In one of the weirdest corporate coincidences in the last couple years, both Amazon and Wal-Mart — i.e., the U.S.’s largest offline retailer and the largest online retailer — are going to try to knock some sense into the record labels by waging war on DRM through their respective on-line music stores (of which Amazon’s works quite well, might I add).

Check it out:

While the timing of these consumer-focused drives from two separate retail giants is probably nothing more than a coincidence, the market forces that prompted them are a beacon for consumers who demand the choice they deserve. Wal-Mart has actually sold digital music for years, though it’s always been wrapped in Microsoft’s PlaysForSure DRM which doesn’t work on an iPod or even, ironically, Microsoft’s own Zune. Things picked up a little when Wal-Mart’s online music store ditched DRM in August for rich 256KB MP3 files, though like Amazon’s MP3 store, EMI and Universal have been the only two labels with the foresight to give customers what they want. And Universal is only testing the waters.

Like Wal-Mart, Amazon’s MP3 store launched in September with DRM-free tracks only from EMI and Universal, but with 20,000 indie labels along for the ride as well. Disney-owned Hollywood Records has also provided MP3s of about 40 of its artists, including Queen, Indigo Girls and Hilary Duff, to these two retailers, making it the latest in major labels to have made the leap to DRM-free pastures.

Spread the word!