[Rumor] Zune Marketplace being restructured as subscription-based streaming service

According to a report from The Daily, Microsoft is planning on restructuring the Zune Marketplace as a subscription-based streaming service similar to Netflix and Hulu.

According to their sources at Microsoft, the restructured Zune Marketplace is set to go up sometime later this year.

Early last month, a rumor was making the rounds that Microsoft was planning on introducing a new ‘Diamond’ service to Xbox Live. Nothing was ever announced at E3 – although content streaming was a big topic at their press conference – but this would seem to back up Microsoft’s new focus on the media experience of the Xbox 360.

So long as the selection is good (and by that I mean better than Netflix’s instant watch selection), this could end up being a better alternative to the Zune Marketplace’s download-and-watch format. If this even turns out to be true, that is.

via Joystiq