BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Tuesday it had begun selling digital music downloads on its Web site with no anti-copying software.
The world's largest retailer said it now sold songs without the software -- known as digital rights management, or DRM, which also limits where buyers can play the songs -- through its walmart.com site for 94 cents a track, or $9.22 an album.
The No. 1 seller of recorded music said it launched the service with songs from Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group and EMI Group PLC record labels.
The "DRM-free" MP3 digital tracks can be played "on virtually any device," including Apple Inc.'s iPods and iPhones and Microsoft Corp.'s Zune portable media player, digital media Divisional Manager Kevin Swint said.
Wal-Mart still will sell Windows Media Audio-format downloads, which often come with copyright protection and cannot be played on iPods, for 88 cents a track, the retailer said.
Wal-Mart's move undercuts Apple's pricing on its iTunes store.
In May, Apple started selling some songs without DRM software for $1.29 a track, or 30 cents more than the usual price of iTunes songs.
