Besieged By Web, Music Stores Go Digital — Sort Of

[Jahfin]

From New Jersey's Star-Ledger:

By BRADLEY BAMBARGER

c.2008 Newhouse News Service

Browsing in a record store has always held the promise of serendipity

for the music hound — stumbling on a gem next to the disc you were

looking for, being reminded of an old favorite that a friend just has

to have, grabbing something on impulse.

This has become an increasingly quaint experience, as brick-and-mortar

retail space for CDs continues to evaporate. But music sellers have

come up with an item that may provide some middle ground between

consuming music via the Internet and shopping for it in person:

digital album cards.

These products — marketed by top digital music seller iTunes and major

record company Sony-BMG, with other major labels and perhaps Wal-Mart

to follow — manage to be both physical and digital. Selling for the

price of a CD (usually $12.99), the glossy cards give purchasers a

code that enables them to download the album's songs, a booklet and

such extras as videos and bonus tracks not available on CD.

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