Microsoft Corp. says it had struck a deal with Universal Music Group aimed at allowing the company to do more with a feature of its Zune portable music player that lets people share songs over a wireless connection.

Under the deal, Universal will receive a payment for every Zune player sold, in exchange for which Universal will provide more access to artists and rights to music.

Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Microsoft, declined to comment on the financial specifics of the deal late Wednesday, beyond saying that it called for the record label to share the payments it is receiving from Microsoft with Universal Music Group artists.

He said Microsoft also was pursuing similar deals with other big record labels.

Zune, which is scheduled to be released Nov. 14, is Microsoft's attempt to compete with Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod player and iTunes music service.

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