Wal-Mart, amazon, digital downloads, downloads, gadgets, itunes, music, portable media

Wal-Mart MP3 Store Drops All DRM, But Only Half-Ass Opens

When we last compared Wal-Mart's MP3 store to Amazon's, only Universal and EMI had gone DRM-free, and Wal-Mart still stocked tunes locked down with Windows Media DRM. Now Wal-Mart's store is completely DRM-sanitized, but their saber rattling to Sony and Warner for DRM-less music has gone ignored, so they're not selling any tracks from those labels (outside of Neil Diamond). Topping it off, despite the platform-agnosticness of MP3, the store still only really works in Internet Exploder. Not a good spot for Wally World.

After all, since then, iTunes has passed even Wal-Mart's massive moving power in its B&M stores to become the US's biggest music retailer. Plus, all Big Four have already signed on with Amazon for DRM-free music, making it the no. 2 digital retailer. At this point, they've either gotta step up or step aside. [Listening Post]

6:15 PM on Mon Apr 7 2008
By matt buchanan
2,231 views
11 comments

Comments

PBRMEASAP at 06:35 PM on 04/07/08
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I think that Wal-Mart selling music online is a horrible idea, personally. Wal-Mart should stay away from the internets.
ducttape38 at 06:38 PM on 04/07/08
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Amazon is still the best place to buy music online. Better quality, better prices, and their downloader supports linux. Too bad the web interface sucks. Amazon, get off ye ass and go build an actual store app instead of the awful web ui!
techie4life at 07:01 PM on 04/07/08
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looks like the mexicans are biased towards windows...
keyser at 07:15 PM on 04/07/08
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so is this walmart's fault? (the part on drm-less-ness only)
they do need to expand browser compatibility though.

(sorry for the late posting, playing ketchup after a week of slackness.... ummm CTIA)
Joseph at 07:38 PM on 04/07/08
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Gotta do something when you get your butt kicked 2 months in a row in music sales :).
92BuickLeSabre at 07:51 PM on 04/07/08
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Connectedness Index: 558
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matt, you act like one could need more than Neil Diamond.

???
Nighthawkz at 09:27 PM on 04/07/08
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That's really stupid. They should start supporting firefox. Firefox takes up 16% of the market share. That's no shit.
Azndude51 at 01:50 AM on 04/08/08
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@Nighthawkz: Yeah, I don't know what's up with Wal-Mart. Their entire site doesn't work with Firefox, it's probably the only one from a major company that doesn't. It's been like that for so long that I'm starting to think that they intentionally made it incompatible.
bspence at 07:43 AM on 04/08/08
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Ok Apple, the ball's in your court. We NEED iTunes to go DRM free. I will start buying TONS of music if you do this!!! I don't want the hassle of figuring out Amazon or Wal-Mart's system, and whether it's good enough for me to add to my library. I think if Apple doesn't change, they're going to see a sharp decline in their sales, and a rise in their rivals'.
shawn_dude at 12:25 PM on 04/08/08
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Amazon doesn't have a lot of the music I like on it. It's mostly the "top 40", "emo", and "kiddie rock" stuff. But what I do like is that I can actually go to Amazon from my home PC and buy music (any music).

Apple, on the other hand, has chosen to use iTunes in a product lock-in strategy and doesn't support *nix systems running x-windows. Plus, you don't actually OWN the DRM-encumbered music they sell. You are technically only buying the limited right to listen to it on a limited number of devices that you must own yourself. (limits, limits, and more limits.)

Buy music on CD and rip it or buy from 100% DRM-free sources like Amazon.

[bitter, party of one, please.]
adam_h at 12:49 PM on 04/08/08
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The title of this article is horribly worded. Keep the quality coming giz!