Music downloads at Wal-mart
Music downloads at Wal-mart
November 08, 2003
Well, this certainly helps our anti-trust case ... they sued us three years ago when we had a signed contract to do this exact same thing.
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle News Services
Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer and the top seller of compact discs, plans to add a pay-per-song download service by year-end, people familiar with the matter said.
The Internet store will be modeled after Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store, which allows customers to download songs for 99 cents each. Wal-Mart has been in talks with record companies to license music for its own download service, four people who asked not to be named said.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer, which currently controls 14 percent of worldwide music sales, is seeking a foothold in online music as downloading, legal or otherwise, cuts CD sales. Global music sales fell 11 percent to $12.7 billion in the first half of this year after declining 7 percent last year and 6 percent in 2001, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a trade group.
For more:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2206912
