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Walmart opens Music Store - 88 cent songs
- Thread starter Grimace
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carletonmusic said:
Maybe Apple will lower their price too. They could afford a minor loss since they're making their moneir form iPod sales. I doubt Wall Mart can lower it's price even more without making no profits at all in the digital music market. It's not like online music will increase their sales in related products. Even if it those, they're not making a big profit margin on mp3 players since they're not the one manufacturing 'em.
Or maybe Apple won't lower their price at all. We're used to have higher price on the Apple side. I don't think that the Wal Mart store can beat Apple's eaase of use and simplicity.
I really wonder why they put the effort into crating this store. Seems like it's not worth it, even if they could pull a profit.
Extract from the article:
It seems to me that the Walmart music store is just a scheme to create publicity and drive traffic to the Walmart website. It worked on me. I had never visited the Walmart website until I went to check out the music store. Walmart, like Apple, will profit by increasing sales of their other merchandise.
walmart's store will fail just like all the rest, including the Coke one, the Sony one, etc. There might be a couple of competitors when the dust settles, but even if one or two companies survive (like Napster), iTMS will still be the ****. walmart is just doing this for publicity and because they're too goddamn ignorant to understand that there are already like 2 dozen services and that they're all failing. If the late '90s was the dot-com bubble, this is the music bubble. will be fun to watch it burst.
So, go ahead and sell songs $.11 cheaper. It's not going to help. Walmart's online store will be defunct before it hits 5 million songs sold, i'll stake my reputation on it. (hehehe)
paul
So, go ahead and sell songs $.11 cheaper. It's not going to help. Walmart's online store will be defunct before it hits 5 million songs sold, i'll stake my reputation on it. (hehehe)
paul
Just for kicks I loaded up their site and searched for "Grateful Dead." Came up with two songs, one "not available" and one "album only." So no 88-cent songs from the Dead. ITMS has 8 complete albums, with the promise of their entire catalog.
So I tried "Britney Spears." Okay, they had all the same stuff as ITMS, but a complete album was $9.44--only a 55-cent savings from ITMS--about half the discount you get on individual songs.
So I tried "Outkast." Only parts of 2 albums, and only "clean" versions, with no opportunity for buying the original lyrics.
Not to mention the fact that there's none of the great information that you get on artists, bands, etc on ITMS. Just about what you'd expect from a discount store.
If you're only looking for current, clean top-40 stuff, Wal-Mart will probably be fine, but for those with deeper music interests, ITMS does a better job, for only slightly more money. And its songs play on an iPod.
So I tried "Britney Spears." Okay, they had all the same stuff as ITMS, but a complete album was $9.44--only a 55-cent savings from ITMS--about half the discount you get on individual songs.
So I tried "Outkast." Only parts of 2 albums, and only "clean" versions, with no opportunity for buying the original lyrics.
Not to mention the fact that there's none of the great information that you get on artists, bands, etc on ITMS. Just about what you'd expect from a discount store.
If you're only looking for current, clean top-40 stuff, Wal-Mart will probably be fine, but for those with deeper music interests, ITMS does a better job, for only slightly more money. And its songs play on an iPod.
wdlove said:
When I say it worked on me, I mean that I visited the Walmart website (for the first time ever) to check out their music store... not that I'm buying any music downloads from them.
Again, I think the goal of Walmart is to increase their website visibility and traffic, not to necessarily have a profitable online music store. For them, it's a marketing gimic which they can well afford.
And I have a question for you US citizens. When I tested out the Walmart site, I got to the checkout, and it said, "sales tax not included".
When you use the iTMS, is Sales Tax included in the 99c?
I cannot test this as I'm outside the US.
When you use the iTMS, is Sales Tax included in the 99c?
I cannot test this as I'm outside the US.
Colonel Panik said:
For my first few ITMS purchases, I was charged sales tax. But in the last few months, I have not been charged. I don't know why.
wordmunger said:
not been charged sales tax? thats not fair!! i have been paying 1.07 for my songs after tax!!!!!
as for the walmart online music store. . . i wonder how many walmart shopers have a high speed internet access to take advantage of the online music store. . . . or for that mater how many walmart shopers are even online?!!!!!
the last time i checked, small town walmart customers are usually happy with the latest technology; when they get their first stop light in town! (maybe that is just texas but man, i have heard far too many people brag that their town now has a stop light)
Wal-Mart is simply trying to get control of what you see on the desktop. Their internet service is like that and the music store just adds to that desktop. It's one big step closer to comprehensive so that you don't see much but Wal-Mart.
The bandwagon is getting pretty full right now.
I think it's time to start taking bets, perhaps a new MacPoll, as to which online legit music store will bite the dust first.
I think it's time to start taking bets, perhaps a new MacPoll, as to which online legit music store will bite the dust first.
walmart is the microsoft of retail stores. people that spend money there are simply feeding a greedy corporate company that could care less about them or the quality of the products they sell them.
I think this is kind-of self defeating. First, there's this glut of stores right now, with very little to differentiate them. Second, online music is kind-of a luxury item. Most people are just going to buy the album, or if they are cheap, d/l for free. People are buying from iTunes to put stuff on their iPod. If you are cheap (or poor) enough to buying a cheaper mp3 player, you aren't going to be d/l music for anything other than free. You'll be ripping from CD's if you pay anything at all.
I said it about BuyMusic, I'll say it about Wal-Mart's... doomed to failure.
I said it about BuyMusic, I'll say it about Wal-Mart's... doomed to failure.
not iTunes compatible
I heard that these songs won't play on iTunes anyway, that you need Windows Media Player or something like that. I don't think Apple needs to worry about the competition too much.
I heard that these songs won't play on iTunes anyway, that you need Windows Media Player or something like that. I don't think Apple needs to worry about the competition too much.
Don't Be Worried.
There's numerous reasons why you shouldn't be worried:
Music and Wal-Mart don't go together.
The interface/search is horrid.
Wal-Mart barely has any content.
And. The most important:
Wal-Mart does not sell any explicitly labeled songs or albums. All those rap/hip-hop, metal, rock, alternative enthusiasts don't want songs where there's an odd mix to hide some swear word. I've never bought a Clean album, and never will. The only people who would are possibly children.
If they want explicit content, iTunes and Napster are the clear choices.
There's numerous reasons why you shouldn't be worried:
Music and Wal-Mart don't go together.
The interface/search is horrid.
Wal-Mart barely has any content.
And. The most important:
Wal-Mart does not sell any explicitly labeled songs or albums. All those rap/hip-hop, metal, rock, alternative enthusiasts don't want songs where there's an odd mix to hide some swear word. I've never bought a Clean album, and never will. The only people who would are possibly children.
If they want explicit content, iTunes and Napster are the clear choices.
thank wal-mart for bringing price competition into this arbitrary market. just because surveys and statistical analyses have shown that college students' WTP is 99c doesn't mean enough to me to want to spend that cash. call me a dinosaur, but i prefer the packaged goods model if i'm spending anything beyond about 50c/song. if my cd goes south, i contact the manufacturer and they send me a replacement (i did this with a mahavishnu orchestra cd on cbs/sony). when your ipod's HD takes a big greasy dump 2 years after you bought that stellar d/l album by the band you've already forgotten, do you have to go buy it again? no thanks.
kudos to all the developers for setting this business mechanism up; it's a wonderful achievement. but dude, as they sell into the tens of millions of songs, consumers are right to ask why the costs aren't coming down, since the development costs will have been recouped.
let's have a few more wal-marts, then, and faster, so that the pipeline companies like apple can charge a fair/square coin to their purchasers.
ok; now you can all flame me to death for this post...
kudos to all the developers for setting this business mechanism up; it's a wonderful achievement. but dude, as they sell into the tens of millions of songs, consumers are right to ask why the costs aren't coming down, since the development costs will have been recouped.
let's have a few more wal-marts, then, and faster, so that the pipeline companies like apple can charge a fair/square coin to their purchasers.
ok; now you can all flame me to death for this post...
vixapphire said:
Frankly, you complain about the price of CDs and downloadable songs. You're flaming at the wrong people. Support music. Buy the music. Don't complain, and don't illegally download. The record labels lay claim to the majority of the cost of the songs, true. But guess where that money filters to? The costs for marketing the song/artist/album, the costs of manufactoring the CD/booklet/case, the costs to mixers/engineers/producers for their valuable time spent creating the CD. Among others. Quick complaining about the price of music. It takes time and money to create it, and buying $5 CDs won't cover the costs of production.
If you still complain, keep in mind that Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan had a successful 10 year run before the band retired. Their CDs sell for the same price as major labels, and he was on an independent label; thus could get more from the cost of the album. He made roughly $20,000 a year off of his music career. Who else makes $20,000 a year? McDonald's employees? The lead singer of Alkaline Trio lives out of an apartment. They've been on national radio.
Pay the price. Don't complain. Support people's lives and ambitions.
i just cant see Wal-Mart being successful in this market, no one wants to buy music from walmart online....plus its all clean music...which i dont understand since you can buy alcohol and guns at walmart, but not a cd that has "swear" words on it, i mean to sell explict cds all walmart would have to do is make sure the person is 18+, which they already do for R rated DvDs.....but whatever, i cant see walmart being successful in this area.....