Wal-Mart Ditches DRM, Keeps Censorship

Smiley Face writes "Wal-Mart has hopped on the DRM-free bandwagon with today's announcement that it will be participating in Universal's DRM-free sales pilot. The quality looks good: 256Kbps MP3 for 94 cents apiece, but customers are likely to be turned off by the retail chain's continued censorship. 'It's a bit hard to believe that all the customers who shop at the world's largest retailer want censored versions of music, though, but that's what they get. Only edited versions of albums with parental advisories are available, just as they are in Wal-Mart's offline stores. This isn't a new policy; Wal-Mart's online music store has carried only edited versions for years, but it's worth pointing out to potential new users tempted by the lower prices and lack of DRM.'"

Comments

Is is disclosed?

[Rude Turnip]

Does Wal-mart at least label their CDs in retail stores and disclose in their online store that the songs are edited versions? The politics of it aside, as long as they are upfront about selling edited versions of songs, then I have no problem with it. However, if they are not being honest about selling songs that aren't the "real" ones, then that is plain deceptive.

Re:Is is disclosed?

[kabocox]

The ones I saw had an edited sticker. This will get modded down but Wal-Mart isn't censoring anything. They have simply told the music companies that they will not carry albums with parental advisory stickers. The record companies don't have to comply. Wal-Mart isn't censoring anymore than you are if you choose not to watch Fox News.


I, um, download most of my music. I've found out lately that I've gotten old and really dislike any versions of songs other than the radio-edit. There were 4-5 songs that I liked on the radio, but I could no longer stand after hearing the "unedited" version. The "unedited" versions have been ruining good songs. Actually, I want radio/chorus edits. There are some songs that I only start paying attention to once the chorus hits. It wasn't until hearing the complete song that I found out the first 30-45 seconds of my favorite chorus songs are absolutely horrible. Thank god that I got a copy of cakewalk so that I can make my own edits.

I do find it a little silly that they worry about "bad" words but sell alcohol, tobacco, and guns.
I find tobacco a lot more offensive and family unfriendly than most bad words.

This is one of the weird things about people and the way the world works. Wal-mart can "censor" music/games/books that it doesn't like and get away with it fairly easily. Why? because most of the "censored" music/games/books you can find in the music/games/book store a few blocks down. The complaint against alcohol, tobacco, and guns is funny. Why? Because Walmart has always carried alcohol, tobacco, and guns.

The only Walmart's that I don't sell alcohol are those that are in dry counties. You may be unfamiliar with that odd concept. Here in Arkansas and many other southern states various counties have voted not to allow alcohol to be sold in their county. This is extremely funny because if you look at a map of which counties are dry and which are wet, it's a checker board. There is almost always a liquor store at the county line as well. That liquor store might as well be the everything that the "good" folks don't want to see bought "here" but will be bought and brought back anyway store. ;)

I'd buy that for a dollar.

[DoofusOfDeath]

'It's a bit hard to believe that all the customers who shop at the world's largest retailer want censored versions of music, though, but that's what they get

I doubt all customers want any particular product or service. The more important question is whether or not enough want this product in order for it to be worth offering.

Speaking for myself, I do want this service. The absence of crude songs is completely irrelevant to me because I wouldn't want them anyway. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Very Competitive: Walmart wins 3 of 4

[Future Linux-Guru]

MP3 vs AAC
256kbp vs. 256kbp
"censored" vs. "non-censored"
94 cents vs #1.29

For those who care about the "clean" tracks, it's still 3 of 4.

Of course Apple still has the edge with the iPod community, and perhaps ease of use. But no one should be fooled: this is very good for the digital music marketplace.

Wal-Mart Still Requires "Windows"

[Anonymous Coward]

"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. Visit our Help section for complete system requirements information."

If they're gonna start selling MP3 files, maybe they should first start by allowing web access to their download store to systems other than Windows.

Re:Movies? Bullets?

[chrb]

I went Googling to try and find the answers, and came up with this:

Sometimes, the lyrics aren't even offensive. On her second album, Sheryl Crow wrote a song about the true case of two children in Florida who bought bullets at a Wal-Mart in 1992 and then killed a man. Wal-Mart refused to sell the album, and Crow was locked out of the world's largest retail store.

Interesting.

Re:edited only...

[Hafnia]

Why do you accept this kind of sensorship in the US ?
And how did it start ?
Is it really the majority of US citizens who believe it does any good at all , or is there a wierd technical explanation to why we still have to live with this stupid "parental advisory" warning on the front of US CD's, and the beeps on American TV shows
I'm not trying to provoke any of you , and i believe most, if not all, readers of slashdot would prefer unsensored music and TV. I just don't understand the reasoning behind it !

Re:Worthless store

[jimstapleton]

You keep saying that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

Ex: A telecom company stops a signal from being sent over the wires or air waves, but it is still recorded and distributed elsewise - is it censored?

Ex: A country blocks the distribution of a book within its borders, but it is still published and distributed in other contries - by your definition, it is not censorhip.

Re:Worthless store

[robi2106]

May be you aren't sure of the details of the cases referenced. Wal-Mart didn't with-hold consent for a union, it simply said we will not operate a business in an area likely to have a union. Since wal-Mart expected a union to form, it shut down that store. It is entirely within the law for Wal-Mart to close a location of its own free will. That is capitalism at work.

Socialism would say that the state determines where a business must operate and attaches conditions to that order. The state would force a business to spend its money to open a store at a specific location, and then force the business to operate under the state's rules for tax rates, employment conditions, etc.

What Wal-Mart didnt' do is fire some employees because they were "union" and then hire replacements that were non-union. They closed the entire store. No discrimination (aka preferential treatment) based on labor contract.

The US has a concept called "Right To Work" which basically means if you are in a right to work state, you have the right to choose to be part of a Union. Union membership (and the forced withholding of dues directly from your paycheck by your employer before you receive it) is entirely up to the worker. As such, the company CANNOT discriminate based on the union / non-union status of a worker.

In non-Right to work states, ou do NOT have the choice of joining a union. If the business employs union workers (or if the business is regulated by state / federal law as requiring union workers like with TSA, government regulated industries like rail roads, etc), then ALL employees are union workers. You have no choice, even if the union works against new employees (which most do because union wages are determined by tenure and internal union political position not skill).

Like you mentioned.....

In other countries, unions can exist regardless of the employers' opinion. If they don't like them, tough luck. In such countries, labor unions are protected by law.

This is the case even in right-to-work states, union existence is protected as is union membership. Generally speaking that is .... each state is free to make its own laws, but generally US Federal labor law prohibits passing laws that conflict with Fed laws.

Re:They ARE NOT CENSORING anything

[mike2R]

You really think they're doing this because WalMart executives think naughty words are wrong??

This is a pure business decision - it's part of a marketing stratergy to portray themselves as familly friendly. Don't like it? Don't buy it. It's their business and they have the right to make this decision if they want.