Some music is available by individual tracks only. For example, Blue Highway's Wondrous Love album cannot be purchased by itself however all of the individual tracks are available for 88 cents each. It would be nice to capture the entire album with a single click.

Wal-Mart hopes to capture the country fans by catering their on-line store to music in the country realm while others go after the pop artists. Wal-Mart is also the low-cost site in what will surely become a price war game. With their selections costing 10% less than Apple's iTunes and less than most of the other on-line retailers, buyers are surely going to pay some attention to this new offering.

The individual record labels add their confusion to the process. In some cases not all songs on an album are available. In others, only the individual songs are available but the album is not. Yet in other cases, not all albums are available. These decisions are made by the individual labels and not by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart will try and sell every song or album they desire in their catalog provided that it is permitted by the labels.

Wal-Mart limits users to 10 copies that may be burned to a CD. After that, the required Window Media 9 software will post a notice that you have reached your limit of copies. You may continue to listen to all of the downloads or CDs for as long as you desire. There is no monthly subscription fee so once you've purchased the music and its on your computer, it is yours to listen to just as any other music you purchase. Their help, FAQ and other questions are adequately addressed on their web site.

This will be an interesting market to watch. With the lower prices, good selection and ease of use, this service could become a leader very soon.

Note that we will be having another article soon on a company that is selling canned, ready-to-go on-line music distribution software. Stay tuned.

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