Trans World testing music download service at Colonie Center, Mall of America

The f.y.e. store at Colonie Center is one of two places where Trans World Entertainment Corp. will be testing a service that lets people download music onto an iPod or MP3 player.

The other store is at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.

Each song will cost 99 cents, the same price that Apple charges to download songs from its popular iTunes online store.

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Technicians were at the f.y.e. in Colonie Center on May 20 working out the kinks in the three computer terminals where the downloads will be available. The service is expected to be up and running in a week or so.

The music choices will be limited for the first month or two because Trans World is still working on deals with the major record labels, according to Trans World Chief Financial Officer John Sullivan.

Most of the songs that will be initially available are produced by independent labels, he said.

"We'll start to pilot this just to make sure the technology is working on all MP3 players," Sullivan said.

The effort comes as Trans World (Nasdaq: TWMC), based in Albany, N.Y., continues to suffer from the sharp drop in CD sales at its 800-plus stores. Total net sales during the last fiscal year were down 14 percent to $1.26 billion.

CD sales alone fell 26 percent. During the same period, total CD sales in the U.S. fell 19 percent, according to Soundscan. Trans World will release its first-quarter earnings May 22.

With so many people relying on legal or illegal downloads to get their music, the company is trying to adapt to the digital revolution.

The thinking is that shoppers who are in the mall or flipping through the CD racks at f.y.e. and want to download a song onto their iPod or MP3 player could do it instantly, instead of waiting until they get home, Sullivan said.

An Apple spokeswoman who was contacted today wasn't immediately aware of the new download service at Trans World.

Trans World has experimented with a similar service in some stores called Mix & Burn that lets people burn CDs at a cost of $3.99 for the first song and $1.19 for additional songs. The Mix & Burn station at the f.y.e. in Colonie Center was shrunk and moved to a corner as part of a recent downsizing of the store. The CD burning is still available.

The new service will give Trans World access to owners of the hugely popular handheld player. More than 100 million iPods have been sold since the iconic white device was introduced nearly seven years ago.

Trans World's download service faces competition from another online provider of digital music. Napster announced May 20 that users of iPod and iPhone can now buy songs for 99 cents each, or $9.95 for most albums.