RSSWal-Mart focuses on MP3, but without Sony BMG and Warner
By Ed Oswald | Published April 8, 2008, 1:50 PM
Sony BMG and Warner's music is missing from Wal-Mart's online store, which has been recently redesigned to feature its catalog of DRM-free music.
With the apparent full switch to MP3, it marks yet another former customer of Microsoft's PlaysForSure who let the DRM technology fall by the wayside. However, it appears that with the embrace of DRM-free music, some artists are not available, at least temporarily.
In a statement to BetaNews, Wal-Mart neither confirmed nor denied that it had lost the catalogs of Sony BMG and Warner Music Group with the switch, saying it does not publicly share details of "ongoing discussions."
This seems to back up reports by Wired and Digital Music News on Monday that neither labels' artists were appearing. A check by BetaNews Tuesday afternoon seemed to confirm this.
Wal-Mart was also apparently still blocking users of Mac OS X, which should now be compatible post-switch, and the site has been working poorly in any browser other than Internet Explorer.
Despite the publicity of a recent upset from the number one position in digital music retail by iTunes, Wal-Mart seems happy about its progress in the online music front. "We've been pleased with the overall growth and customer response to our MP3 offering since our launch last August," Wal-Mart spokesperson Ravi Jariwala said. "We'll continue to work with our music partners to further grow our MP3 selection."
Confident words aside, does this switch to DRM-free really mean anything in the end? Analyst Russ Crupnick of NPD Group does not seem to share that enthusiasm.
"I don't believe it will have a major impact. DRM or format is not a primary reason why people do or don't buy digital downloads," he said. "Most are selecting Apple because they use iPods and iTunes to manage their libraries."
Get a supported player and load up rockbox.org. Agreed this is not for mass market but neither is betanews.
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I agree many use ipods and itunes, but they are the blind who don't see the other possibilities. I went my own route and many others are as well and I enjoy not being stuck to using one product to manage my music. I find iTunes etc to be too closed from what I have seen.
I think more and more people are going this route and I hope it continues, because its difficult when people think they an ipod is the only way to play music, when that is far from the truth.
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Quit being an Apple hater, it isn't worth it. I had a Dell DJ before I got my iPod and it was garbage, my iPod has lasted twice as long as did my DJ.
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I still have my iRiver from 2001, and it's seen some heavy use ever since I got it. Other than the shuffle, I don't believe any iPod would have lasted as well as this little unit. It's just a shame that it's storage capacity is so limiting today (512MB!). :P
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