Apple launches a new gadget
Monday April 28, 2003 at 9:40 pm | Filed under Mac, On the Web
Apple launched a new Music service today. It’s functionality comes included when you download the new version of iTunes, which also came out today. Coincidence? I think not!
I was a bit sceptic about this whole legal music downloading thing. But I can’t refuse a new version of something I really dig, so I downloaded and proceeded to snoop around. Everything looks like standard iTunes stuff except for one thing, which turns out to be a big thing. There’s something new on the left hand side called “Music Store.” They couldn’t have named this more simply or more appropriately. It’s a Music Store where you can browse, preview and purchase songs (for .99 cents each), or full albums (for $9.99 each).
One great thing is that even if you don’t want to pay for anything, you can still use the service without any obligation to preview 30 second high quality clips! They stream, but they seem to come up instantly, which is nice. You can also see what’s popular with your favorite bands by checking out what songs everyone else is buying. The #1 most purchased Genesis song, for example at the moment is Land of Confusion and the most purchased Genesis Album is The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
While the idea for a pay-for-play music service is not a new one, it seems Apple is on the way to doing it right. I imagine that the next step is to strengthen the library of music available, possibly adding unsigned and indie artists, and maybe porting the whole service over to Windows users.
If you’re curious, there’s a great video that explains the service and what it’s about, as well as giving you a sample of the 200,000 song library available for download.
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