“In a bid to compete with Apple’s iTunes digital music downloading service in Europe, a Dutch record company has launched a web site offering 250,000 tracks from five major record labels. Free Record Shop Holding NV, which sells music, films and games at stores around northwest Europe, debuted its Dutch and French-language Web sites Tuesday,” The Associated Press reports.
“The sites received more than 500,000 Internet visitors in the first 24 hours, beating previous weekly records for all the company’s sites together, said Olaf Zwijnenburg, who is overseeing the introduction,” AP reports. “The service competes with popular licensed music download services such as iTunes which do not have the legal rights to sell the selection being offered by the Free Record Shop in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg… Unlike Apple’s iTunes store, which uses the AAC format, Free Record employs Microsofot’s WMA format.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: How “free” is the Free Record Shop when visitors have to purchase downloads at prices ranging from $1.09 for a single song to $26.80 for a popular new double album?
*yawn*
Sheep are so stupid. No wonder they get “rear-ended” all the time!
They got lots of visitors because the name implies it is _free_, but it isn’t!!!!
Well, I tried the FRS store and is SUCKS big time. Some examples:
– some CD’s are more expensive if you download them compared to buying physically (‘Writing’s on the Wall’ from Destiny’s Child 9,99 euro, while downloading 17,44)
– Some songs can not be downloaded, only bought physically
– You can only keep the songs on one computer (lost computer, lost songs)
– No iPod support
– Only 3 burns allowed
– Very, very bad lay-out
I live in Holland and if I believe the reviews I read you can rest assure that itthis ‘thing’ doesn’t have ANY chance for survival against iTMS.
Unlike Apple’s iTunes store, which uses the AAC format, Free Record employs Microsofot’s WMA format.
This online news source needs a better editor. I did not realize some company called Microsofot made the WMA format.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Getting a large number of hits on a site that uses the name ‘Free record’ is not difficult.
Selling tracks to a worthwhile proportion of those potential users is quite different.
it would be great if the coffee shops decided to sell on the internet… 99 cents a gram!
500,000 “visitors” means that they have to pay their advertisers (if there are any) for that many “hits”. Sure is long, long way from 500,000 “buyers”… now that would have raised an eyebrow.
Whoops – I think I got a bit mixed up on who has to pay whom for hits. Sorry.
WMA? Oh god, is Microsoftopoly giving that crap away?
Of course, they get visitors. Anybody who types “download AND music AND free” into his search machine will end up there, discover it isn’t free at all, and go back to his google hit list.
Yup, one of those visits was from me. I wanted to see this well… I can only describe it as a circus! So much colours! Bring your sunclasses! Their music can btw only be used on one (1) computer! Their restrictions on what to do with the music are way too strict, and the music is much more expensive often then to buy the cd itself in their own store!
There was an item about this in the Dutch national news: I’ve seen more shots of iPods, Apple’s website & iTunes then from the new store. Apple was even mentioned first in the news before they even started talking about FRS! As it should have been of course…
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Free record shops name came from the fact it was then a price stunter against the established Record shops, some 25 yrs ago.
There new online store is in no way something as Apple’s iTunes Music Store. It is a circus indeed and not Mac compatible..
Am I the only person disappointed that the iTunes Music store isn’t remotely in alpha order? Go to any shop and DON’T go to the ‘B’ section if you want to find Bob Dylan – only at Apple! Idiots!
The “free” refers to the fact that it isn’t tied to a particular label – the retail stores have been called it for years.
It is a touch misleading, but don’t forget this is a Dutch site – everyone in NL knows what the Free Record Shop is all about. Do you think “Gratis Music Winkel” would be as popular?
<h1>You are invited to check out some helpful info about phentermine diet pills phentermine diet pills http://www.phentermine-diet-pills-leading-pharmacy.info/ <br/> free online texas holdem free online texas holdem http://www.free-online-texas-holdem-top-site.info/ <br/> texas holdem software texas holdem software http://www.texas-holdem-software-top-site.info/ <br/> phentermine that uses paypal phentermine that uses paypal http://www.phentermine-that-uses-paypal-top-deals.info/ <br/> no limit texas holdem tournament strategy no limit texas holdem tournament strategy http://www.no-limit-texas-holdem-tournament-strategy-top-site.info/ <br/> no limit texas holdem online no limit texas holdem online http://www.no-limit-texas-holdem-online-game.info/ <br/> holdem poker rules holdem poker rules http://www.holdem-poker-rules-win.info/ <br/> long term phentermine use long term phentermine use http://www.long-term-phentermine-use-pharmacy-2003.info/ <br/> phentermine overnight fedex delivery phentermine overnight fedex delivery http://www.phentermine-overnight-fedex-delivery-top-deals.info/ <br/>… Thanks!!! </h1>