From Engadget.

When Microsoft releases its iPod competitor at the end of this year, they are going to give users of their service all the songs that they’ve purchased via iTunes, costing Microsoft bucketloads, as it will still have to pay the rights holders to the songs. Those are some deep pockets! I suspect this is going to be a brilliant marketing move for MS who has shown themselves willing to take big losses on version 1 of a product to establish market share.