By SteveJack
The Wal-Mart Music Downloads service only offers about 1/5th as many songs as Apple’s iTunes Store, 1 million vs. over 5 million, but Wal-Mart has just started selling DRM-free MP3 versions of some of those songs.
Of course, Apple has been doing this for some time with DRM-free tracks from EMI via iTunes Plus. Apple sells their DRM-free songs using the more-advanced AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) audio codec which allows for higher-quality results with smaller file sizes, higher resolution audio, and requires less processing power to decode than the MP3 dinosaur (a format that lives on well past its time). Apple’s DRM-free AAC is encoded at 256 kbps, Apple’s 99-cent AAC (with easily-removed FairPlay DRM) tracks are encoded at 128 kbps.
That might be part of the reason why Wal-Mart’s MP3 downloads are just 94-cents each, significantly less than the $1.29 charged by Apples’ iTunes Plus for its version of a song that’s free of copy protection limitations. Sniping aside, an MP3 encoded at 256 kbps from Wal-Mart should sound better than a non-iTunes Plus 128 kbps AAC file from Apple’s iTunes Store. Wal-Marts DRM-encrusted tracks are in Microsoft’s WMA format at 128 kbps and go for 88-cents apiece.
On the face of it, the Wal-Mart move would seem to be good news for music lovers, making it possible to download tunes from Wal-Mart and use them with their Apple iPods (just use Apple’s iTunes software to transfer the music to the iPod) while also potentially spurring price competition (I bet the music cartels, er… labels will have much to say about that bit of nastiness, however.)
One problem is that only a small fraction of Wal-Mart’s downloadable songs are currently available in unprotected MP3 format. On Wal-Mart’s top 10 downloads for the week, only Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” can be purchased as a DRM-free MP3.
Another ridiculous issue is that Wal-Mart’s Music Downloads website is incompatible with Macs for no discernible reason other than either laziness or incompetence. I lean to the latter, as Wal-Mart’s web coders haven’t even mastered the simple art of operating system detection.
A Mac customer, armed with his or her trusty iPod, willing to slum it with the geriatric MP3 format in order to save 35-cents per track, and ready to give his or her business to Wal-Mart is greeted with the following:
We’re sorry, your operating system is incompatible. To provide the best download experience, we can no longer support Windows 98, ME or NT. Please visit again after you upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP.
I guess we Mac users will be visiting again, uh, never. Upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP?! For the love of Jobs, we already use Macs, that wouldn’t be an upgrade, it’d be an upchuck. And that goes double for Vista.
If Wal-Mart can’t even figure out that we’re not using Windows 98, ME, or NT, it doesn’t give you much confidence that they can master and deliver MP3’s correctly, does it?
What solution does Wal-Mart offer? In the Frequently Asked Questions section, Wal-Mart says, “At this time, it isn’t possible to shop and download songs directly from Wal-Mart Music Downloads to a Macintosh computer. However, you can transfer the MP3 files from a Windows computer to a Macintosh using a CD, other storage device or email.”
Gee, thanks Wal-Fart, but that’s a hoop I’d rather not have to jump through; I use a Mac for a reason (because I’ve tried Windows and therefore know better). All of my friends and family use Macs (because I long ago showed them what a Mac can do). What am I supposed to do, ask my 55-year-old accountant to download Wal-Mart tunes and burn CDs for me?
I, for one, will be sticking with Apple’s iTunes Store (even though I’d like to at least try our Wal-Mart’s service, if the geniuses would let me spend my money with them).
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
Your comments certainly give a decent example of what stupid really is.
Whatever happened to movie rentals on iTunes?
I’ll bet that if you could use Wal-Mart’s music store with a Mac, you’d find the Salsa isle completely blocked by three generations of a family shouting at each other in a foreign language.
Wmart’s music service acts as a foil to the iTunes store. The recording industry uses Wmart to try to change consumers minds about iTunes, e.g. Universal. Universal, et al, want to teach Apple a lesson and be right in doing it. They forget that being right doesn’t always fit in with what the consumer wants, which is ultimately where the money comes from.
@ Another Irish Dude
@ qka
To be honest, I’ve had little luck with either.
i think this is walmart playing at ’embrace and extinguish’. don’t underestimate how crafty they can be.
Let’s swamp them with complaints:
http://www.walmart.com/swap/cs_email.jsp
@Mac user since 1984
“Wait a minute….I just went to the Wal-Mart site to see if I could spoof it with Safari’s Debug>User Agent setting. Instead, Safari 2.0.4 on a Mac Pro Dual Core Intel Xenon performed flawlessly with Debug>User Agent set on “Automatically Chosen”
…
Anyone else try it?”
That was my first thought too, but it doesn’t work on my InteliMac.
Maybe they noticed it and “fixed” it.
http://www.walmart.com/swap/cs_email.jsp
Wal-Mart is a disgusting place. Doesn’t matter whether we’re referring to the brick-n-mortar stores or the online store. Avoid it like the plague.
Why is Wal-Mart’s Music Downloads website incompatible with Apple Macs?
With only 1/5th the selection of iTunes, and Walmart being a even bigger monopoly than Apple, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.
Walmart is so bad that it muscles product companies to the point that they can’t make a profit.
Imagine a future Walmart with only one type of breakfast cereal on the shelves, one brand of toothpaste, one type of hair shampoo. Where a future customer goes to purchase a jacket for warmth on a cold day and finds none because Walmart couldn’t find any company that will sell them one at the price/profit they want.
What’s even worse, so many people go to buy at Walmart that it sucks up all the buisness from other stores with good selections and drives them out of buisness.
Maybe Wal-Mart can afford to turn away 1 in 5 customers (re: recent news that Apple laptops have >17% of the market), but I couldn’t run a business that way – at least, not for long!
Top downloaded songs so far from Wal-Mart:
Theme song to Deliverance (dulling banjos)
That “if I had a million dollars” song.
and “I’m my own grampa”
We expect “grandma got run over by a reindeer” to be big during the holiday’s.
Customers say they are “happier than a tornada in a trailer park” (sorry Mader), although some are complaining they need one of those high fangled computer things and something called the interweb to get the songs.
When asked about iTunes they said “it just aint the same since Bugs Bunny was taken off the air”.
@More Wal-Mart news…..
Too damn funny
You can download DRM free music @ walmart by going to musicdownloads.walmart.com (no www’s) and purchase from there. When it comes to downloading, you will need to select Download Songs Individually and save each individual track. Someone at their tech support line showed me that. So instead of going through the FAQ’s call their helpful tech support. Also you can use any browers to go to musicdownloads.walmart.com. Works fine for my MAC
I had a wonderful experience last night. I went grocery shopping at my local “Super Target.”
As I was walking down the cereal aisle, I realized my blood pressure was normal, I wasn’t about to pull out my hair, I had not been run over by the obese 12 year old on the electric scooter, and I was enjoying myself.
I am so happy that there is an alternative to Wal-mart. I’m sure there could be negative things to say about Target, but for me- it’s like comparing a Windoze PC to a Mac.
You can have a constant headache while you’re there, or you can enjoy the experience.
Why? Because they’re paid by Microsoft to lock out undesirables.
@ Joe Blow
Completely agree. I have had almost entirely good experiences at Target, and find that while the prices may be a factor of X higher, the quality is at least 3 or 4 X for a given product.
@ Joe Blow & ChrissyOne: My feelings for Target vs Wal-Mart are identical. I’d rather spend a few more pennies at Target than deal with the hassle of Wal-Mart.
Sadly, I have to drive 40-50 miles to get to a Target. Our town would have a Target, except we got a Target Distribution Center instead, and Target won’t put a store in a town with a DC. Something about employees stealing from the DC and returning items to the store for cash. If only our city planning board had realized a Target store would have been better to have than the DC. 🙁
“Another ridiculous issue is that Wal-Mart’s Music Downloads website is incompatible with Macs for no discernible reason other than either laziness or incompetence.”
You missed a critical point. It only works with Internet Explorer. Got a PC with Firefox or another browser? Tough. That’s not laziness or incompetence, it’s deliberate.
I smell the hand of Microsoft in all this:
The Three Stooges and DRM-Free Music.
wal mart is the scum of the world. They say theyre proud to be america, yet have been proved to have sweat shops in Chia and other third world countries. I try to never go there, but theres so fucking many. Hell, what th hell happened to K-Mart?!?
rest of walmart site works in Safari, someone smells a Redmond Rat?
Nope, a Cupertino rat. What would anyone bet that Apple and SJ said if you want to keep selling iPods, don’t support Mac. That way Wal-Mart keeps its dastardly villan rep for dissing the maker of its best selling music player, and sets up MS as a partner in crime.
I’m not sure if I think thats what is happening, but it is something to think about
Did you ever think that maybe some people shop at WALMART just to get away from people like you shop at Target and think they are better than everyone else. Plus they have too high prices on basic necessities. You must be a yuppie if…
Though not a smart move it is not a big deal businesswise being incompatible with a stagnant operating system such as Macintosh. It won’t do any difference on Walmart’s revenues.
I am not a fan of Windows and Linux either but you cannot argue against facts: as long as your software (or e-marketplace) reaches Windows users you should be fine. Windows still dominates the OS market by a large margin.
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=2
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
Guys, what is MIOX?