Department stores like Target and Best Buy are using important music-CD releases as loss leaders to drive customers into other departments, damaging music-only retailers by undercutting them drastically in price. This sort of infighting doesn't matter much to the labels, who get their wholesale price no matter what, but the holiday season is nonetheless a test of the industry's recent revival. There's no question that Apple will have a strong season. But music, as a product? That remains to be seen.
