04 August 2009

The Problem: The Zune Marketplace is quickly gaining popularity due to it's subscription based service for music. Download as much music as you like for $14.99/month and keep ten of these songs (DRM free) each month as well.

I love my subscription. I can download as much or as little as I want every month. I don't have to wonder if I'll like the music, I simply download the entire album and if I don't like certain songs I just delete them.

But it's the podcast section that I just can't figure out. I mean they have podcasts, you can subscribe to them. And you can even search for them fairly easily. They have categories and the sync process is as seamless as any iTunes functionality.

But when it comes to submitting one, you better be prepared to get frustrated. Here's why:

• When you enter the rss feed link it simply tells you it was submitted
  
• You get no confirmation email or message in your "social" Inbox
• You get no updates as to when the podcast might be accepted and included in the Marketplace
• You get no notification when it has been added to the Marketplace

Lack of Excellence: If you're going to keep up with your competition, you need to do it at least as well as they are doing it - and preferably better!

There is no reason why the "system" can't send out email notifications along the way. Implement an eCommerce solution if you have to, that tracks the submission as if it were a product sold for free. But at least make an attempt. We shouldn't have to do all the leg work to find out if our podcast has been accepted or not.

People like to be in the know. If you keep them in the dark throughout the entire process they'll get tired, irritated and begin asking, "What were they thinking?"