The new service lets users choose tracks from a 500,000 song catalogue posted on the company’s web site, which are then downloaded and put onto a CD which can be packaged in a design selected from the portal’s image library.
Wal-Mart is charging $4.62 for the first three songs and 88 cents per additional song.
According to Kevin Swint, Walmart.com’s director of media categories, the service is being developed as an alternative to customers without access to a digital music player or CD burner, who prefer a physical music store rather than a collection of downloaded tracks.
Reports are suggesting that this latest offering by Wal-Mart may signal the firm’s desire to capitalize on the expanding digital music market. Apple’s popular iTunes currently dominates the industry, but other companies are vying for the top spot with the launch of their own subscription programs. Napster has been competing with its To Go service, while RealNetworks very recently unveiled an updated version of its Rhapsody online music store that allows users to transfer songs to portable devices.
