Is Microsoft about to make a big push into the digital music space?

Yes, Microsoft has Zune, but the only problem with Zune is that…wait, what’s Zune? We’re talking about a legitimate Zune successor here, and according to The Verge, Microsoft plans to give everyone a little taste at this year’s E3 conference.

Back in February, we told you about Microsoft’s rumored music service. According to reports, the company was in talks with record companies to launch the new service on the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone. It was rumored that the new service would allow users to stream and download music, which would throw it in direct competition with services like iTunes, Google Play, and even Spotify.

According to The Verge’s sources, the service is codenamed “Woodstock,” and will be compatible across multiple platforms including iOS and Android. Another key component is apparently deep Facebook integration, something we’ve seen Spotify capitalize on in recent months.

Apparently we’ll get the sneak peek at E3, and it will launch sometime later in 2012. This will probably be Microsoft’s big 2012 release, as we’re all pretty sure that there’s not going to be any talks about a new Xbox anytime this year.

The success or failure of this upcoming venture will be determined by Microsoft’s ability to penetrate a market where many users feel completely comfortable with what they have. Cross-platform or not, it’s going to be difficult to pull users away from iTunes and Google Play if Microsoft’s new service focuses heavily on buying music. If it’s more like Spotify, that will be a whole other thing.

What do you think about Microsoft’s new push into digital music? Let us know in the comments.

[Lead Image via Wikipedia]