BEST BUY HAS MUSICNOW

The writing is on the wall. Or, rather, the zeros and ones are on the screen. MusicNow’s Download Store launched today as a Best Buy exclusive through the rest of November. The store is available at www.bestbuy.com/digitalmusic and through special kiosks throughout Best Buy's stores. MusicNow is launching with 400,000 songs for 99 cents each. Those downloads are playable on more than 40 different portable music players, including ones from Creative, Rio, Phillips/Nike and iRiver. No iPod; MusicNow uses Windows Media Audio 9. WMA files are roughly half the size of MP3s. Digitally, that is.

Best Buy and MusicNow are promoting the service by giving away 10 free songs to people who buy portable audio devices or blank CDs at Best Buy and sign up for MusicNow’s All MusicNow service, a $9.95 streaming service. 10 free songs! Best Buy is also selling gift cards, which are redeemable at the MusicNow Download store. They make a perfect gift for kids away at college who can’t seem to find any music online.

Said Best Buy Digital Entertainment VP Scott Young, “Buy is committed to offering our customers leading services that make buying entertainment digitally a great experience. With the launch of the MusicNow Download Store in the Windows format, we believe consumers now have a great choice to purchase digital music that will work on many devices. We want music to be available to people how and when they want it, and that means letting them take their music with them on the road, in the car, or wherever they want to enjoy it. The combination of Best Buy's retail expertise and MusicNow's integration with more than 40 portable audio players offers an exciting digital entertainment experience for music fans. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go clear some shelf space in the music section for batteries and blank CDs.”