Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 6, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Apple today announced several changes to the iTunes Store (www.itunes.de). Starting today, all four major labels—Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI—along with thousands of independent labels, are offering their music in iTunes Plus, Apple’s DRM-free format encoded in AAC at a higher bit rate of 256 Kbps, delivering audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recording. iTunes customers can also download their favorite songs from the world’s largest music catalog directly to their iPhone 3G over a 3G network, just as they previously could over Wi-Fi, for the same price as downloading to a computer. In addition, beginning in April, songs will be available at three price points based on what the music labels charge Apple: €0.69, €0.99 and €1.29, while most albums will continue to sell for €9.99.
“We are very pleased that we can now offer our customers high-quality, DRM-free iTunes Plus songs and enable our iPhone 3G customers to purchase music from the iTunes Store over the 3G network anywhere and at any time, at the same price previously available on computers and over Wi-Fi,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And beginning in April, depending on the music labels’ charges, songs in the iTunes Music Store will be offered at three price points: €0.69, €0.99 and €1.29, with the majority of songs costing €0.69 rather than €1.29.”
iTunes gives customers a simple one-click option to convert their entire library of songs previously purchased from the iTunes Store to the higher-quality, DRM-free iTunes Plus format for just €0.30 per song. This corresponds to 30 percent of the album price. Today, the iTunes Store begins offering 8 million of its 10 million songs in Apple’s DRM-free iTunes Plus format. The remaining two million songs will also be offered in iTunes Plus by the end of March. iPhone 3G users can now preview or purchase titles from the entire iTunes music catalog over the 3G network, just as they previously could over Wi-Fi, at the same price and in the same high-quality format. Songs purchased on the iPhone automatically synchronize with the iTunes music library the next time the user synchronizes the iPhone with a computer.
The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online store for music, TV and video content, offering more than 10 million songs, 30,000 TV episodes and more than 2,500 feature films, 600 of them in HD. Apple’s legendary ease of use and innovative features—including iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcast support, iMix playlists, the ability to complete individually purchased songs into full albums at reduced prices, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone—make the iTunes Store the most convenient way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download their music and videos online. Film and video availability varies by country.
