With fewer consumers than hoped for signing up for all-you-can-eat music subscriptions, Microsoft and the record industry are trying to make the option more appealing. As of Wednesday, those who pay for the $14.95 a month Zune Pass subscription will start being able to permanently keep 10 tracks a month. The subscription already allows unlimited music downloads, but users have the ability to listen to the music only so long as they are subscribers.

Under the new plan, Zune Pass members will essentially get $10 worth of music to own each month, along with whatever subscription content they download. The move comes as much of the consumer enthusiasm in the digital music industry has been for music that is sold free of DRM (digital rights management) protections. Both Microsoft and music industry executives acknowledge that the uptake for subscriptions has not been what they’d hoped. For the record industry, subscription music represents an important potential revenue stream at a time where traditional music sales have continued to decline far faster than digital downloads have grown.

Microsoft really couldnt break in the iPod era with zune, they should do something different

I really wish Microsoft had a few more tricks up their sleeve for Zune. =(