Originally published March 23 2004
Wal-Mart exploits third-world children to offer cheap downloadable music
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Once again, Wal-Mart manages to deliver the goods at an impressive
price. They've just launched their online music service which offers
downloadable tunes for 88 cents a song, which is 11 cents cheaper than
Apple's iTunes. (Listen.com's Rhapsody service, though, still beats
everyone with 79-cent tracks.) Two thumbs up to Wal-Mart for a couple of
reasons: First, Wal-Mart is helping combat the insane tactics of the
RIAA by offering tunes in downloadable form. Secondly, Wal-Mart is
delivering an excellent value to customers who want downloadable music.
It's one of the best pricing structures around.
It will be
entertaining to see how Wal-Mart bashers manage to spin this one.
Perhaps Wal-Mart is exploiting third-world children to pedal bicycles to
generate the electricity needed to run the music download servers.
Granted, some of the criticism on Wal-Mart is justified in terms of
their offshore sources and working conditions in those countries, but I
also find that it's fashionable to criticize Wal-Mart these days,
and practically all my friends can't wait to take another snipe at
Wal-Mart. Many of those snipes are simply unjustified. Wal-Mart does an
excellent job of providing the goods that people want to buy at prices
they can afford, and these 88-cent downloads are yet another example of
that.
The vast majority of the criticisms aimed at Wal-Mart have a
different source altogether: the consumer. Wal-Mart provides the goods
that consumers want, and the truth is that most U.S. consumers don't
care where something comes from or how it's made as long as they can get
it for ten cents cheaper. The big picture is that whether we're talking
about food products, cheap plastic household products, toys or other
items sold at Wal-Mart, the consumer really doesn't want to know the
story behind the product. They just want the best price, period. So they
buy it from Wal-Mart and don't ask questions. And that's the root of
many of the problems for which Wal-Mart is frequently blamed.
In a
sense, Wal-Mart is a perfect reflection of U.S. values. It delivers
exactly what people demand.
On Tuesday, the mammoth chain retailer formally opened its online
music store, from which customers can download music at 88 cents per
song.
That's 11 cents less than Apple Computer charges at its iTunes music
store, which has been the pacesetter on this e-commerce track.
The Wal-Mart service allows customers to play downloaded music on
Windows PCs, to burn songs to a CD or to transfer music to portable
devices.
Usage rights are uniform across the company's catalog of music.
The retailer began testing the service in December and is working in
partnership with Liquid Digital Media, formerly Liquid Audio.
Microsoft plans to enter the fray in the second half of the year.
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