Wal-Mart Allowing DRM Files To Remain Listenable After All

Wal-Mart has had a change of heart about dismantling their DRM services, meaning users who bought songs from Wal-Mart's digital music store before February 2008 will still be able to listen to their music. In an e-mail sent out to customers yesterday, Wal-Mart said "Based on feedback from our customers, we have decided to maintain our digital rights management (DRM) servers for the present time. What this means to you is that our existing service continues and there is no action required on your part." The retail giant had initially planned to do away with their out-of-use DRM technology and its help desk to make way for their "100% MP3 store," which essentially would have prevented listening to DRM-filled WMA (Windows Media Audio) songs in the future. Customers complained that Wal-Mart should replace the obsolete WMA files with shiny new DRM-free MP3s, but Wal-Mart opted instead to just keep DRM alive. Still, the company recommends "you back up your songs by burning them to a recordable audio CD," just in case they change their minds again.

Related Stories:
• Wal-Mart Closes Down DRM Operations, Makes Music Unplayable
• AC/DC Relax Wal-Mart-Only Policy, Give Indie Stores Black Ice Vinyl
• Report: AC/DC To Go Wal-Mart Only

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter