Wal-Mart is looking to undercut online rivals

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, said it would undercut many competing services - leading to a possible price war in the crowded online music field.

It will provide individual songs for 88 cents each, compared with a 99 cent price offered by most other services.

Wal-Mart, which owns Asda, has become the world's biggest company, with 3,500 stores in the US, and 1,300 abroad.

Its plans will mean competition for high-profile services such as Apple's iTunes and the revamped Napster.

Cynthia Lin, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said the site would initially offer 200,000 songs for download, and would expand after its official spring launch.

"We plan to offer music content that will be exclusive to walmart.com," she said.

Wal-Mart has already launched an online DVD rental scheme, and other services such as contact lens prescriptions.

This week, Apple's iTunes announced it had sold more than 25 million songs since its launch in April.