It’s no secret that Microsoft wants to play the major music service game. The digital colossus, which sells individual song downloads via MSN.com, already occupies the No. 1 slot when it comes to proprietary digital rights management protection.

Its WMA file format is used by almost every major online music service that’s not run by Apple or Sony, and it’s the format of choice when it comes to copy-protected discs.

You might even say, when it comes to the inside track on Internet music, Microsoft is the 900-pound gorilla in the room.

And you can bet that plenty of people took notice on September 30th when Microsoft walked away from negotiations with the four major labels over the company’s plans to launch a subscription music service.

Although Microsoft has yet to comment, published reports indicate the company and the labels could not come to an agreement on royalty payments for the proposed service. Supposedly, Microsoft was looking for something along the lines of what existing subscription services are paying, while the labels wanted something a bit pricier.

Which jives with previous reports indicating the recording industry wants more than what Apple is currently paying in royalties for its iTunes Music Store, leading Steve Jobs to describe the labels as “getting a little greedy.”

Of course, the labels weren’t receptive to Jobs’ remarks. Speaking at an investors’ conference, Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. said Apple’s across-the-board pricing of 99 cents per song fails to take into account that not all songs are created equal.

But Microsoft’s leaving the negotiating table doesn’t mean the company won’t pursue plans to launch a subscription music service. Obviously, Microsoft needs a royalty agreement in order to launch such a service, while the labels definitely want Microsoft on their side.

In other words, both have what the other wants. And that is the stuff of which deals are made.

What’s Next?

That is, after digital á la carte download services like iTunes or those subscription, all-you-can-grab deals from Napster and RealNetworks, what’s next in digital music services?

Motorola is betting you’ll go nuts over its upcoming Internet radio service called iRadio. Scheduled to launch during the first quarter of 2006, iRadio promises complete mobility for the listener. That is, as long as the listener has a Motorola cell phone.

Here’s the game plan. You carry your favorite MP3s on your Motorola cell phone, which also works as an iRadio receiver. However, you’re not limited to listening to the music on your cell phone, for the device will also, via Bluetooth, send the music to your car stereo where you can control playback through the stereo’s faceplate.

But listening to iRadio’s streams or your own MP3s via your cell phone-Bluetooth-car stereo network is only part of the grand scheme, for you’ll also be able to immediately buy the songs, or flag individual tunes for later purchasing.

Now, if this sounds too confusing, remember that the entire idea of downloading MP3 files and then burning them onto CD-Rs once sounded like something from the rocket scientist’s handbook. However, when it comes to music technology, that wondrous creature known as the music fan has proven to be very adaptive.

Universal Music Group evidently thinks so. The label has signed on to provide its entire catalog to iRadio, and it’s a sure bet the other labels are also considering similar arrangements.

“We are excited to be working with Motorola to offer fans an exciting and unique musical experience,” the president of Universal Music Group’s eLabs, Larry Kenswil, said in a statement. “And with the most extensive digital music catalog in the world, we will be able to offer a wide array of choices to fit every musical taste.”

And Starring Marshall Mathers As The Plaintiff

Apparently all is not happy in Eminem Land. The Detroit, Mich., rapper’s publishing company has filed a lawsuit in an effort to stop several companies from selling his songs as ring tones.

Filed on October 4th in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Eminem’s Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated are seeking a court order to prevent five companies – Cellus UsA, FanMobile, Nextones, MyPhoneFiles and MatrixM LLC – from selling the rings.

Lawyers for Eminem, aka Marshall Mathers III, aka Slim Shady, say they will also go after karaoke companies selling Eminem songs without obtaining the proper licenses.

“This is a big business,” said Howard Hertz, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs. “We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.”

Of course, Mr. Hertz was talking about the ring tone business and not the suing business. We think.