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Wal-Mart Music Download Service Launches
nns6561 writes "Wal-Mart launched their music download service today. They are providing wma files for 88 cents. I was able to download and play the test file with MPlayer and Linux. Finally, a music service for us geeks." While it may be only another online music seller, I'd hazard a guess that Wal-Mart has the name recognition to be the most prevalent music download service, especially among the tech-unsavvy.
Actually, Wal-Mart prefers to end their prices in a .96 rather than .99 -- I believe the last digit usually tells you whether it is its normal price, on sale, or closing out. You rarely (if ever) see a price end in .99
(and I thought those years I worked there went to waste)
No, it is a mac. MacOS 9.
It's rather simple -- the test file is not protected content. Not much of a test ...
(Score:-1, Wrong)
The seceratary at my office just signed up for it, and likes it. I'm pretty sure it's just "skinned" AOL, from the sounds of it. Anyway, they're still pushing the CDs at the local WalMart, so I think it must be doing alright...
Despite the poster's enthusiasm, it is worth noting that the test file is NOT DRM-wrapped (encrypted), which is why it works on mplayer / Linux. The downloaded songs surely would require licensing.
(Score:-1, Wrong)
There's been talk about their infrastructure in networking circles for the last couple of weeks. It appears Walmart expect to get away with being right on the edge of what's usable, networkwise. They're using VERY cheap hardware and unlike Apple aren't going for a system like Akamai.
The general consensus is that as soon as a traffic spike hits walmart's music store they're going to fall over hard.
Wal-mart: We plan on selling music online, we plan on giving you 40c per download
Record label: NO! We want 75c per song
Wal-mart: fine we will stop selling your music in our stores
record label: err.. damn.. fine 40c it is then
thats how wal-mart works
I downloaded the test file, fired up MPlayer OSX, and the song played just fine.
Not that I'd be buying my music from WalMart, of course. I do have standards.
Note however that the importing process takes significantly longer than usual, I don't know if this is due to the AAC format or the protection. And my only experience working with the files is on the mac, perhaps it's different in windows.
To the extent that you can really prove anything, the proof is there that the image is that of a Macintosh computer running MAc OS 8 or 9, surfing the WalMat on-line music store (menu shadowing, color scheme, font, cursor shape, browser form button style,menu location, etc) . The other option is that someone is running a GNOME or KDE theme that accurately emulates even the tinyest detail of the Mac interface.
It's quite likely that the marketing department uses Macs and hasn't upgraded to OS X (probably because they are waiting for a particular app to be updated, or WalMart's IT budget is too thin. Since you CAN successfully surf/browse the site with a Mac, there's every possibility that the screen shots are from a Mac and that due to the all to common "marketing doesn't talk to operations" issue, marketing used the systems they had at hand instead of ones that are actually compatible with the service.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
Nothing at all. However, note that WMA -> CD -> Ogg/MP3/etc. will result in a much more lossy file that will sound worse due to the different codecs cutting out different parts of the sound. In fact, even WMA -> CD -> WMA would sound worse.
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I know a former manager of a sams club (another arm of the walmart evil empire). They receive extensive training on stopping union activity. I don't have a problem with that, but you might think spending the training dollars on keeping employees happy might go just as far. But what is going too far is upper management encouragement of store managements finding ways to get rid of employees they believe are involved in union organizing activity.
I shop around for good prices, but a good price is one that takes into account the full cost of production, allows for people manufacturing and selling to make reasonable profits so they can pay their employees a fair wage while at the same time producing a quality product. Walmart doesn't care about any of this. The people who shop at walmart don't realize that walmart's pricing and wage schemes will mean that they or their children will only able to afford to shop their (and just barely). If I remember correctly, the average store employee makes $13,000/yr -- it is just frightening.
I recently stopped shopping at Wal Mart. The reason? Because they obtain their super low prices by paying their workers super low wages, by restricting the forming of unions for their workers, by forcing their workers to work overtime without pay, and by using huge amounts of sweatshop labor.m ?cusip= 931142
Wal Mart literally has one of the highest rates of sweatshop labor for any company. This fact, and the fact that Wal Mart also takes advantage of its non sweatshop workers, is the only reason they have the low prices they do.
All the other online music stores right now charge 99 cents per song. That seems to be the mark to hit in terms of price. Setting the price at 88 cents just undermines the stores that are actually honest. It's very likely that Wal Mart set the price at 88 cents because they could support their lower price with the profits from their other unethical practices.
While Wal Mart can't use sweatshop labor for an online store, buying from this store certainly still supports it by supporting Wal Mart.
I don't care how cheap their songs are, really, the cheaper they are, the less I want to use the store. I don't care how many songs they have, I don't care about their user rights agreements. No matter how good this store could ever be, I will never use it because of Wal Mart's horrible abuse and ethics, and I strongly encourage all of you to do the same.
If anyone is interested a more detailed list of Wal Mart's business practices, they can be found here:
http://www.responsibleshopper.com/basic.cf
I researched this Spring '03, so all facts are current as of Fall '02 - Spring '03:
Top 5 Reasons Not To Shop At Wal-Mart
1. American Wal-Mart Employees Are Exploited.
2. Wal-Mart's Low Prices Are The Result Of Human Misery.
3. Wal-Mart Forces Its Unethical Practices On Its 65,000 Suppliers.
4. Wal-Mart Destroys Local Communities.
5. Wal-Mart Is Not Accountable.
1. AMERICAN WAL-MART EMPLOYEES ARE EXPLOITED:
* "Full-Time" (actually 28 hours/week) employees only gross $11,000 a year,
on average.
* Health benefits are available only after two years, but premiums are so
high only 38% of employees can afford it.
* Even discussing working conditions or unionization will result in
retaliation and firing.
* There is "a harsh, anti-woman culture in which complaints go unanswered
and the women who make them are targeted for retaliation." (Quote taken
from a national class-action suit against Wal-Mart.)
2. WAL-MART'S LOW PRICES ARE THE RESULT OF HUMAN MISERY:
* 13-16 hour days molding, assembling, and painting toys, 7 days a week; 20
hour days in the peak season.
* Workers are paid 13 cents/hour wages in China: the minimum wage is
31 cents.
* There is no health or safety enforcement: constant headaches and nausea
from chemical fumes, indoor temperatures above 100 degrees F, rampant
repetitive stress disorder, no protective clothing available.
* Most employees are young women or teenage girls.
3. WAL-MART FORCES ITS UNETHICAL PRACTICES ON ITS 65,000 SUPPLIERS:
* Suppliers have to open their accounting books to Wal-Mart executives so
they can cut "unnecessary expenses" like unionized workers, health
benefits, and American-made products.
* Suppliers are forced to move facilities to China and other low production
cost nations to meet Wal-Mart's demands.
* Competitors are also forced to abandon customer service while slashing
employee wages and moving production to foreign sweat shops to remain
competitive.
4. WAL-MART DESTROYS LOCAL COMMUNITIES:
* Wal-Mart stores average 200,000 feet in size: more than 4 football fields
and destroying any sense of community or character where they are located.
* By pricing items below cost they crush local retailers. Once they hold a
monopoly in the market they raise prices.
* Three good jobs are destroyed for every two Wal-Mart jobs created.
* Instead of business profits being reinvested in the community they are
shipped to Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.
5. WAL-MART IS NOT ACCOUNTABLE:
* The media won't report negatively about Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart would
pull its huge advertising budget.
* The 535 members of Congress have no power compared to Wal-Mart's
global reach: Wal-Mart does not have to answer to American voters, just
it's stockholders who are seeking unethical profit.
* Wal-Mart is radically remaking our labor standards and local economies
by stifling debate, suppressing knowledge, and not asking our consent.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
I was able to change the .wma test file to .ogg using CDex. I had to download a DLL for it to be able to read the WMA file, but I just google'd for it and it came up lickety split. So basically:
1) Install CDex
2) Download WalMart WMA Song
3) Attempt to convert file, download whatever DLL it tells you too, then try again.
4) Congratulations, you have a OGG/MP3/whatever format you want.
(random groups selected from the family music library...)
....
:)
Dio:
ITMS - three full release albums from Dio (including an album from '96 that I'd never heard about) - no hits from his stints in Deep Purple or Black Sabbath, oddly enough, or any Dio albums as old as what I own
WMMS - a "Very Best of Dio" album, and two compilation albums with a track from Dio
Iron Maiden:
ITMS - twenty-four albums (including several duplicated "special edition" albums - assuming to be edited)
WMMS - also twenty-four albums, but you can see "remastered" and "limited edition remastered" for most of the album names, so the total number of availble albums is lower than at ITMS
Manowar:
ITMS - three albums
WMMS - Amazingly enough, one album: "Fighting The World". which is also on ITMS
Duran Duran:
ITMS - eight full albums, one partial album
ITMS also has the only album relased by Arcadia, which was several of the D^2 boys post-band split
WMMS - five albums, as well as several compilation album hits
WMMS also carries the Arcadia album
Kate Bush:
ITMS - four albums, plus one hit on a compilation
WMMS - four albums, plus hits on three compilations / soundtracks - wow, Kate Bush is in GTA: Vice City? Who knew?
ABBA (hey, they're the wife's LPs, not mine!):
ITMS - fourteen albums
WMMS - twenty(!) albums - though the same caveat about "remastered" applies, there were a few albums that ITMS didn't have listed
And, just for testing's sake (and since I'm on a roll), a few things not in the house:
Slayer:
ITMS - eight albums, and one hit from a NASCAR album(?)
WMMS - two compilation hits - the NASCAR one, and a soundtrack from WCW
Spike Jones:
ITMS - three full albums, and three compilation hits
WMMS - one album, and three compilation hits
Wu-Tang Clan:
ITMS - three full and apparently one partial album, three hits for compliations and soundtracks; slightly less than half of the ITMS tracks were labeled "explicit"
WMMS - three albums and one compilation hit, all labeled "edited", none "explicit"
John Denver:
ITMS - fifteen full albums, three partial
WMMS - umm, a lot - they listed 485 tracks, spread out over 10 screens; I couldn't find an easy way to list all the albums, or even all the tracks on one screen, like you can do with ITMS, so I stopped comparing sites at this point
So, WMMS beats out ITMS for performers like ABBA and John Denver, while ITMS excels at... most other stuff. Feel free to continue to compare / contrast... I'm going to bed
Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
Being the only geek here with 88 cents I went for it. Downloading was very easy. No clunky software was eneded, just download it directly from walmart after paying. Way better than any other solution (IMHO).
The results are mplayer not being able to play it. Oh well.
dan@stryker:~/Desktop$ mplayer Crash
MPlayer 1.0pre2-3.3.2 (C) 2000-2003 MPlayer Team
Playing Crash
ASF file format detected.
= ASF Stream group = START =
object size = 32
stream count=[0x1][1]
stream id=[0x1][1]
max bitrate=[0x1f67f][128639]
= ASF Stream group = END =
Clip info:
name: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
author: Crash Test Dummies
copyright: (P)&(C) 1999 Arista Label. All Rights Reserved.
=
Opening audio decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg/libavcodec audio decoders
AUDIO: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, 16 bit (0x10), ratio: 16002->176400 (128.0 kbit)
Selected audio codec: [ffwmav2] afm:ffmpeg (DivX audio v2 (ffmpeg))
=
Checking audio filter chain for 44100Hz/2ch/16bit -> 44100Hz/2ch/16bit...
AF_pre: af format: 2 bps, 2 ch, 44100 hz, little endian signed int
AF_pre: 44100Hz 2ch Signed 16-bit (Little-Endian)
SDL: Samplerate: 44100Hz Channels: Stereo Format Signed 16-bit (Little-Endian)
AO: [sdl] 44100Hz 2ch Signed 16-bit (Little-Endian) (2 bps)
Building audio filter chain for 44100Hz/2ch/16bit -> 44100Hz/2ch/16bit...
Video: no video
Starting playback...
A: 0.0 0.0% 0%
Exiting... (End of file)
Edited for junk filter
So do you want to pay $47.52 from Wal-Mart or just get it for $13.98 from Amazon?
All things being equal (source quality, etc.), which they probably aren't, AAC should beat out WMA handily at bitrates like what the iTMS and Wal-Mart are using. The only chance WMA would have of approaching AAC in quality at that bitrate would have been if Wal-Mart had used WMA Pro, but because of the lack of hardware player support for WMA Pro, that probably won't happen soon.
I haven't seen tests directly comparing AAC to WMA (non-Pro), but Roberto Amorim's testing at 128kbps with AAC and WMA Pro and ff123's testing of a different AAC codec against WMA non-Pro probably say enough.
Also, Apple has actually spoken about the quality of the sources that they encode from (the original masters rather than CDs themselves), and Wal-Mart hasn't.
I do hope that whoever elects to actually directly compare the quality of Wal-Mart's music to Apple's doesn't just look at frequency analysis to do it. Apple's AAC lowpasses at 16 KHz, but to use this as some sort of indication of quality is ludicrous.
I was able to download and play the test file with MPlayer and Linux.
I was also able to download and play the test file on my Mac in Windows Media Player 9 for Mac. This proves nothing because the test file has no DRM on it. I hope a lot of Mac and Linux users aren't foolish enough to try to buy any songs, because if you delve deep enough into their FAQs you'll find the following information:
Can I play music from Walmart.com Music Downloads on my Macintosh(R) computer?
No. Music Downloads from Walmart.com are not compatible with any Macintosh computer. The music that you download requires Digital Rights Management 9 (DRM 9) software, which is not compatible with the Macintosh operating system.
This means No, Mplayer on Linux won't work either because it doesn't support DRM.
"When the president does it, that means it's not illegal." - Richard M. Nixon
Look at the actual restrictions placed on the files. They're the exact same as Apples (3 comptuers, unlimited portable audio devices, burn a playlist 10 times). Just 11% less expensive.
I think there is a misunderstanding about the use of the word "unlimited" in the restrictions. You are allowed to "... export Products solely to a portable device ..." which seems to mean a single portable device, in addition to the aforementioned three computers. The unlimited in "... such as a WMA-compliant MP3 player an unlimited number of times" refers to the transfers/synchronizations to said portable player.
I read it that way because of how the term unlimited is used in reference to the three personal computers: "You may play music an unlimited number of times on up to three (3) personal computers." Unlimited here means your music belongs to you and does not expire like with the monthly rental services. You download it, you keep it.
Here is another reason they are not accountable: They are by leaps and bounds the richest family in the US. Look at Forbes Top 10 Richest People list for 2003. Notice any similarities in the names?
TOP TEN
1. Bill Gates
2. Warren Buffett
3. Paul Allen
4. Helen Walton
5. S. Robson Walton
6. John Walton
7. Jim Walton
8. Alice Walton
9. Larry Ellison
10. Michael Dell
If you watch that train-wreck of a show "The Simple Life", Paris Hilton had no idea what Wal-Mart was. I found that quite interesting, because any one of the Walton family members could buy her family out with the cash in their pockets. Wal-Mart is even less accountable than Microsoft, which is pretty sickening.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
We talk about unions all the time
Wal-Mart meat cutters in one store contemplated joining a union. One actually signed a union card. Days later, every meat cutter in that store was laid off, and one week later Wal-Mart announced it would be going to pre-packaged (and pre-cut) meats in all of its stores.
"All rights in the Products are owned by WALMART.COM or its licensors and you have only a limited, nontransferable, nonexclusive, revocable, nonsublicensable right to use the Products for personal use in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.""
So walmart can revoke your ownership... I won't pay for anything i don't own!!
Apple doesn't kow tow to M$ by using wma. They use their own format, with decent DRM policies.
An additional point that is often lost on slashdot discussions is the fact that Apple's "AAC" format isn't just something they made up, nor is it something that Apple "controls." It's the audio component for the mpeg 4 standard which was created by several biggies in the industry.
Contrast this with Microsoft's "WMA" format. Who made it up? Microsoft. Who can change it any time they wish? Microsoft. Who can determine which players, companies, computers, people can play the files? Microsoft.
Do you trust Microsoft not to abuse that position? I thought not.
You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
OK, here's a search on some representative samples of my current collection.
Desmond Dekker & The Israelites:
ITMS - 42 Songs: 1 full album (best of) and 3 compilations
WMMS - 3 songs: 2 compilations
Link Wray & The Wraymen:
ITMS - 1 song: 1 compilation
WMMS - nada
Sebedoh:
ITMS - nada
WMMS - nada
Trailer Bride:
ITMS - 26 songs: 2 albums
WMMS - nada
Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts:
ITMS - nada
WMMS - nada
Modest Mussorgsky:
ITMS - many: 5 full versions of Pictures At An Exhibition, 2 versions of Night On Bald Mountain and 4 other pieces
WMMS - 1 movement from Pictures At An Exhibition
Pleasantly surprised that ITMS has Trailer Bride at all. Stunned that WMMS has only one piece - and a single movement not the whole thing - from Mussorgsky.
Insanity is the last line of defence for the master diplomat. But you have to lay the groundwork early.
BEWARE.
Wal-Mart charges sales tax in their music store. At my local sales tax rate of 8.25%, that brings the price of a track to 95 cents, not 88. iTMS does not charge sales tax so the total charge is 99 cents.
Well, I'm a fool ... I bought a song to "test" the poster's theory. No go. MPlayer reads the header and gacks immediately. However, it does work in Windows Media Player running in Win98SE under Win4Lin not that that's much consolation.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
"Take it from someone that works there...Wal-Mart is EVIL!!!! But it's no different from the thousands of other retailers...Cosco? K-Mart? and the job is a McJob...but what do you expect?"
For the record, Costco IS unionized AND they PAY MORE than Sams Club and Wal-Mart.
Your comment about the "why bother" with paying union dues at such a meager salary is the very reason why retailers like Wal-Mart can get away with abusing their employees. Sheesh, here in NorCal, we have supermarket cashieres (sic) making over $15/hr to do their job because they are unionized. Wake up and smell the Starbucks!
And this is coming from a Republican (me), no less. I at least have the sense of distinguishing between GOOD capitalism and the capitalism that is counterproductive for our country.
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
They carry only censored versions of crappy RIAA music. You might be interested in emusic. It's a subscription service, and you only get 65 tracks a month. However, at $15 a month that's only $.25 a track. Their catalog is excellent, they're considerate enough to not carry any of the manufactured mainstream crap. There's a ton of excellent jazz, classical, electronic, world, indie rock etc. It's worth a couple months subscription to get their collection of mogwai. (If you like radiohead, pink floyd, etc, you'll like mogwai.) And to top it off, you get unencumbered MP3s, most of which have been encoded with lame --alt-preset-standard, there are a few legacy 128kbps encodes floating around.
It's not perfect, the linux support could be better. Their download manager could work better with linux, but at least it's possible to use it. The 65 track limit is a hard limit too, unfortunately 65 tracks is just not enough.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Actually, they are more restrictive:
1. "You may then transfer music files and backup license files to up to two (2) additional personal computers."
Apple permits you to transfer the music files to *any number* of computers and CDs you choose *but* only 3 are allowed to play at any time. You may authorize and deauthorize computers at any time.
2. "[You may] burn Products solely for personal, non-commercial use up to ten (10) times."
Apple does not restrict the number of times you burn the music. You may burn it an infinite number of times provided you do not burn a specific playlist more than ten times. You're forced to recreate the playlist to reburn it ten more times after that.
"Brown University? We have one of those in Providence!" -- Outside Providence