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TV networks are quickly realizing the necessity of aligning themselves with a major online content store. ABC and NBC made the obvious choice of an Apple/iTunes marriage, but MTV has decided to forego the shiny, white, easily-scratchable party, pairing its soon to launch URGE network with woefully unhip big meanie, Microsoft:

[...] MTV is betting that its global reach through more than 100 channels will vault URGE over competitors. MTV plans to offer music videos, television shows and 2 million song tracks through individual sales or a monthly subscription service. Specifics such as pricing and which songs and videos would be offered weren't disclosed.


MTV Networks Music Group President Van Toffler said the company, a unit of Viacom International Inc., allied itself with Microsoft because it wanted to exploit the flexibility and ubiquity of Microsoft's Media Player software, which comes preinstalled in the Windows operating system.

"[Apple Chief Executive] Steve Jobs has a point of view," Toffler said. "ITunes is about a digital storefront for a la carte downloads. Our goal is to create a utopian music community that keeps subscribers coming back."

We can hardly believe our good fortune, knowing a musical Garden of Eden awaits us and all it took was the pairing of one monopoly, Microsoft's plundering computer kingdom, with one media conglomorate, Viacom's plexus of teen famewhore opiating TV networks. It will be nothing short of a virtual Shangri La, where in place of eternal youth and happiness, you can watch an episode of Laguna Beach crash your computer.