Microsoft Thursday said its new Zune music player's price would match the iPod's - and therefore lose money this holiday season.

Microsoft's 30-gigabyte Zune will retail for $249.99 when it goes on sale Nov. 14, and songs available for download via the Zune Marketplace service will cost about 99 cents each, similar to Apple's iTunes, Reuters reports. "We had to…offer a competitive price," Scott Erickson, Microsoft's senior director of product marketing for Zune, is quoted as saying. "We're not going to be profitable this holiday but the Zune project is a multiyear strategy."

Microsoft will also sell music subscription passes for $14.99 a month, allowing users to listen to any songs on Zune Marketplace as long as the pass is valid. To own a song, users will have to "pay" 79 Microsoft points (80 points cost $1), which can also be used on Xbox Live Marketplace.

The Zune, similar to the iPod but with a larger, three-inch screen, is reportedly the first in a new brand of portable devices (a Zune phone is apparently in the works). Unlike the iPod Zune has an FM radio tuner and wireless connectivity.