Just like the iconic white portable media device it aims to beat, the Zune is tightly integrated with an online store. Called Zune Marketplace, the store allows both the purchase of songs and albums, and also a monthly subscription option. Zune Marketplace contains over 2 million songs, and allows previewing of individual tracks as well as albums (30 seconds of each track is played).

One of the most unique features of Zune Marketplace is the way songs are purchased. Instead of charging $0.99 per track as many online stores do, Zune Marketplace uses Microsoft Points just like it's cousin Xbox Live Marketplace does. Users prepay for blocks of Microsoft Points which are then "spent" on songs. Each song costs 79 points, and a block of 400 points can be purchased for $5 USD. Ideally users would be able to purchase large amounts of Microsoft Points using a central account which could then be spent at Zune Marketplace, Xbox Live Marketplace, and others. This isn't currently available, but don't be surprised if the feature is added in the future.

The subscription option, called Zune Pass, does not use Microsoft Points and instead costs $14.99 per month. With the subscription, users can download and play as many songs as they like. Unlike purchased songs, Zune Pass downloads cannot be burned to CD, and become unplayable when the subscription expires.

Zune Marketplace also attempts to go beyond simply selling music. The service makes available over 100,000 artists biographies as well as music charts and articles from popular music magazines.

Currently the Zune allows users to share media files wirelessly from one device to another. If the media file is premium content, the receiving user can play it three times before they need to purchase it form Zune Marketplace. The process could be simpler, however. Currently users need to synchronize their Zune with their PC and browse the PC Inbox for songs that have expired. Why not automate this entirely? It's likely Microsoft is already working on ways to do this.

With an impressive initial release, Zune Marketplace has lots of potential.