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Walmart Music Store - Beta Testing
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Re: Walmart Music Store - Beta Testing
But how can it be a loss leader if there's nothing to lead in to? It makes sense in a physical store: walk in planning to buy a few bargain CD's, walk out with $100 worth of clothing and lawn furniture. But online? How would they earn a profit?
But how can it be a loss leader if there's nothing to lead in to? It makes sense in a physical store: walk in planning to buy a few bargain CD's, walk out with $100 worth of clothing and lawn furniture. But online? How would they earn a profit?
Re: piece of crap!
And unfortunately no one cares since Macs account for a very small % of the market. Walmart and the like are aiming at that 95%+ user base. 2-5% isn't going to make or break a music store.
And unfortunately no one cares since Macs account for a very small % of the market. Walmart and the like are aiming at that 95%+ user base. 2-5% isn't going to make or break a music store.
No Macs? But what is this?
No macs allowed, eh?
Well this screen shot looks awfully familiar...
http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/catalog/servlet/TourServlet?pageIndex=0 ("The benefits of music downloads")
No macs allowed, eh?
Well this screen shot looks awfully familiar...
http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/catalog/servlet/TourServlet?pageIndex=0 ("The benefits of music downloads")
Attachments
Lower rights == cheaper contract with labels?
I strongly suspect that Walmart has a "better" (cheaper per song) contract with the labels than Apple or the rest. Why? Because their rights are significantly more restrictive. More rights are more expensive.
Thus, it is entirely possible that WalMart is actually making money at 88 cents per song.
Personally, I wouldn't pay 88c for a song I can only burn 10 times. Can I use that song in Premiere like I can use iTMS songs in FCP/iDVD/etc? If so, would that count against my ten max "burns"?
IMHO, this is exactly Walmart's way: undercut rivals by reducing intangibles (rights or warranty service or sales staff). In a price-driven world, Walmart has a proven track record. The question is: is music a price-driven enterprise? AND, are the "intangibles" Walmart is cutting out, really unimportant to enough consumers to make sense?
I strongly suspect that Walmart has a "better" (cheaper per song) contract with the labels than Apple or the rest. Why? Because their rights are significantly more restrictive. More rights are more expensive.
Thus, it is entirely possible that WalMart is actually making money at 88 cents per song.
Personally, I wouldn't pay 88c for a song I can only burn 10 times. Can I use that song in Premiere like I can use iTMS songs in FCP/iDVD/etc? If so, would that count against my ten max "burns"?
IMHO, this is exactly Walmart's way: undercut rivals by reducing intangibles (rights or warranty service or sales staff). In a price-driven world, Walmart has a proven track record. The question is: is music a price-driven enterprise? AND, are the "intangibles" Walmart is cutting out, really unimportant to enough consumers to make sense?
Re: No Macs? But what is this?
Heh ... yeah, kinda funny that they mandate Windows-only yet use a screen shot from a non-Windows computer ...
On the other hand, the "Windows Only" mandate may be a temporary and/or late-breaking restriction ...
Heh ... yeah, kinda funny that they mandate Windows-only yet use a screen shot from a non-Windows computer ...
On the other hand, the "Windows Only" mandate may be a temporary and/or late-breaking restriction ...
Re: limited burns..
Actually, they say you can download to one and backup to two computers (presumably able to play music on those two computers, but can you burn from them too?)
That's three computers overall.
Questions still remain for all WMA-based music stores:
* What happens if I buy a new computer? Can I move my music over to the new computer, or does this count as one of my "backups"?
* What happens when Windows (inevitably) needs to be reinstalled? Can I restore my songs from backup and keep using them, or is this again yet another of my three computers?
* Can I do anything with this music besides put it on a Dell Music Jukebox and burn it to CD? Can I use it as background music for the DVD I'm foolishly hacking together on my PC instead of on my Mac?
I've looked for answers to these questions in the BuyMusic, MusicMatch, Napster, and now Walmart FAQs. They provide no answers. Thus, one can only presume that the answers they would have to give are bad: You buy a new computer, or reinstall Windows, and you lose your music; you can't use your music in other applications.
The thing is, most users won't notice these types of restrictions until it's way too late.
Actually, they say you can download to one and backup to two computers (presumably able to play music on those two computers, but can you burn from them too?)
That's three computers overall.
Questions still remain for all WMA-based music stores:
* What happens if I buy a new computer? Can I move my music over to the new computer, or does this count as one of my "backups"?
* What happens when Windows (inevitably) needs to be reinstalled? Can I restore my songs from backup and keep using them, or is this again yet another of my three computers?
* Can I do anything with this music besides put it on a Dell Music Jukebox and burn it to CD? Can I use it as background music for the DVD I'm foolishly hacking together on my PC instead of on my Mac?
I've looked for answers to these questions in the BuyMusic, MusicMatch, Napster, and now Walmart FAQs. They provide no answers. Thus, one can only presume that the answers they would have to give are bad: You buy a new computer, or reinstall Windows, and you lose your music; you can't use your music in other applications.
The thing is, most users won't notice these types of restrictions until it's way too late.
who is this bad for?
Buymusic.com, and all of the cheap PC imitators, that's who. Apple stands for quality, and quality is what you get. If you're a cheapskate and want an inferior Mp3 player and an inferior download service, then you save yourself the minor amount of cash and get what you pay for (or less). I doubt that this will affect Apple's sales one way or the other. The cheapskates were gonna get the cheap player and download from another service anyway.
Buymusic.com, and all of the cheap PC imitators, that's who. Apple stands for quality, and quality is what you get. If you're a cheapskate and want an inferior Mp3 player and an inferior download service, then you save yourself the minor amount of cash and get what you pay for (or less). I doubt that this will affect Apple's sales one way or the other. The cheapskates were gonna get the cheap player and download from another service anyway.
serious competition for steve
Yes the Wal-Mart interface looks like dog****, the DRM/WMA restrictions are focking anal, but Wal-Mart presents a very serious threat to iTMS as well as every other online music store.
First off, their lower price already is low enough that people will put up with a ****tier interface. face it, wal-mart customers are ones willing to drive miles to save a few bucks. You wouldn't believe how many tight wads there are in the world. believe me, I worked at a low-discount retail store in my youth.
Second, people are not going to run up against the 10 CD burning limit, since CD's are slowly being replaced as a storage medium by HD's and as a playback format by low cost MP3/WMA players. And even if they did run up against the limit, its only time they'd figure out how to circumvent the restriction.
I hate WMA too but its available to 100% of the market, yes I'm including Mac people in the mix.
Time and time again, people flock to lower prices first, then gauge the impact of intangibles like DRM restrictions, quality of the music, etc. By then its too late for Apple.
Yes the Wal-Mart interface looks like dog****, the DRM/WMA restrictions are focking anal, but Wal-Mart presents a very serious threat to iTMS as well as every other online music store.
First off, their lower price already is low enough that people will put up with a ****tier interface. face it, wal-mart customers are ones willing to drive miles to save a few bucks. You wouldn't believe how many tight wads there are in the world. believe me, I worked at a low-discount retail store in my youth.
Second, people are not going to run up against the 10 CD burning limit, since CD's are slowly being replaced as a storage medium by HD's and as a playback format by low cost MP3/WMA players. And even if they did run up against the limit, its only time they'd figure out how to circumvent the restriction.
I hate WMA too but its available to 100% of the market, yes I'm including Mac people in the mix.
Time and time again, people flock to lower prices first, then gauge the impact of intangibles like DRM restrictions, quality of the music, etc. By then its too late for Apple.
The Walmart Effect
below are two recent articles about how Walmart became the largest corporation on Earth.
Mainly they are able to demand a slim profit from each supplier. Usually it is suppliers eating the loss in order to do business with Walmart since they are the largest retailer on the planet.
I think even with their 88¢ tracks Walmart can demand a penny or two from the record companies per track by leveraging the inventory they already carry, i.e., "If you want us to carry your CD's all over the country, give us a good deal on the online pie"
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-walmart23nov23a,1,7637894.story
below are two recent articles about how Walmart became the largest corporation on Earth.
Mainly they are able to demand a slim profit from each supplier. Usually it is suppliers eating the loss in order to do business with Walmart since they are the largest retailer on the planet.
I think even with their 88¢ tracks Walmart can demand a penny or two from the record companies per track by leveraging the inventory they already carry, i.e., "If you want us to carry your CD's all over the country, give us a good deal on the online pie"
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-walmart23nov23a,1,7637894.story
I forgot to add that Walmart was evil
Them rolling back prices year after year is destroying our economy. If you follow their prices over the years, pretty much every single commodity has gone down in price.
If you do business with Walmart you have to aggree to lower prices year after year in order to fulfill their mission statement of "Rolling Back Prices". In the beginning this had some benificial effects since it forced manufacturers to eliminate waste and streamline their business model. But after a few years of streamlining the only way most suppliers could reduce cost and do business with Walmart is to offshore their entire manufacturing structure to cheaper countries.
Almost all of the items sold in Walmart is made in some sweatshop somewhere with an American label on it. Although this was probably inevitable, Walmart at the very least accelerated the whole process by decades when they put the squeeze on the economy like that.
Them rolling back prices year after year is destroying our economy. If you follow their prices over the years, pretty much every single commodity has gone down in price.
If you do business with Walmart you have to aggree to lower prices year after year in order to fulfill their mission statement of "Rolling Back Prices". In the beginning this had some benificial effects since it forced manufacturers to eliminate waste and streamline their business model. But after a few years of streamlining the only way most suppliers could reduce cost and do business with Walmart is to offshore their entire manufacturing structure to cheaper countries.
Almost all of the items sold in Walmart is made in some sweatshop somewhere with an American label on it. Although this was probably inevitable, Walmart at the very least accelerated the whole process by decades when they put the squeeze on the economy like that.
Re: limited burns..
Walmart's site: "Download music to 1 computer and back up to up to two additional computers."
That's 1+2=3, same as iTunes.
I also believe the 10 burns won't be as limiting as many readers suggest. It's hard for me to imagine that I'd need to burn the same song over ten times. I may make one or two CDs with it - if any at all. I actually listen almost only to files these days, from Mac or iPod. But then again, that's just me.
And as someone was wondering what a loss leader would lead to: Doesn't Walmart sell all kinds of electronic devices? iTunes sells iPods, Walmart's music store may well sell a myriad of xyz MP3 players. Remember, this is only a beta site.
Apple has a history of being first to market with relly cool things, only to find itself muscled out by the bigger guys. Will be interesting to see how Apple reacts this time. Complacency and a "But I'm so much better" attitude hasn't helped in the past, it won't help this time...
Walmart's site: "Download music to 1 computer and back up to up to two additional computers."
That's 1+2=3, same as iTunes.
I also believe the 10 burns won't be as limiting as many readers suggest. It's hard for me to imagine that I'd need to burn the same song over ten times. I may make one or two CDs with it - if any at all. I actually listen almost only to files these days, from Mac or iPod. But then again, that's just me.
And as someone was wondering what a loss leader would lead to: Doesn't Walmart sell all kinds of electronic devices? iTunes sells iPods, Walmart's music store may well sell a myriad of xyz MP3 players. Remember, this is only a beta site.
Apple has a history of being first to market with relly cool things, only to find itself muscled out by the bigger guys. Will be interesting to see how Apple reacts this time. Complacency and a "But I'm so much better" attitude hasn't helped in the past, it won't help this time...
Re: Re: No Macs? But what is this?
I saw an ad the other day on TV that showed someone browsing the internet. The browser body had old Platinum style droplists and other controls but the browser title bar and the rest of the computer looked like windows (98/2k, not XP). I wonder what theme they were running
I saw an ad the other day on TV that showed someone browsing the internet. The browser body had old Platinum style droplists and other controls but the browser title bar and the rest of the computer looked like windows (98/2k, not XP). I wonder what theme they were running
Maybe evil for the American economy, but a boon for third world countries where people often find work, even though its low pay with few benefits.
Is Walmart really to blame or the people who shop its stores? If anything, its the american consumer who are skinning their own backs.
Is Walmart really to blame or the people who shop its stores? If anything, its the american consumer who are skinning their own backs.
WM9 should be an option
Precisely. Apple needs to give people a choice and offer WM9 format. Their adherence to a closed model will, in the long run, hurt them greatly.
We like options. Right, Stevie? Right? Steeevieee.....????
Precisely. Apple needs to give people a choice and offer WM9 format. Their adherence to a closed model will, in the long run, hurt them greatly.
We like options. Right, Stevie? Right? Steeevieee.....????
The real problem with Walmart Music Store
In all of the discussions about saving $0.11 and how Wal-Mart is killing America I think we are overlooking the 1 bib problem with the Wal-Mart music store. They will only sell censored albulms and they will refuse to sell albums by certain artist. At least that is how they sell thier music now. If the artist or lyrics don't meet the wal-mart moral code, they won't sell it. I feel that with the DRM restrictions and they moral restriction that the wal-mart music store will not be much of a threat.
In all of the discussions about saving $0.11 and how Wal-Mart is killing America I think we are overlooking the 1 bib problem with the Wal-Mart music store. They will only sell censored albulms and they will refuse to sell albums by certain artist. At least that is how they sell thier music now. If the artist or lyrics don't meet the wal-mart moral code, they won't sell it. I feel that with the DRM restrictions and they moral restriction that the wal-mart music store will not be much of a threat.
can't move files to new computer without burning
From their site:
I bought a new computer. Can I transfer music downloads from Walmart.com to this new computer?
WMA files protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM) encryption cannot be transferred from computer to computer. If you want to play music you downloaded from Walmart.com on another computer (or on any other device that plays audio CDs), you must burn your music onto an audio CD to play it (please note that you may burn a song to a CD up to 10 times).
From their site:
I bought a new computer. Can I transfer music downloads from Walmart.com to this new computer?
WMA files protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM) encryption cannot be transferred from computer to computer. If you want to play music you downloaded from Walmart.com on another computer (or on any other device that plays audio CDs), you must burn your music onto an audio CD to play it (please note that you may burn a song to a CD up to 10 times).
Re: The real problem with Walmart Music Store
Well, I can get the latest Madonna album on Walmart, I cannot get any Madonna on iTunes.
As I read somewhere, Madonna refuses to sell single tracks, Apple insisted to have the same conditions for all music, incl. 99ct for one song. So, no deal for Apple. On Walmart, you can at least buy the whole album.
Now you may argue about Madonna's merit as an artist, but that's besides the point. I'm sure there are many more examples.
Well, I can get the latest Madonna album on Walmart, I cannot get any Madonna on iTunes.
As I read somewhere, Madonna refuses to sell single tracks, Apple insisted to have the same conditions for all music, incl. 99ct for one song. So, no deal for Apple. On Walmart, you can at least buy the whole album.
Now you may argue about Madonna's merit as an artist, but that's besides the point. I'm sure there are many more examples.
i miss the one-click
Dude, I have to keep entering in my credit card and adress and such for each time I check out, that is going to get old really fast.
iTMS rocks because you click, and you have it. That's it. No "check out" button nessacery.
-Java
Dude, I have to keep entering in my credit card and adress and such for each time I check out, that is going to get old really fast.
iTMS rocks because you click, and you have it. That's it. No "check out" button nessacery.
-Java
I guess my post was biased towards the U.S. economy. At the same time exporting jobs to third world countries doesn't do too much to help them since U.S. manufactorers treat many countries as interchangeable subcontractors. Plus I am skeptical about how corporations value their offshore employees, is that 13 year old kid in Malaysia really a valued member of the "Walmart Family"? U.S. corporations are ruthless enough against it's own citizens, what obligations do they have to offshored employees whose culture and/or values are completely alien to them?
You are right though, we are skinning our own backs. Our quest for $29 DVD players, $3 gallon pickle jars, and $200 computers is bankrupting our willingness to reward innovation or pair a fair price for a fair product.
The only cool thing (and I mean the only) I can say about Wal-Mart is that they sold pre-configure Linux boxes. Granted it was running Lindows, but I still have to tip my hat to that effort.
That being said, I'll stick with ITMS thank you.
That being said, I'll stick with ITMS thank you.