Walmart's answer to iTunes

Here's I how I see things shaking out in the legal music download sector over the next two to five years. First off, any offering that relies on a web-browser based site will fail, including Wal-Mart, BuyMusic, Coca-Cola, etc. They'll fold in under two years, unless their parent companies decide to subsidize them, like Wal-Mart. Also, any music store that does not market a branded music player will also fail, though not as quickly. This spells bad news for MusicMatch. The three services that will be vying for top billing, will be Dell, Napster, and (our favorite) Apple. Napster, partnering with Samsung, probably won't ever have the penetration of their player to make it a success, while Dell will likely have a better time building on their player sales, same with Apple and the iPod. In the end, I think it will be Apple and the iPod that win the day. People want personal electronics to be stylish, not garish like the Dell and Napster players. That's what will make Apple strong in this market, and why they're strong now. Well, as usual, that's my 2 cents. :cool:
 
Article out Sunday (see MacBytes.com for Jan 4) that Walmart's service is buggy. I agree that iTunes + AOL ends the debate.
 
Let us not forget the value of the tie-ins, especially one which will be promoted during the Superbowl. If lower cost iPods are announced today, those plus the Pepsi promotion might be the 1-2 punch.

Of course i would prefer a Budweiser tie-in. :D
 
baldprof said:
Anyway to convert WMF files so they can be played in iTunes? The only way I see is to download to a PC, and then burn to a CD, then rip using iTunes on a mac.
Click to expand...

Well you could play it, then use Audio Hijack Pro [shareware] or WireTap [freeware] to rip the audio to a format of your choice.. Of course this is a pain, but it's nothing compared to having to buy a pc :p
 
fryke said:
You'll still need a PC as the files don't PLAY on a Mac.
Click to expand...

baldprof said:
I installed Windows Media Player 9, then downloaded the sample song. It played well. The problem seems to be is that this is oriented towards windows users. In fact, the site implies it won't work with anything else.
But a least as far as playing the songs, apparently not.
Click to expand...

;)
 
There was a review of the service published this weekend which stated that the service was buggy. I can't seem to find the link! :mad:

Oh well. I think it is important to remember that this service is still considered a "beta" and won't be operating in it's final form until February.
But then the Pepsi promotion will be in force, and the race will be on. :cool:
 
You can't really get worried every time another company opens an online music store. How many different companies have physical record stores?

This competition is a good thing. Competition is always good for the end user, it keeps quality high and the prices low. Apple is going to have to stay on its toes and keep innovating iTunes and the Music Store if they want to remain in the lead. As it stands, the iTunes Music store / iTunes / iPod combo is still the ultimate combo.
 
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