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Wal-Mart Begins Selling Music in MP3

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

August 21, 2007, 10:03 AM

Wal-Mart said Tuesday it will begin offering MP3 tracks from its music download service through arrangements with labels EMI and Universal.

Tracks will be priced at 94 cents and albums at $9.22 USD. Artists at launch include The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, and Maroon 5, among others.

As a promotion, certain classic albums will be offered at a discounted price, including Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi and Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent at $5.88 per album, and Come Away With Me by Norah Jones, Be Here by Keith Urban and Barrio Fino en Directo by Daddy Yankee at $7.88 per album

The move makes Wal-Mart’s online music store one of the first major retailers to offer MP3 tracks.

Universal had announced earlier in the month that it would be making some of its catalog available to select retailers in MP3 format. Wal-Mart was one of those mentioned in the initiative, which is said to be a test to see if selling MP3 tracks is viable.

Wal-Mart will continue to offer songs concurrently in its PlaysForSure compatible store, which retail for 88 cents for 128kbps and 94 cents for 256kbps tracks.

"As we consistently strive to help our customers shop smart at Wal-Mart, our new 'DRM-free' MP3 digital tracks give them the ease and flexibility to play music on virtually any device at a great value," the company’s digital media head Kevin Swint said in a statement.

Add a Comment (10 Comments)

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By Hollywood__

posted Aug 22, 2007 - 12:46 AM

No thanks, I'll use Newsgroups for free.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Aug 22, 2007 - 9:13 AM

...and when they take those away from me, I will hunt you down.

If you're going to use the usenet for illegal downloads, fine. Just don't advertise, it, mmmKay?

Score: 0

By shicaca

posted Aug 22, 2007 - 12:10 AM

That must have been the reason they took their ENTIRE site down last night or the night before.

I hope to god this takes off. Not only is it a better price than apple, but hopefully quality is comparable as well.

Score: 0

By dhjdhj

posted Aug 21, 2007 - 3:05 PM

I just took a look - typed in one of my favorite bands, (Genesis), found only a couple of albums, and even those were all WMA

Not holding my breath!

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Aug 21, 2007 - 9:46 PM

Artists at launch include The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, and Maroon 5, among others.

It just launched. Give it some time.

Score: 0

By dhjdhj

posted Aug 21, 2007 - 2:58 PM

When?

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Aug 21, 2007 - 12:26 PM

Hope they advertise the hell out of it instead of letting it sit there in obscurity and try and claim the business model doesn't work (again...).

Score: 0

By Noremacam

posted Aug 21, 2007 - 10:41 AM

Here's a chance for those who steal music because of DRM to put their money where their mouth is.

Score: 0

By Realist

posted Aug 21, 2007 - 11:48 AM

You mean for those who will now make the first payment on the music and then steal it for thier friends?

Score: 0

By wincement

edited Aug 21, 2007 - 9:57 PM

Lol... that's what I was thinking. But really, that happens even with DRM music. When it comes down to it, it's about the legitimate user's experience. There's no reason to make people who legitimately acquire music suffer just because of the actions of free-loaders (I wanted to be so much meaner with that term).

I really hope this takes off, and the publishers see what customers want and act accordingly.

Score: 0

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