Microsoft Gives Away 100 Free Albums

Xbox Music fans get free CDs and $2 box sets with Music Deals but only in the United States

By Stephen Pate – Microsoft is spreading the joy, within the United States at least, with upwards of 100 free CDs for download from Xbox Music.

The Music Deal app has a new CDs every Thursday. This week Microsoft upped the level of freebie’s to include 100 CDs and some pretty interesting box sets for $2.

So if you’re American and a long-suffering Windows 8 customer who bought a Windows Phone or Surface tablet they you won a small music lottery.

Gullible consumers who bought a Windows mobile device outside the US, well suck it back boys and girls because Microsoft has a lump of coal for your Christmas stocking. Only your American cousins get the goodies.

You need the Music Deals app all on your Windows Phone, Tablet or Windows 8 device to find the deals.

If you change your phone Region to United States, the app will load but Xbox Music will not download the free music. The region trick worked to get Cortana outside the US but not for Music Deals.

No one is likely to want all 100 CDs since the selection is wide ranging but even a few free CDs is a nice gesture for long suffering Xbox Music users.

Xbox Music – the app to hate

I have no love for Xbox Music which seems brain-dead to me. I switched back to an iPad from a Surface this year because Xbox Music was dysfunctional.

Like 100s of millions of people, I like music and think a mobile device should play music as easily as iTunes does.

As punishment, Microsoft took all my music off my Windows Phone. OK they did the same thing to other people. I take things too personal.

There are several good reasons why Windows Phone and Surface are the 3rd place finishers in the mobile market. Feature-wise, they are pretty close to Apple and Google Android. Then Microsoft pulls a stunt like Music Deals and you ask yourself: how many months left until I can switch off Windows Phone?

Follow me on Twitter at @sdpate or on Facebook at NJN Network, OyeTimes and IMA News Buzz. You can also subscribe and automatically receive notifications of new stories by email. We do not share your email with advertisers. The subscription form is on this page in the left and right columns.