Citing inside sources privy to presentation materials given to corporate partners and high-level executives, Digital Music News has posted a rundown of the strategy Microsoft wants to employ when it attacks the iPod and iTunes with similar hardware and software. Aiming to grab 20% of the iPod market, the company wants to use a "7 Cities in 7 Nights" music tour featuring big-name bands, a large presence at major retailers, and possibly even a Super Bowl ad in January.

Microsoft also wants to leverage the existing Xbox community to introduce grass-roots marketing efforts aimed at 18-to-28-year-olds. A "Live Anywhere" architecture is said to be part of the hardware, which includes Wi-Fi-based music library sharing that will be limited to a maximum of 10 people and allow only streaming audio. However, wireless synchronization with a PC apparently won't be part of the launch, which is supposedly scheduled for November in the U.S., with a global roll-out next year.

Digital Music News also quoted a "closed ecosystem paired with a branded device" as part of the strategy, which, the Web site noted, "essentially describes iPod+iTunes." Supposedly the new music store and other services will be incompatible with competing offerings. The unnamed music store will offer "bundling, variable pricing, and subscription," according to the materials the Web site has seen, with video "layered into a future release."

Thanks to MacDailyNews for the link.