Zune keeps track of what you listen to—both on your Zune player and in the Zune software on your computer—and displays your musical preferences on your Zune Social profile page, so that when people click on your Zune Card they can see what you're playing.
If you listen to an artist or album enough times, Zune awards you a badge.
You also earn badges for contributing useful information to the Zune.net forums and for reviews.