iTunes Music Store review
iTunes Music Store is accessed with Apple's free iTunes music player software
| www.apple.com/itunes/store/ | Service up since April 2003 |
Apple's iTunes Music Store is the biggest music download store in existence with over 1 million tracks in their catalog. They also have music videos, radio station playlists, movie trailers, audio books... it's not even worth listing everything here, go check the iTunes Music Store feature list on Apple's site. With the recent addition of more European countries the iTunes Music Store now sells downloads in USA and over 10 countries in Europe. The catalog varies somewhat depending on country and sometimes there are strange restrictions on buying tracks. Or how do you feel about buying Outkast's 40-track album by track only
and paying €39.60 for it?
Music downloaded from iTunes Music Store is in the DRM protected AAC format. The usage rights are flexible, but if you want to know you can play your tracks with whatever player you choose and on any of your devices, now and in the future, the protected formats will always be a hindrance. Quality of the AAC compression at 128 Kbps is virtually indistinguishable from CD, except for some very rare cases.
| Format | Quality | Price |
|---|---|---|
| AAC | 128 Kbps, low complexity | Generally $0.99 for a track and $9.99 for an album. But there are exceptions. |
The 30 second previews are streamed instantly and are played directly in iTunes.
Design and usability are great, as usually is the case with Apple. Music Store help is available in the iTunes Help menu.
Apple was the first major player in the online music business and is the definitive market leader — but for how long. MSN launched their MSN Music service beta some time ago and they've got the clout to turn the game around.
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