Walmart, unable to compete with iTunes, is shuttering its MP3 store

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/08/walmart-unable-to-keep-up-with-itunes-shutters-mp3-store/243382/

by nbj914 • 15 years ago

13 24 15 years ago

theatlantic.com

battlebee• 15 years ago

Are they shutting down the DRM server as well?

smackfu2• 15 years ago

For their MP3 store??

benologist2• 15 years ago

I think the more relevant question is, how do you show you still have a license for music from a store that doesn't exist anymore?

How do you recover that music if you ever lose a drive or your phone or wherever the music is?

sp332• 15 years ago

The DRM server was shut down years ago. They've been selling plain MP3s since then.

ctdonath• 15 years ago

"When single tracks sold on iTunes for 99 cents, they sold on Walmart's MP3 store for 88 cents. When Apple offered popular singles at $1.29, Walmart was able to beat that by five cents, pricing the tunes at $1.24 each."

Seems the convenience of ecosystem integration was worth more than 5-11 cents.

mtogo3• 15 years ago

> convenience

> iTunes

iTunes is not what i associate with convenience. My experience tends to be quite the opposite, in fact.

danudey• 15 years ago

I type an artist or song name into the store's search box. I find what I want and click 'Buy'. Next time I plug in my iPod my songs go there.

This is the sort of straightforward workflow that people enjoy. They don't have to think about how to copy files from A to B or import them into their music app or copy them onto the media player. It's a straight line from store to device.

tptacek3• 15 years ago

I don't get it. Is this sarcastic? Did you not buy music in March '03 to get the basis for comparison? For normal people who do not organize their lives around user interface critiques, iTMS is shatteringly convenient: type name of song, click button, listen to song to make sure it's what you want, click "buy", wait a minute, own song.

miratom• 15 years ago

Strange journalism, there isn't any quotes in the article that actually cite competition from Apple as the reason for the closure. Editorialized?

chuinard• 15 years ago

Amazon MP3 has been by far superior to iTunes. I wouldn't say Walmart is unable to compete with iTunes, I'd say it's unable to make a good MP3 app.

tptacek3• 15 years ago

In what way is Amazon superior to iTunes? Just, "not having to use iTunes"?

kevingadd• 15 years ago

Unless your goal is to put songs onto an iPod, the amazon MP3 buying experience is much simpler. If I want to buy some MP3s and listen to them on my PC or on my Android phone, I:

Click the buy button on Amazon's site

Wait a moment, the Amazon MP3 downloader starts

Wait a few minutes, the downloader tells me the files are downloaded

I can click once or twice to automatically open the folder where these new MP3s live

And then I can now listen to them (in my player of choice) or copy them to my phone. And now that Amazon has their cloud player, I can skip the entire downloading step and just listen to them on my phone.

if I used iTunes as my music player of choice, and all my portable devices were iDevices, iTunes would be more convenient than the Amazon store. However, I don't, and they aren't. Also, iTunes is still kind of a pile of shit, so 'not having to use iTunes' alone would be a big advantage even if the Amazon experience wasn't better in other ways.

bdr• 15 years ago

Better search, faster to navigate, faster to purchase, keeps me in my browser, and (parity) automatically appears in iTunes when it's done downloading.

smackfu2• 15 years ago

Don't need to install software. Can buy from anywhere, as long as you sign in to your Amazon account. MP3 format vs. AAC. Can play songs from web. Promotional prices on top sellers, so the #1 song on both sites is $0.69 vs. $1.29.

mbesto• 15 years ago

My father is a sales rep dealing with large retailers (Sears, Walgreens, etc). They ALL know this is coming - DVDs, CDs, etc. are dead and online distribution will replace all things that can go digital.

You know who also knows this? Publishers - and they don't need store distribution anymore. For example, the video game industry is up in arms right now because developers/publishers no longer need B&M. In fact, they're just trying to buy (or develop their own) an online distribution platform. For example, Bethesda wanting to buy Valve[1].

[1] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/rumor_bethesda_looking...

keithwinstein• 15 years ago

It may be a bit hyperbolic to say Walmart was "unable to compete with iTunes." From what can be gleaned, neither Apple nor Walmart makes much of a profit reselling songs for 99 cents. Apple, of course, has other reasons to want to take a loss or operate a marginal music store that helps it sell iPods, but one can understand why Walmart wouldn't realize the same side benefit.

Cushman• 15 years ago

Isn't that still not being able to keep up? Whether or not either of them makes a profit on the sale, Apple makes money selling songs as a loss leader, and Walmart doesn't. Outcompeted.

Walmart, unable to compete with iTunes, is shuttering its MP3 store

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