Apple Introduces iTunes Music Store, iTunes 4, new iPod

Steve Jobs took to the stage at Moscone Center today for a special Apple Event, and introduced Apple's new music service, "iTunes Music Store," which will allow users to download music in the AAC format for $.99 per song, and is built-in to iTunes 4. The service offers 200,000 tracks and counting, with unlimited CD burning for personal use. iTunes 4 also adds playlist sharing, and the new iPod add new features, including a new design, a dock, and USB 2.0. The iTunes Music Service files are 128 kbps AAC (reportedly better than 128 kbps MP3), with free previews, cover art, and "reliable downloads." You can browse the music store in iTunes, similarly to browsing your own Library, and preview them directly in iTunes. "One-click shopping" allows you to purchase the song and download it, adding it to your Library, in one click.

The store also offers exclusive music, music videos, and other multimedia, all in the main iTunes window. iTunes 4 will be available now (along with QuickTime 6.2), and the music store will be available today. It is Mac-only now, but will be available for Windows by the end of the year.

As a compromise to help prevent piracy, you must change your playlist every 10 CD burns, and you may share the music with only three other Macs (you may modify the list of computers that the music may be shared with at any time). There was no word on the technology used to handle this DRM.

The iTunes playlist sharing allows sharing of playlists, and the streaming of music from one machine to the other, though copying is not supported ("that would be verboten," Jobs added).

The new iPods will be $299 (10GB), $399 (15GB), and $499 (30GB). The dock holds the iPod upright, and has a line-out. The FireWire port is now on the bottom of the unit, and the buttons have been moved up higher, just below the screen, in a row. The improved screen features a backlight. The new units will be in Apple stores on Friday.

Comments

Re:I see you were born with millions of dollars.

[clifyt]

Record Companies fix cd prices, but no more than any other industry. The fact that this is ENTERTAINMENT and nothing more gives me pause at even thinking that this stuff needs regulation (even though I've been on the bad side of a label once in my life).

But right now, the market is willing to pay what they are paying. Anytime there is a scaricity of product, folks will resort to illegal activities to get around it (even if the scarcity is artificial).

Personally, I don't think sharing and copying tracks from FRIENDS is wrong. If you want to burn a few friends a mix cd, this should be in your right -- I actually like the fact that Apple is allowing you to do this in a limited way. No burning 1000 discs for friends and giving them out, but 3 or 4 is fine. Heck, at one point it was even stated that the price of the CD was based on the fact that being digital meant that you could make better copied than from an analogue source. Same with Music CDRs --you pay a license to be able to do limited sharing and its built into the price of the M-CDR.

How does this fit with todays laws? I don't know -- I've only followed how the folks that are getting busted are sharing THOUSANDS of songs to thousands of people :) Normally the industry doesn't care about the smaller fish, but the do put up a scary face anyways.

As for whom they market them to -- the Cig industry also markets towards the youger generation. You might not have much money, but it all goes towards entertainment.

Just be a little more selective about your music. You don't have to own EVERYTHING just because its there. Buy from the Indie folks -- those are generally supporting real live people -- and not some image. They sell cheaper because they have less overhead and less to loose if an artist fails. They generally have better rates towards the artists as well (err...not always...I know a few labels that will dick over the artist even more and then use the fanbase against them because its just a stupid artist going after a purely ultruistic label that doesn't want to sell out -- and the artist MUST want to sell out -- the indies aren't as squeeky clean as they like to pretend -- take a look at the scheming that went on at Alternative Tentacles a few years back).

clif

Ogg Plugin for iTunes

[theculprit]

Still no support for Ogg, which is a bit disappointing. I guess we'll have to wait til iTunes 5. In the meantime, I've gotten good mileage out of this handy plugin to add Ogg support to iTunes: http://illadvised.com/~jordy/

I'm not impressed

[Merk]

First of all, $.99 a song, when the song is burdened with DRM? That's just too much. That's virtually the same price as buying a CD, but with none of the distribution costs of a CD. A CD also (normally) doesn't get burdened with DRM. If the price was $0.10 or less, then I'd be excited. That would be a reasonable price, but this $1 a song crap is just too much. I'll stick with file sharing and MP3s, thank you.

As for the new iPod, I'm not terribly impressed. It's an evolutionary change, not a revolutionary one. What's the big deal about including USB 2.0, especially with these caveats: USB 2.0 connection is for Windows PCs only; dock connector to USB 2.0 cable sold separately. USB 2.0 requires Internet download available in June. I wonder if this means I can get a good deal on the old iPods...