iTunes is going to change the world...

There are better players out there. I can't compare it to anything else regarding the whole 'jukebox' thing, since before I downloaded iTunes to try the PC version (I agree, the Mac version's wonderful.) I never messed with such a thing. To me, my 'jukebox' is keeping all of my CDs in seperate folders!

It's a great app, so far, and Apple's best work yet for the PC. Hopefully I'll be able to get some money and try buying something from iTMS soon (or get lucky and get a gift certificate!) assuming they carry anything I listen to and don't have.

I only have 2 real complaints: 1. It goes /horribly/ with my desktop! and 2. Brushed metal. UGH! I -hate- Apple's brushed metal look. Hate, hate, hate.

I have acquired it, and pronounce it cool

I don't mind the brushed metal look, but I do agree that it would be nice if it hardwired with its theme.

I'm just starting to play with it, but so far, I'll give it good marks

I've tried MMJB, Winamp3, RealCr...One Player, and WiMP9 for the jukebox capabilities, and none of them compare to iTunes. Some of the functionality is off by default, but turning on the browser function is mega-cool (the normal display is just a single big-a** list. The browser enables a 3-column filter list at the top of the file listings which lets you dynamically filter by Genre, Artist and Album in any combination.)

WOW runs great and smooth !!!

99 cents a song? Isn't it cheaper to just buy the cd at the music store?

"The excuse to pirate music is over"

Not at all. Let's take "Hail to the thief" from Radiohead (hehe). 14 songs, that would make it 14$. The CD retails at 13,49$ on CDNOW, and popular music stores. It costs the same thing, but you don't get the actual CD, casing and cover. You don't get the original sound, you get a compressed tune and not even at the sampling rate of your liking. Not to mention this kind of business is completely ignoring the fact that popularity of this service will eat in music store revenues, and thus jobs.

What this service all comes down to is Apple squeezing some extra money out of the already outrageously high takes of the record companies (eg. Sony). Nothing solved here, it's just more of the same abuse.

The only advantage it offers is being able to buy on a tune by tune basis. And even then, I'd say it comes with a twisted side effect. With free file sharing, you'll download all of an artist's work easily, and be prone to discover some interesting songs that aren't played on the radio. With 1$ tunes, and the average consummer's interest in getting the most out his money, only the latest hits and tubes will truly profit from the service. This means worsening the current musical picture, making artists tube producing machines (well, more then they already are with the gross marketing of the big players in the recording industry) and stiffling creation.

There's a lot more to free music sharing than just being able to get songs online, and iTunes in this regard aught to be considered a step back for art and one forward for the ill minded corporative exploitation of it.

I believe in paying artists for their work. It's just that this isn't an acceptable solution. Take Sony and their likes out of the picture (or miraculously give them some sense of ethic that would stop them from making such unacceptable profits out of artist's work), sell at an acceptable price and keep free file sharing legal. With decent selling prices, and the intrinsic satisfaction of owning the CDs of your favorite artists, free file sharing would only broaden the choice, discovery and promotion of music, new and old, local or international.

I'll finish by adding that free file sharing permits to poor people to have as wide a musical culture as any richer person, which is desirable both from a social and economic perspective.

to mfaccone: it depends if you want to download the whole cd... If you only want one or two songs (because the rest of the cd sux) then the 99 cent thing is for you. if you want the whole cd, it WILL be cheaper to buy it at the music store.

in general: I like iTunes... I have never really used it on mac (I dont own a mac) just played around with it. I think the brushed metal looks good, but the very top of the window, the title bar, looks horrible! also, It seems to be kinda slow on my computer after minimizing and bringing back up. other than that, i like it, and it is my new player!!!

So, does that mean that songs that you buy from Apple's website can only be played by iTunes?
Hum, well then I'm not interested. Maybe when their format becomes more widespread and supported by other software and MP3 players.  Can you burn an audio CD from the songs you buy?

I just went to the web site, but I can't find the songs library. I read there were also audio books and wanted to have a look at what they had.Can you only access it with the iTunes software?Boy, that's a shame.I heard there are 3 or 4 other music web sites that are going to open. Gonna have to see how they turn out.

i like the software and the audio quality is nice, i am however also worried abotu the format. I purchased 4 or 5 songs earlier, but im unable to put them on my nomad zen or use them with anyother piece of software. Ive heard its possible to convert them however obnoxious the task is, but have been unable to find the process

I am not a big mac fan, I have to say that the Dual G4 I own was one of the biggest waste of money I have ever made. But I will admit that I have used my mac, almost exclusively for the Itones store. And I am quite happy to get it on my PC. It has been out only hours and I have already bought 1 album and 1 single. If you have ever thought that it would be nice to get music online legitimately this is the app that makes it practical, and dare I say, so easy you will spend way to much money.
Here are the important points as I see them.
1. You have to have itunes to view the library. It is integrated into the app. Nicely I might add.
2. There are some great shearing features built in that work surprisingly well. even between mac's and pc's.
3. If you buy a entire album it is cheaper. I bought a album today with 14 tracks, for 9.50.
4. All you have to do to make the music more accessible is have itunes burn it to a CD, then stick the CD back in and rip it to MP3. But keep the AAC files they are very high quality.
5. For those of you out there who don’t think anyone should make a profit off of music. Just admit you are stealing and use Kazaa
6. I too thing this is the future for Apple. I have a very strong feeling the there music division is going to clobber there PC division next year.

So, you can burn a music CD that will play on all home and car stereos? Ok that's good.
Now I just wish I didn't have to have their software to browse for the songs and play them (burning to CD then ripping it back to MP3 does sound much like a hassle - not something I expect to have to do when I purchase a product).
I'll wait. There will be other sites more user friendly.

thanks mormegil

We shall see what the future will bring, but I think this is one case were apple did it right. I don't think anyone is going to be able to sell MP3's raw. So some sort of hassle seems inevitable. I would not mind it if I am wrong. But I have to say I have not been to a music store since apple launched the itunes store. And I am very happy with the results. Not to mention that I have bought more music since then them I have in the last 5 or so years. They must be doing something right. PS. I don't use itunes as my mp3 player, I don't even have it associated with anything but AAC. But as far as I am ensure the itunes store is enough to keep it on my sort list of apps.

99 cents for a song "outrageously expensive"? Good grief.  I pay $8 to go see a movie, which usually sucks and is over in 2 hours.

very good point about the movie comparison Brad!

Another thing to think about regarding converting the song files to play on another mp3 player (like mine, which is a CD one, but only supports mp3. Grrr.) is that AAC isn't a proprietary format at all. There are multiple players/converters/etc. out there for Windows which can handle AAC.

Playing with the radio streams now. The 128 kbps streams sound -great- (I just wish it had a New Wave stream, instead of just a generic 80's one! Already playing a repeat too.. hrm... Might have to reevaluate.)

And, personally, I think the $9.99 price is /really/ good. But - at all of the stores near me, CDs still average in the $18-20 range, last I checked. Too bad they don't carry any of Metropolis Records' stuff...

I wish the MMJB developers would get their act together. I just imported my primary music library (4438 MP3s, 11.8 days of music in 22GB) and iTunes completed the library update in about 4 minutes. MMJB would crash outright midway through, and use about 3x the RAM in the meanwhile.

SoundCheck (the volume leveling EQ feature) is looking to take about an hour for all files on a P4 1.6, based on the 10% completed in the last 5 minutes.

All that, and RAM usage with the app normally displayed has not budged from 19MB in use and 29MB in VM.

I think it is good especially the AAC encoding. If you have winAMP you can still here the AAC encoding. I think (not sure) that with the paid version you can rip to mp3 format for other carry media players. Plus I think, now that iTunes is on PC and AAC is better quality and smaller file size, carry media players will start to use/read it soon anyway.


I was thinking about the music stores and how some will go out of business, but at the same time I noticed over the years that music stores don't just sell music as their major item anymore.

Not to mention having the artifact (the CD case and artwork) can still be something people look forward to getting. Honestly I think many companies neglect what the physical CD and package can offer to a customer. The CD can have a poster, special paper, the CD can be cut in a funky shape, grow in the dark, link up with another case, include a book, and other marketing stuff.

I'll check out the iTMS later today. I am sure my sister will like it but probably not better than MusicMatch.

OK, the fact that AAC isn't proprietary makes me feel better about it.  Cause I really don't like the ugly brushed silver look at all, plus I don't like jukebox softwares. I just find them bloated and too confusing. I like to just select a few songs on my computer and press play, then I minimize to the taskbar (I really like the way WMP does that, with the controls on the taskbar).  Maybe the next version of WMP will support AAC.
I actually don't buy records much. Maybe 1 or 2 albums a year, and they're almost always in French language. Most new CD's I have I received as birthday or xmas gifts.  I wonder if Apple is going to make regional versions of the music store, for other language songs.Oh, and movies are around $11 here. That's why the last movie I went to see was The Lord of the Rings and the next movie I'll go see is The Lord of the Rings.    It's usually limited to one or two movies a year.

you guys are seriously ripped off to go and see movies!!! It only costs me £2.70 over here!!

Rock on Ireland!!

Max

The cost issue that people are complaining about is a none-issue for most people that enjoy non-radio hit music.

My favorite band is Dream Theater and every one of their albums has between 8-10 songs (about 10 minutes per song). In the store the albums cost about $13. On the Apple store they would cost between $8-$10. THAT IS A DEAL.

Well, I decided to try it out after all, so I downloaded and installed it. On first run I get this message
"The iTunes Music Store is not available in your country yet.  You will be able to browse music and listen to previews but you won't be able to purchase music unless your biling address is in the United States."

Or maybe it's good news, as maybe they'll adapt the content in different countries.

ya, forgot about that, it is US only at the monment. Thats one less thing to worrie about for now.

I guess it is fine if you are a mainstream, only-now music fan. When they start offering a lot of the tunes that are out-of-print (I am a child of the 80s, unlike all you kids) then I might be interested.