As if Zune didn’t have enough chips stacked against it. Now comes the word that Microsoft has demonstrated an ad plan for the portable, which would allow them to annoy users (and their friends!) on the go.

The idea is that artists can create sponsored pages, users can befriend those artists, and become prime targets for ads if they want to view news or check out new music. The good news: The program may include free music, to be paid by the sponsor. The bad news: When you send the artist’s info to your friends, the advertising will follow.

Microsoft’s mockup was a Doritos-sponsored music festival, which included an Asteroids-style game in the email. Score high on the game, and you could be scarfing down some free Doritos.

Of course, it’s all in the planning stages at this point. CNET says that all of this stuff will be optional, which could also mean if you’re interested in a certain artist, you’d better be interested in salty snack treats as well.

Sure, many of us already have that common interest, but are you willing to squeeze one more ad into your overcrowded brain? What if free music was involved?

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.