Members russrags Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 This was in my Inbox this AM: Dear Walmart Shopper, As a valued music download customer at Walmart.com, we're writing to inform you that we'll no longer offer this service as of August 29, 2011. You will still be able to enjoy the digital music you purchased and downloaded from Walmart.com. Your complete purchase history and the ability to authorize/deauthorize any DRM-protected WMA files you may have purchased is currently available until August 29 at http://mp3.walmart.com and, after we close the service, will be available again beginning September 12. Any MP3 files you purchased from Walmart can be moved to multiple new computers, as usual. If you have credit left on an MP3 Music Gift Card that you've used in the past, we will send a Walmart eGift Card of equal value to this email address automatically. No action is required on your part to receive this eGift card, which will be sent to you by September 12. If you have an MP3 Music Gift Card that you haven't used, we will provide you a chance to convert them. Please visit http://mp3.walmart.com on or after September 12 to redeem your current gift card for a Walmart.com eGift Card of equal value, which can be used as cash to purchase any available items from Walmart.com. For more information about how to use the music files you've purchased, or to ask any other questions about this service, please contact our customer service team at: musicdownloads@walmart.com. We appreciate your continued business with Walmart.com and look forward to serving you in the future. Sincerely, Your Walmart.com Customer Service Teamhttp://www.walmart.com RussNashville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldMattB Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 I have often thought of Walmart as a barometer of the music industry. Several years ago, our local store had two full aisles of music CDs and DVDs. Then it was on aisle. Then it was 1/2 aisle. I am guessing that Walmart has found that it can't make enough through on-line music sales to justify the expense of maintaining their offerings. I can't blame them for that. But it is really scary, too. If Walmart, with aggressive purchasing and pricing, cannot make money with recorded music, where does that leave us? About the same time, I self-published a book and released an independent CD, and I sell them both at my shows. The book is $15, and the CD is now $1. I have sold well over 200 books and less than 10 CDs. Some of this is certainly the quality of the items, but I think most of it is a lack of interest in paying for new music. We are huge music consumers in our house - thousands of records, thousands of CDs, satellite radio, hundreds of performance DVDs. Now all of our CDs are on the laptop, and we buy maybe five CDs in a year, including downloads. We once bought two or three a week, and would often leave a store with a dozen at a time. It just seems music is so available, there is little reason to purchase it - I just press the space bar on the laptop and listen to the thousands of songs already there. I remember a time when I would watch for a release date of a new album, go to the record store on that day, and rush home to listen to the music, and bathe in the glory of the cover. Did I just get old, or have things really changed that much? oldMattB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted August 11, 2011 CMS Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 Oh, man! That's sure a sign of the end of an era. When I was a kid, the local furniture store was also the record store, and they had listening booths where you could play a record before you bought it (or not). Now one of the biggest furniture stores in the world is giving up being a music store. Where's capitalism when we need it? Seriously, I'm not surprised or disappointed. They should stick to selling stuff, not data. Will they still be selling CDs in stores? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members russrags Posted August 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Wal-Mart and Target have both have reduced the CDs stocked on the shelves down to 100 titles. This includes all the compilation CDs such as Disco Hits of the 70's, Party Hits, The Best of "a has been" and such. Katy Perry, and Lady G can sell 20 million downloads each with just a couple songs, but I guess your going to have to buy them from the Artists web site from now on??? Q: Who is the largest retailer of music these days??? RussNashville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ggm1960 Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Did I just get old, or have things really changed that much?oldMattB In my case the answer is yes and yes. I wonder if people don't just get most of what they want from youtube anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Q: Who is the largest retailer of music these days??? Since 2008, it's been Apple's iTunes. Before that, it was Wal-Mart. Here's a good article explaining why Wal-Mart is getting out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doug osborne Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 There are better ways to buy music, and better companies to buy it from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted August 11, 2011 I miss music I was wanting to impulse buy a Dizzy Gillespie CD the other day. You know, just pick out the one from his catalog that I want right now. Something early bop and cool. So... where do I drive? I'm no Luddite but I just can't yet come to terms with downloading my music. Soon, I'm sure. Can't each town have at least one kickass record store? So yeah, good riddance to WalMart's foray into the digital music business. That's where I get my cheap laundry detergent and generic corn flakes. Not where I pick up a fresh copy of Diz & Getz. The problem is, where do I pick up a copy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 I'm no Luddite but I just can't yet come to terms with downloading my music. If you don't mind my asking... why not? I've bought more music over the last 7-8 years via download than I'd bought at any time in the previous couple of decades in tangible form. And as an artist, 90% of my music sales are via download. So what's your aversion to it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted August 11, 2011 If you don't mind my asking... why not? I've bought more music over the last 7-8 years via download than I'd bought at any time in the previous couple of decades in tangible form. And as an artist, 90% of my music sales are via download. So what's your aversion to it? It not a well thought out aversion... My wife got me an iPod and I... went and bought a CD that day. I will, it's just that I'm sort of addicted to the process of the search, the purchase, the driving away while popping it in the player and cranking it... This coming from a guy who is the worlds leading lobbyist for eBookery. What can I say. I will. Gotta, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doug osborne Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 I miss music...The problem is, where do I pick up a copy? Amoeba? But you don't live in L. A. or San Francisco. There is this thing called eBay. It can be cool. I, too, rarely buy MP3, but once in a while, Amazon or Apple gets my money for a crappy lossy file. Spotify has lots of Diz - want an invite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doug osborne Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 It is funny that the publishing industry embraced eBooks and their industry is doing well. All while the music industry resisted technology and pretty much killed itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted August 11, 2011 It is funny that the publishing industry embraced eBooks and their industry is doing well. All while the music industry resisted technology and pretty much killed itself. Yeah. Borders lagged and now they're gone. B & N jumped quick and are doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted August 11, 2011 CMS Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 If you don't mind my asking... why not? I've bought more music over the last 7-8 years via download than I'd bought at any time in the previous couple of decades in tangible form. And as an artist, 90% of my music sales are via download. So what's your aversion to it? I'll tell you why I don't like getting music by downloading it. First off, I don't have a really high speed Internet connection and I don't want to pay any more than what I'm paying now for one. I get downloads at about a 7.5 MB/minute on my $20/month lowest speed DSL. Sure, a download is faster than driving to the store for a single (assuming there was such a store near by), but not necessarily faster than driving to the store for a full CD. (admittedly it's faster than ordering a CD on line, which I've done on occasion) Second, and really more important (since I can start a download before I go to bed and it'll be there in the morning) is that I just can't get adjusted to storing music files on my computer and being tied to a computer to play them. I can't enjoy music that way. I can burn CDs, sure, but then I have to do my own packaging. I've downloaded individual songs on occasion, maybe 10 in the last few years, but they've been songs that I wanted to learn, not that I wanted to listen to for enjoyment or diversion. They're probably still on a computer somewhere around here but they're essentially done with. Maybe a couple of those network-connected BluRay players scattered around the house would get me into listening to music as computer files, but that's more stuff to buy, install, and configure, with features that I don't need. I have radios all over the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted August 11, 2011 ^ word! ^ And... CDs have their issues, but iPods sound of ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 So, what I'm hearing is: - The audio quality is too poor. - Downloads take too long. - Missing the experience of walking into a store to make a purchase. I'm not sure I can personally get behind any of those statements, but it's a subjective experience, I suppose. I love being able to hear a song for the first time and within three minutes having it for myself. I buy from iTunes as well as Amazon MP3 and other sites. The funny thing is that I'm already a step behind the times, since I actually purchase music and don't just subscribe to a streaming service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hush Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 My biggest aversion to buying downloads is the lossy compression. I might be more apt if I could get at least CD quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Philter Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Wow, Walmart had less than 1% of the market for music downloads. The most surprising thing about this to me is the odds of someone who posts here being a customer! Less than 1 in 100 chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LRon Butterfly Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Soon all music will be sold at Starbucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Soon all music will be sold at Starbucks. Super doubtful. Starbucks seems even less committed to music sales than other brick-and-mortar retailers (what's left of them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted August 11, 2011 So, what I'm hearing is: - The audio quality is too poor. - Downloads take too long. - Missing the experience of walking into a store to make a purchase. I'm not sure I can personally get behind any of those statements, but it's a subjective experience, I suppose. I love being able to hear a song for the first time and within three minutes having it for myself. I buy from iTunes as well as Amazon MP3 and other sites. The funny thing is that I'm already a step behind the times, since I actually purchase music and don't just subscribe to a streaming service. "I'm not sure I can personally get behind any of those statements, but it's a subjective experience, I suppose." You "suppose" correctly, sir! Ever listened to Holst's The Planets via MP3? Or Miles' Sketches of Spain? grickkchh The Dead Weather or an old Cult song? Sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted August 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted August 11, 2011 My biggest aversion to buying downloads is the lossy compression. I might be more apt if I could get at least CD quality. 256 kbps MP3 is pretty indistinguishable from CD quality, most say. Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 11, 2011 Moderators Share Posted August 11, 2011 256 kbps MP3 is pretty indistinguishable from CD quality, most say. Terry D. And I may be holding onto an older bad experience. I'll most likely get there... probably soon. These record stores are sucking worse everyday so I'm motivated. I feel for the owners of Amoeba-esque mom and pop shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 .....Can't each town have at least one kickass record store? So yeah, good riddance to WalMart's foray into the digital music business. ....The problem is, where do I pick up a copy? Your local record store probably went out of business because it couldn't compete with Walmart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 It is funny that the publishing industry embraced eBooks and their industry is doing well. All while the music industry resisted technology and pretty much killed itself. As they like to say in the forums, ^^^ This What's more, the music industry got a wake-up call when Napster hit, years ago, but all they did was hit the "snooze" button and go back to sleep. When Napster came out, I wrote an article saying that the record industry should put all their music on line immediately as 8-bit files - good enough to get an idea of the music, but not worth stealing. I also said they had options with artists a site like Napster could never have - iike the ability to "register" a CD and be eligible for a drawing where they could be part of a moderated chat with the artist who made the CD, or get a discount on concert tickets or whatever. The record industry tried to keep the old ways rather than come up with new ones, and Apple stole the industry right out from under them by, well, "thinking different." Indicentally, my daughter still likes CD and treasures them. The record companies have failed completely to engender that feeling in consumers. If you look at the foot of the music business, you'll see a lot of bullet holes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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