Walmart has announced that it will start selling songs online for the price of 88 cents, which is 11 cents cheaper than Apple's iTunes price of 99 cents.

But Walmart, whose online division is based in Brisbane CA, doesn't want the Mac or Linux audience. Walmart is aiming directly for Windows users. Walmart will offer 300,000 songs in its intitial online catalogue.

Walmart may be the 800 pound guerilla of retailing, but it's more like a hamster in the online music business. The San Francisco Chronicle quotes one expert who says that the 11 cent difference won't matter to consumers.

"For Wal-Mart, this is more of a defensive move,'' he [analyst Michael Goodman] said. "We're in a transition period. Slowly but surely, music is going to be increasingly digitally distributed, and you're either in the game or not in the game. (For Wal-Mart), being out of the game is not really an option.''