Wal-Mart's Distributor Buys Liquid Audio Assets

from the I-thought-they-were-dead-already dept

So the saga of Liquid Audio continues. After trying to sell off their intellectual property to Microsoft (did this not happen?), and then announcing they were shutting down, it turns out they still had something left to sell. They've sold their remaining assets to Anderson Merchandisers, who acts as the music distributor for Wal-Mart. This could, actually, be a big deal. The new Liquid Audio will be run by the company's founder, and they're going to try to push digital distribution in the same way that they push physical distribution. If they continue to think in the old world "must pay for each item" mentality, it will fail, but there's some evidence of creative thinking going on. They mention the idea that companies could view downloadable music as a "promotional item". Of course, I think it's time the music industry realized that all downloadable music is promotional, but at least this is a (possible) step in the right direction.