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Complete My Album is selling music
I was just as much a naysayer as Dave was when the service first came out (and for the record, I haven't used it all either), but apparently there are lots of people who do use Apple's "Complete My Album" service in iTunes -- the NYT says that it has become a prime selling tool, especially for bands and labels that pre-release singles from their album in a digital format. A whopping 52% of Lil Wayne's latest album sales on iTunes were sold through the "Complete My Album" feature. That means half the people who bought the album on iTunes had previously purchased one of the singles, and clicked through that way to buy the rest of their music.And though neither Dave or I use "Complete My Album," that's a good sign for consumers, and a nice wake up call for the record industry -- the days of playing a song on the radio to up album sales are over. Digital releases are what sells music, and though "Complete My Album" currently only works on music previously purchased in the iTunes store, Apple could very easily extend that to all music in iTunes -- if you like a song that you've downloaded as a free single from the artist's website, it's just as easy to find music of theirs to buy in iTunes the same way.We're done with a world where radio airplay determines what sells at the record store. These days, consumers are the ones who tell record makers what they want to buy -- it's already in their iTunes playlists.
Fixing "Complete My Album" track info mistakes
If you've recently completed an album in iTunes, you might find that the original track or tracks don't match the rest of the album in iTunes listing. The Track number and Album name may be off as I've circled here. Apple just posted a support doc showing you how to fix these mismatches by editing your track information. Select the track, open the Info window (File -> Get Info) and then update the Track Number, Album and (possibly) Genre fields by hand. Yes, it's a clunky way to make everything match but it allows you to restore the shiny, shiny perfection of your iTunes library.
iTunes Complete My Album feature: No, thanks
Earlier today, Apple introduced a new "feature" to the US iTunes Store* called "Complete My Album." If you've got incomplete albums in your collection that you purchased from iTunes, you can buy the neglected tracks at a reduced price. This offer is good for up to six months from the time you initially download an album.Nice try, Apple, but I neglected the songs I did because I don't want them. Just because they're cheaper or available for a limited time only doesn't make them more appealing. I'm going to guess that the record companies are behind this "feature" and not Apple, as the latter have always promoted single-track purchases, and the former have not.*If you're seeing this outside the US, let us know.[Via Infinite Loop]UPDATE: Thanks for all your comments, everyone!I won't be using the service, but if you will, great! I interpreted it as Apple prompting me to purchase music that I don't want.I see how it can be convenient for many users, and a money saver to boot. Tow-MAY-toh, tow-MAH-tow. If "Complete My Album" lets you supplement your collection at a discount, than you can't argue with that.
iTunes rolls out 'Complete My Album' feature
Well it looks like the rumors are true for once -- and with so much Apple speculation floating around on the regular, pure chance would seem dictate that a few pan out every now and then -- with the company announcing the introduction of a long-awaited iTunes feature that lets customers apply credit from purchased singles to download the entire disc. Straightforwardly called 'Complete My Album' (not iComplete, thank heavens), the new feature gives users 99 cents of credit for each track off of a given record, with the reduced price showing up a special page dedicated to the service. Sounds like a good deal to us; and now if you'll excuse us, we've been waiting 10 years to find out what other great tunes are on Hanson's MMMBop album.Update: We forgot to mention that you only have 180 days to apply credit from a given song towards the whole album -- bad news for those individuals who'llprobably space out on buying the rest of Live Phish Volume 14 until it's too late.[Thanks, Bo]
