Launching today, the Microsoft's Zune service will give users the choice of signing up for subscription or pay-per-download services.

Called Zune Marketplace, Zune's answer to the iTunes Music Store will give users the choice of paying per downloads or becoming an unlimited "Zune Pass" subscriber, which allows unlimited downloads for a flat monthly fee, writes Engadget.

Zune won't be compatible with the PlaysforSure format, Microsoft's own technology used by subscription services like Napster and Time Warner's AOL Music - in an what is an apparent acknowledgment of the format's failure. Nevertheless, Microsoft has said it will continue to develop the technology, according to Business Week.

Ultimately, Microsoft will use Zune Marketplace to see how the iTunes pay-per-download model stacks up against the subscription model, which has flourished in other categories like movies and mobile phones, yet has been slow to catch on in the digital music arena.