The Seattle Times has an interview with Microsoft vice president of global marketing for interactive entertainment Mike Delman, which normally wouldn’t be of too much interest. But this marks the first public admission from Microsoft, I think, that the software giant is deemphasizing and phasing out the Zune brand. Granted, it took a bit of prodding.
Q: Will Microsoft's Zune service continue building up its video and music stores, or will you be working more with partners running content stores?
We're very committed to offering music and video and TV shows on our own service through Zune.
Q: I don't think I heard the "Z" word in the keynote. Are you phasing out the Zune brand?
In general I think what you're going to see is us talking about 'music' and 'video.' I think what we're coming to the realization about is putting brands on top of brands on top of brands is not as, you know - if you want to look for music, just knowing it's under a category (music) is a good thing.