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Why iTunes needs to offer an album-based subscription service
One of the key announcements to come out of Apple's "It's only rock and roll, but I like it" event on September 9th was iTunes LP. As implied in its name, iTunes LP seeks to provide a more rich album experience, something that has taken a backseat given the decline of physical albums. iTunes LP includes features typically found on physical albums, such as liner notes and photos, as well as exclusive video content. One of the goals of iTunes LP is to resuscitate album sales, which have been struggling in the iTunes age of à la carte individual track sales. While iTunes LP provides a means to resuscitate the album, an album-based subscription service would further this goal even more.
iTunes 9 Focus: iTunes LP
For me, the most exciting feature of iTunes 9 is iTunes LP. As a kid, I read CD booklets cover to cover, looked at every photo, saw who played what instrument on what track and who wrote the songs. That's an experience I've missed since distribution went digital, but I've accepted it. A couple of years ago, Apple added digital booklets to to the iTunes Store, and some of them were quite nice. But even the best don't compare to iTunes LP. Today I purchased the deluxe version of "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones [iTunes link] and spent nearly 20 minutes exploring it, just like the old days. The album contains a bonus track ("Peace"), but the real fun begins when you double-click the "Deluxe Version" file and you're presented with something that resembles a DVD menu. A simple animation draws Norah's name while the first few measures of "Come Away With Me" are heard. From there, you're set to explore. This album has seven options: Play album, songs, memorabilia, photos, videos, liner notes and credits. The first two do what you'd expect, accompanied by photos and lyrics. The memorabilia feature surprised me with pictures of backstage passes, the tour calendar and a "quickie rundown" of events from the 45th Grammy Awards (Norah's appearances highlighted). There are sixteen photos and four videos including -- surprise! -- Norah's appearance on Sesame Street (much to my 4-year-old's delight). Finally, the full liner notes, biography and album credits are included, each with beautiful photos. Music fans will love this feature, as will fans of participating artists. It's not like holding a record jacket or CD booklet in your hand, but that's an unfair comparison anyway. Paper liner notes don't contain videos, photos of this size or some of the other goodies. iTunes LP is a very welcome treat. Check out the gallery below for screenshots. %Gallery-72429%
iTunes 9 bringing iTunes LP functionality, 'beautiful new look'
Ready to pay more for the same music? Good! We've just spotted some new "Deluxe Version" albums in iTunes, which apparently are part of the "iTunes LP" experience in the upcoming iTunes 9, if the album blurbs are to be believed. The albums pack in bonus material like art, videos and additional recordings. Sounds just like Cocktail to us, and we're sure Apple will be explaining it all soon enough.Update: It's more or less official now, complete with a non-working "Download iTunes 9" button and everything. Apple's mainly touting the new interface for the store in this blurb, but we know it's just a front for taking more of our hard-earned cash and putting it in the hands of starving musicians. The nerve.New features mentioned: Improved store navigation, including persistent navigation menu. Full window iTunes store. For times when that sidebar is just too much. Previews from anywhere in the store -- don't have to drill down to preview. iTunes LP includes lyrics, liner notes, video, photos and "more." iTunes Extras. It's like DVD extras, but with iTunes. Not clear if it includes director's commentaries, but let's hope. Update 2: It's now official, and Apple has fleshed out some more functionality. Genius Mixes. It's like Genius Playlists, but it plays forever like a radio station. App management, letting you set up and arrange your home screens on the iPhone and iPod touch. You can drag and drop to move certain apps or whole pages of apps. Home sharing enables file transfers between up to five local computers of songs, videos and even apps. You can send items in the iTunes Store as gifts, add them to a wishlist, and publish them to Facebook and Twitter -- look who's getting all social all of a sudden! It's available today. [Thanks, Dev] %Gallery-72295% %Gallery-72301%
