Sony BMG, Warner Music Downloads Missing at Wal-Mart

Songs from a larger number of Sony BMG and Warner Music Group artists are now unavailable from Wal-Mart's online music store, potentially the result of a licensing impasse between the parties. One source tied into the situation pointed to show-stopping disagreements related to the licensing of DRM-free content. (Digital Music News)

Wal-Mart Wants $10 CDs

Wal-mart wants every CD you buy to cost less than ten bucks. And the nation's largest retailer -- which moved a quarter of a trillion dollars' worth of goods last year -- usually gets its way. Suppliers who don't accede to Wal-Mart's "everyday low price" mantra often find their products bounced from the chain's stores, excluded from being sold to the 138 million people who shop at a Wal-Mart store every week. (Rolling Stone)

Wal-Mart stirs CD pricing pot with multi-tiered plan

The major music companies have been resistant to lowering their price on CDs, but now they may be dragged to that point: Wal-Mart, the largest retailer of music with an estimated 22 percent market share, has proposed a five-tiered pricing scheme that would allow the discounter to sell albums at even lower prices and require the labels to bear more of the costs. (Reuters)