ITunes Music Store

The iTunes Music Store (iTMS) is an online music service run by Apple Computer with its iTunes application. Introduced on April 28, 2003, the store, which uses DRM restrictions, has since been a dominant online music service and has proven the viability of online music sales.

Background

Debuting on April 28, 2003, the iTunes Music Store was the first of now many online music stores to gain widespread media attention, opening up the path for many other companies to start-up similar services. Fans and some executives in the music industry say that the Music Store has more attractive characteristics than previous services such as Rhapsody and MusicNet: it allows the user to purchase an unlimited number of songs and transfer them to the iPod, and is comparatively simple and easy to use because it is closely integrated into the iPod and iTunes product lines. Currently, the iPod is the only digital music player that works with the iTunes Music Store (however other players work with iTunes), but is able to play non-DRM audio files (such as mp3) from other on-line music stores, such as Emusic.http://www.emusic.com/promo/why.html

Related Topics:
April 28 - 2003 - Rhapsody - MusicNet - IPod - Emusic

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The store was the result of a deal with all four major record labels, EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Bros. It also includes over 600 independent labels, with a total offering of over 2,000,000 songs, including exclusive tracks from more than 20 artists such as Bob Dylan, U2, Eminem, Sheryl Crow and Sting. Each song can be downloaded for 99 US cents. Free 30 second previews are available of every song. Most albums are priced at 9.99 US dollars, although recently the price of some albums has been raised depending on the length of the album itself. The user can burn songs to an unlimited number of compact discs, and specific playlists up to 7 disks, after download.

Related Topics:
EMI - Sony BMG - Universal - Warner Bros - Independent label - Bob Dylan - U2 - Eminem - Sheryl Crow - Sting - Compact disc

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