Microsoft has introduced a free (for a limited) time app for the iPhone that lets you stream 100 songs from each of the past 62 years. The top 100 tracks from 1947 to 2009 are selected by the developers, rather than any particular music charts. But there are definitely some good tunes available in the awkwardly-named Top 100s by Year by Bing app.
That’s the good news. Here are the caveats:
- The app is only free for a limited time, after which it will go up to $1.99.
- You can listen to the first few tracks uninterrupted, but after that you’re prompted to download the Bing app for iPhone to keep listening.
- Even after you download the Bing app, you’ll get a Bing pop-up ad after every few songs.
- There’s no way to pick the exact song you want to stream. You basically pick a year and then listen to tracks in random order.
The app says it’s made by a company called “Nutsie.” Their website doesn’t claim any affiliation with Microsoft — perhaps the app is simply sponsored by Bing, not actually released by MS.
CNET reports it’s a Microsoft/Bing-branded version of Nutsie. We’ve seen similar with other apps, like Marvel Comics is a branded version of Comixology.