Xbox's new music service starts giving iTunes a run for its money tomorrow

By Marah Eakin | October 15, 2012 | 10:40pm

Aux Features Music

Xbox’s new music service isn’t exactly new—it was rumored in February and officially announced in June—but with the service’s debut tomorrow, picky music consumers could finally see iTunes getting a run for its Internet music money. Maybe. According to a mostly positive CNet review, Xbox Music will let users stream music for free and create playlists like Spotify, allow users to buy and download songs like iTunes, and provides cloud storage to premium Xbox Music Pass subscribers.

What it won't do, of course, is work on any platform besides Windows 8, debuting tomorrow for Xbox consoles, Windows 8-enabled PCs and tablets on Oct. 26, Windows cell phones "shortly after," and everything else—including the possibility competing operating systems—being put off into the undetermined future. But in terms of the features it offers, right now, at least, it's pretty comprehensive.