December 1 is soon upon us, and that means that the FTC will be watching social media (I think bloggers particularly) very closely as it is related to disclosure of products and services. In a nutshell, don’t shill online if you haven’t disclosed that you got something for it, money or otherwise.  Good news for me, I am an open book and simply don’t talk about stuff that I don’t want to and really talk up stuff that I like…paid or not.  However, if I have not made it perfectly clear, just wanted everybody to know who has paid my bills at one point or another, or given me cool stuff to check out.  I am going to keep this list dynamic and current on my Disclosures page. If you want a good FAQ page for the FTC guidelines look here, if you really want to read the entire text, check out the PDF here.

I work with a lot of brands, running social media programs in all shapes and sizes. As such, I want to be perfectly open and clear about who I work for and who I do not. It would be impractical to list companies and brands that I frequently mention that I do not work for (there are far too many), but I will list those with in some capacity. Between my previous consultancy and my current position as Senior Director of Social Media Strategy at M80 I get to do some pretty amazing things with some really exceptional companies. Below is a list of organizations that I have (or had) a professional association with in some way.

Zune, the mobile music device from Microsoft, is starting to heat up in the world of social media with the Zune HD giveway sweepstakes.  Considering the very social nature of the Zune track sharing, it’s good to see this happening.

If you’re been around these parts for long, at some point or another you’ve heard me talk about my love of the Zune.  I’m usually met with responses like, “oh, so you’re the guy that bought one!” and other cheeky remarks.

Wired is reporting that a Zune phone might be in the works, and that possibly it will be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 7, 2009.

Yes, I am one of the few Zune owners in the world, and I absolutely love it.  A while back I wrote a post about the math behind owning a Zune, asking the question to iPod owners: are you stubborn or just bad at math? So yes, I love my Zune and I love the Marketplace that is the focus of my passion.  If a Zune phone does truly come out, I will get it.  It’s just that simple.  Right now I still carry two electronic devices, my iPhone and my Zune 80 and I would love to combine the two into one, but so far each offers me something the other cannot.  

My biggest wish in this story is that Microsoft would work a little harder on the Zune brand before launching a second product.  Honestly, the biggest thing I hear from iPod users after we discuss the ins an outs of Zune ownership is, “I would switch, but I have too much invested in my music.  If only there was an easy way to convert my library”.  Of course there are several ways to convert files, but here is some free advice for Zune: you have a really, really good thing with your music subscription service, so you need to find a way to let people try it without them feeling like they lose.  Build a branded AAC to WMA file converter, offer it for free, and advertise the hell out of it.  I think that would help a lot.

Ischus on Zune

If you are one of the handful of Zune owners around the world, add me as a friend, my tag is “Ischus”.  I would love to share music with you, and of course we can compare notes on the Zune phone if/when it is released.

I ask this question to all of my iPod using friends, and I ask it with great sincerity, please humor me and let me know…

Are you being stubborn, or are you just really bad at math?

Zune Marketplace allows you to download just about anything you want for one flat monthly fee

Let me tell you why I’m asking this.  I use a Zune for my music and video habit, and I do mean “habit”.  I download approximately 30 albums a month,and many more videos than that.  I love music, I love it when I’m driving, when I’m walking, when I’m at the gym.  I wish I could sing worth a lick, but I can’t.  I still love music.

The radio is pretty much dead to me, I want to listen to what I like, when I want to.  So do you, that is why you have an iPod.  But…is there a point where you are just being stubborn because the Zune isn’t “cool’?  My house has three Zunes, used by various members of my family.  We use Zune Marketplace (the software equvilient to iTunes) to download our music and video.  The terms of service state that up to three devices can download music on one account.  One account costs $15/month and I get unlimited download.  Yes, they are DRM protected and if I quit paying my $15/month they all go away, BUT…why would I stop paying?  It’s only $15 per month.  So let me do the math for you.

Last month, between the three Zunes, we downloaded right around 600 different songs.  Totally legal, totally legit.  Total cost to me?  $15.  If I were to do that with iTunes it would cost me $594.  Even if I have a slow month and only download 100 measly songs, it costs me $15 and it would cost an iTunes user $99.  Let’s take the high and low of these two extremes and compare them.

iTunes user (low downloads) $1,188 per year
Zune user (low downloads) $180 per year

iTunes user (high downloads) $7,128 per year
Zune user (high downloads) $180 per year

There is some content in Zune Marketplace that you can pay extra for, like the videos, and I have done that a bit.  Apple may get into this type of market, but for right now it’s just a rumor.  If they do, this conversation is moot.  But if they don’t, let me repeat the question

Are you just being stubborn, or are you really bad at math?

UPDATE: April 7, 2009 Apple has just increased the cost of music in their library by 30%, bringing songs to a total of $1.29.  The math above is now out of date and is more in favor of Zune than ever!