There aren't too many times in history when you can say Microsoft did better than Apple in music, but when it happens it's worth a golf clap.

Announced almost exactly two years ago today, Apple's Ping social network has closed its doors. For those who missed Apple's "social network for music", it was first seen as a bold move to enter the social media space backed by millions of iTunes users. While the plan was to also incorporate Facebook integration, apparently the company decided to refuse giving Apple access and thus Ping never really took off. There are probably more reasons why it was considered a universal failure, like the wonky interface or the useless overall functionality.

Here's the funny part: where Apple has failed, Microsoft is still kicking with Zune Social. Notice we didn't say that Microsoft succeeded, since any aspect of Zune pales in popularity compared to any feature in iTunes. However, it's at least a sign of Microsoft understanding the web and social just a teensy bit better than Apple.

The victory won't last long, because Zune is about to get the boot in favor of Xbox Music sometime later this year. We also sincerely doubt there will be many social features in the new music service beyond Facebook integration or Spotify-like playlist sharing. But just for today, Microsoft can revel in the fact that Zune Social outlived Ping — and that has to be worth something.

Via: The Verge