings.

Maybe they would be especially desirable in some 360 Natal bundles?

Maybe MS should quitely send them out to the heads of the Fortune 1000 with a year long subscription.

Maybe MS should quitely send them out to the deans of the top technology schools.

Note to FUSE Labs

amlunmimnulma — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:57:56 GMT

Placement and pricing power are gone from content. Modal one way systems are dying quickly. People don’t want ads, sponsorship or spying. They do recognize all of these as exploitation. These approaches are as dead as the newspapers and belong to the dot com bubble. One of the primary draws of the internet was getting away from this. Ad driven search will be gone pretty soon as well because there is no necessity (efficient search is coming) to have the ads to drive the search and because people have easy ways around the ads- so let go of demand creation. Let go of trying to save dying systems of propaganda and systems that try to get people to make poor purchase choices.

What must come together is the 3d living room screen and the gesture (natal technology) and the render cloud. Soon the movies will be played on the hardware used to make games the games will be played on the very same hardware that was used to create them.

This is the greatest leap yet in entertainment and gaming. This includes the idea that the primary content is the social interaction or communication but it doesn’t need to be cheap and trashy like AOL or Net Zero. It will be subscription based but in an environment of vast open markets with unlimited competition. Content will become about as easy to use as to create. The net itself disintermediates the sponsorship mechanism, the cloud is not a sponsorship resurgence but a situation where MS ends up working directly for its end users in a perfect buyer’s market. The end users will be the only buyers even the spying falls out.

MS will end up offering the sum total of all content and service for one monthly flat rate. A content developer (or posting end user) after some overhead that acts as a floor will only make money on the aggregate instances of end user attention where each instance commands a generic minimum. Content itself cannibalizes out any impulse towards ads or sponsorship.

The ad people simply can’t buy what wasn’t for sale to begin with, they are not entitled to steal attention because they don’t own the platform. Even MS will only own one of inevitably many redundant services in a global market where each major player is in most local markets. Neutrality itself is the platform, and this was the key feature of the net going all the way back to its founding, the cloud and the exchanges it will establish just concretize this.

Improvement Ideas For The Forums

Opomon — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:32:38 GMT

I was thinking we should be able to make a poll in our post so people can vote their opinions on whatever.

The Social needs to stop being anti-social! (it hates the world)

Hobohodou us — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:37:13 GMT

Okay, One thing you could do to improve the social-

This part is typical whining (skip to the next paragraph if you want)
even if you're not releasing the player outside of the US, at least let people buy music from the marketplace/try a zune pass that aren't in the US.
It's nice if you can work around most of it and get to the option to finally buy your zune pass online...wait...what? I need to have an american credit card?...darn. | PAYPAL/International card payment notices |
If you guys were worried people would be stupid and buy a subscription for the device without actually owning one or having the software, hell...add a thousand warning messages in at least size 24 bold text (verdana/impact to really get their attention) Also these people have "US" accounts to have been able to get this far...so why not sell it to them?

Still whining, but now some praise

So, I got a zune HD, I live in the UK and have owned a first gen zune, zune 80 and tried a zune 8 as well. I've loved the product, the sound quality, the build quality and above all, the interface
I've bugged people i know and work with (i work in a tech store) and they came to accept the zune.

Two days ago, i got my zune HD, and well...it lived up to the hype if i had to score it out of ten -9.8 The screen flickers when playing video (probably just my sensitive eyes since i notice a lot flicker) and no volume rock, but my god is it perfect

Strange as it is, I have friends who now want a Zune HD, and have fallen in love with it too, What puts them off? well...They love the idea of the Zune Pass, hell, they don't even care about being out of warranty...
Well, they're put off by the Social --- or rather...the complete lack of UK support storeside/a normal way to pay for it. It takes about a minute to think of alternative ways to pay and to problem solve...(as stated above)

What the Zune really needs? To step out of it's shell and be more social.

Sorry for the rant...I really do love the zune, and I also know you can get a zune pass etc from prepaid cards on ebay etc/zunepassanywhere, however...but why pay more for the same thing?

Play counts on profile page

Focus42 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:19:42 GMT

I miss how in the old zune.net where you can go on your profile page and see what your most recently played songs were AND their current play count. The new profile page lists your previous songs in the new card, but it doesn't show play counts.

I also miss how many plays your top songs have. The top artists have play counts, but the top songs do not. I would like to see play counts implemented, especially for the top songs.

Zune Uk

DarkTonto ZAMP — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:05:39 GMT

Ok i guess this counts as a Social wish and a cry to Microsoft to save the UK from the horror that is the apple Ipod.

I live in the UK but i have been following the Zune for a while waiting for it to be released over here offcially, but waht would be better than expanding the social asspect of the Zune with the UK. Amarican users can then learn about some great britsh acts that have not crossed the pond yet and we can learn about the amazing acts that the States and Canada produce that never make it here, which is a shame cos there are some great acts on both sides.

Of course knowing my luck it will never happen and i will just have to curl up in a ball and cry in the corner :-(

Thanks to who ever may read this for doing so. :)

Mark

Darktonto ZAMP (Xbox Live)

When does the "So Called Social" become social and reach out to the EU!

GazzaCampbell14 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:37:46 GMT

I'm actually sick of Microsoft on this part because why bother competing with itunes if they can only release it in USA and Canada. Why make a better product and only release in the USA and Canada and finally why tell your customers abroad that its going to be available.....oooops no its not.......ah next year.......hold on nah wont bother.......and again...fail...... we might do it with the Zune HD in 20never!

Come on Microsoft get a grip

How about a part of the forum for HAPPY people?

JediFarfy — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:45:00 GMT

I like coming to the Social, but most of the forum seems to be devoted to people having issues or FREAKING OUT over something. The Meet and Greet is nice, but is mostly used for intros. Everything else is so specific, you have to pick just one type of music you like. We need more general forums. I would also love a "RAVE" board for people to express how much they LIKE stuff and are happy.

Also, random question: Under "Find Other Users", is it normal to have the "Meet and Greet" and two Canadian forums? I'm in Seattle, not Canada, and just thought it was funny.

JF

How about Most Played albums on the profile page?

daelin73 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:45:15 GMT

On the Profile page, it displays Most Played artists and songs. We also get badges for Album plays, so can we get the Profile page to display album plays also?

One other thing..... can you make the page display more than just the top 8? It would be great to see the top 20 or so also.

Thanks!

Zune card needs recently played movies shown & customizable BG's for the software....

irish14500 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:58:40 GMT

Would like the Flash code editable for the card as well as recently played movies listed. Would be cool for users to click on the movie icon and get a small video dosage like when they click on a recently played song does. Or have the card rollover and popup larger for recently played movies to show like a youtube video does.

You know when on Live spaces, you click on a photo and the whole bg goes black except the picture you want to see? Would be cool for the card to do that. Also It would be nice to be able to customize the user interface of the Zune 4 software on the PC as the BG's are rather boring, plain and NOT stylish. Perhaps the ability to use our own created artwork or photos? I did have a zune customizer on the previous version, however I am not sure of the publisher has since released an update for te 4 software.--irish

Ideas for future site update!!!!

friskycashew — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:52:25 GMT

I know the new site has just launched,but i figured the Zune team would be thinking about what to do next so I thought of a couple things that I think wou help.....

I think having another "Create-A-Feature" would be a great idea.
A proximity meter on our social pages showing us are next upcoming badge we will earn. For all the badge whores (me included) out there.
On our profile I miss being told how many plays that my last played songs had. Having an area again for that. Also when you look at a CD in the marketplace on the site have your amount of plays for each song show up next to the total plays of the zune community show.
This is one is one I would be really happy to see appear on the Zune site. A "Spotlight" section. Within this area of the site the Zune team can select any member of the social and introduce them to the rest of the social.
- They can give a tiny blurb about themselves.
- Create a playlist that can be featured in the marketplace.
- They can talk about their Zune.
- Chat about their favorite 4.0 feature.
Along the lines of "Favorite Songs" and "Quizzes" being able to create and display on our profile page would be good. Then we could download it to our zune, or software.
In the "my social" tab include a "my forums" for easier access to our forums.
Having the ability to hide the music player on the bottom of the screen. I think it takes up alot of space.
A page where we can rate and review the Apps, and request new ones.

**This is everything I have for right now! Let me know what you think!

Ideas for future site updates.....

friskycashew — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:37:41 GMT

I know the new site has just launched,but i figured the Zune team would be thinking about what to do next so I thought of a couple things that I think wou help.....

I think having another "Create-A-Feature" would be a great idea.
A proximity meter on our social pages showing us are next upcoming badge we will earn. For all the badge whores (me included) out there.
On our profile I miss being told how many plays that my last played songs had. Having an area again for that. Also when you look at a CD in the marketplace on the site have your amount of plays for each song show up next to the total plays of the zune community show.
This is one is one I would be really happy to see appear on the Zune site. A "Spotlight" section. Within this area of the site the Zune team can select any member of the social and introduce them to the rest of the social.

They can give a tiny blurb about themselves.
Create a playlist that can be featured in the marketplace.
They can talk about their Zune.
Chat about their favorite 4.0 feature.

Along the lines of "Favorite Songs" and "Quizzes" being able to create and display on our profile page would be good. Then we could download it to our zune, or software.
In the "my social" tab include a "my forums" for easier access to our forums.
Having the ability to hide the music player on the bottom of the screen. I think it takes up alot of space.
A page where we can rate and review the Apps, and request new ones.

**This is everything I have for right now! Let me know what you think!

Mutiple Artist In Most Played Annoying!!!

Dr Nero86 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:59:26 GMT

There have been threads already about this issue, but still there seems to be no solution to problem on the social end. I should have two hundred something plays for Jay-Z but the counts are split between to separate Jay-Z tabs, the same for my Kanye West counts. Now I've edited all my albums to avoid this with my other artist as suggested, but the problem seems to still persist. I mean there all obviously the same artist, isn't there a way for the software to be update to fix this and just combine the tabs? I would be nice if all my play counts were accurate.

Updates on artists you follow

BrittanyKidwell — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:58:15 GMT

I enjoy using the following feature in the software but i feel zune could add a little to it also. What I mean is that zune should update an artist's feed when a new album, single or video is added to the marketplace so people that follow that artist know about the new release. Personally I always thought zune was lacking when it came to information about new releases (I've only ever seen big named artists featured in the marketplace homepage) but I think adding this feature would definitely be helpful especially to people who listen to music thats not mainstream.

WANTED: Delete "Plays" and "Badges"

PDsZT — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:28:31 GMT

Be able to delete individual artist/song plays and badges from your Tag. I bought a Zune 80 used and before I could wipe it. It synced the previous owners plays to my Tag. Nows it shows artist with explicit lyrics as my Most Played etc. Which I NEVER listen to as it's offensive to me as a Christian. Yet other poeple viewing my Social/Tag will think I do. Thx for listening to my Wishlist. BTW, have 3 Zune 8s and 1 Zune 80. I think they work great! ...and I love all the updates you continually crank out... need more games too.

Text breaking in some places.

antonbomb22 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:43:14 GMT

Hey Zune Staffers,

Just wanted to let you guys know that this update is one of the best I've seen. Some quirks still need to be worked out. One major thing I've noticed is that throughout Zune.net there is text that breaks to the next line in not so clean fashions. Along those lines, some text over runs into other text. I noticed this with mostly headers(Upcoming Concerts, Related, etc.). Anyways, I love the Zune experience and I look forward to even more improvements!

P.S.: The new streaming is great for when I am working in the labs at my school and my zune suddenly dies. Only wish it was not silverlight>_<!!

YOU HAVE MAJOR PROBLEMS OUT OF THE GATE

Mrmusic23 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:28:19 GMT

I've had my Zune account for probably three years, .. so in an attempt to log in (manually) it says terms have changed and takes me to a name address sign in page. The exact same login and password I have had for three years won't work. So, I go to the Zune.net page and see software download only option. It does download, but then checks for software updates .. gets to 100% and just sits there. I TRUST your software people haven't screwed up something that was frankly ok as it was. I doubt anyone will see, read, or even help with these issues, but it would be nice. To be honest... it is appauling to me how poor, and difficult it is to get any kind of real tech support for an item that I spent 250.00 on to buy, and up to 200.00 a month for music purchases. WHAT DOES IT TAKE HERE???????

Step in the wrong direction for the profile pages

Resident Lycan — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:52:18 GMT

Had the profile pages looked like this a couple weeks ago, I may not have signed up for the social. I can no longer see my play counts for the recent plays and the picture for the recent plays is huge! I play a cd and all I can see is the cd cover over and over and over...go back to just the listing like before with the play counts below and the cd cover only once!!! Some of the pictures for the top played artists are cut off on the bottom. The most played songs are no longer out in the open, rather they are hidden behind your top artists..and you can't see your play counts for those either. The marketplace only appears to be listing the top 4 listeners rather than the top 10. You can't easily see who you are following anymore. I can't get my Zune 120gb to sync with the new software..gods..should I keep going? Did anybody honestly get any user input prior to these changes? This is a complete step in the wrong direction..unless these are issues that will be fixed within the next couple weeks. I've worked in an IS department for over 10 years and we've never, nor would we ever consider, doing a web page upgrade that gives less information like this nor hide it under other menu options or drop down menus (the customers tend to not like this). Please give us the option to show the web pages like before...I got a kick out of seeing how many times I played songs through the recent plays but it appears that I can no longer do that.

Things I would like to see fixed to the social after Sep 15 update.

halo2redvsblue — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:50:07 GMT

One thing I dont like is the music Player on the bottom of the screen. I dont have a zune pass so I wish I could either turn it off or shrink it down because it take to much room. I would also like if it didnt have to reload when you go to each page, kinda like how the toolbar works on Facebook. For your Social Page, the new Zunecard is ugly imo, Its not as depth as the older one. I would also like last update time and your most played album as well. Other then that I like how everything else works.