ITunes Store

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iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple Inc. Opened on April 28, 2003, and has been the largest music vendor in the United States since April 2008, and the largest music vendor in the world since February 2010. Offers more than 35 - 40 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,000 TV shows, and 65,000 movies in January 2017. iTunes Store revenues in the first quarter of 2011 reached nearly US $ 1.4 billion; by May 28, 2014, the store has sold 35 billion songs worldwide.

Although most of the files initially downloaded include restrictions on use imposed by FairPlay, Apple's digital rights management (DRM) implementation, iTunes then initiated a shift to DRM-free music sales in most countries, marketed as iTunes Plus. On January 6, 2009, Apple announced that DRM has been removed from 80% of its music catalog in the US. The availability of full iTunes Plus was achieved in the US on April 7, 2009, to coincide with the introduction of a three-tier pricing model; However, television episodes, many books, and movies are still protected by FairPlay. As of June 2013, iTunes Store has 575 million active user accounts, and serves over 315 million mobile devices, including Apple Watches, iPods, iPhones, Apple TVs and iPads.

Video ITunes Store

History

Before the iTunes Store, most online music markets consisted of downloads through websites like Napster and illegal downloads. Steve Jobs sees the opportunity to open the digital market for music on the popularity of easily downloaded songs. In 2002, Jobs made a deal with five major record labels to offer their content through iTunes. The iTunes Store was introduced by Jobs at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in April 2003. When it opened, it was the only legitimate digital music catalog to offer songs from all five major record labels. Initially, it was only available on Mac and iPod computers, which expanded to Microsoft Windows in October 2003.

Maps ITunes Store

Features and limitations

Pricing model

History

After the introduction of the iTunes Store, each song sold for the same price, although Apple introduced some prices in 2007. The store's music is in Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format, which is the successor determined by MPEG-4 MP3. Originally, the song was only available with DRM and encoded at 128 kbit/s. At the January 2009 Macworld Expo, Apple announced that all iTunes music would be available without DRM, and encoded at a higher 256 256 kb/s higher quality level. Previously, this model, known as "iTunes Plus", was available only for music from EMI and some independent labels. Users can taste the song by listening to the preview, ninety seconds in length, or thirty seconds for the short track.

In addition, the iTunes Store offers apps, apps that are used for various purposes (games, productivity, news, etc.) that are compatible with iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad, though some apps are specific to iPhone or iPad only. Some Apps spend money (called "Paid Apps") and some free (called "Free Apps"). Developers can decide which price they want to apply for the app, from a list of predetermined price levels, from free to several hundred dollars. When someone downloads an App, 70 percent of that purchase goes to developer (s), and 30 percent falls to Apple.

In Macworld 2008 intronarial, Steve Jobs, who was Apple's CEO at the time, announced a movie rental on iTunes. Movies are available for rent on the iTunes Store on the same day it was released on DVD, though the iTunes Store also offers to rent some of the movies still in theaters. Movie rentals can only be viewed for 24 hours (in the US) or 48 hours (in other countries) once users start seeing them. The iTunes Store also offers one weekly low price movie rentals: in the United States, the rental fee is 99 cents. Movie rentals are not yet available in all countries but are available in the United States, Mexico, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

There is a weekly promotion where one to three songs are available for free download for signed-in users. Free downloads are available on Tuesday, and stay free until next Tuesday, when the store is refreshed with new content. Some artists choose to select songs that are available at no cost. This is not available in all iTunes Shops. Some iTunes television programs have started the same techniques to drive brand loyalty; although they stay longer. In fact, iTunes Store has a "Free TV Episode" page where free episodes are set based on length, either as "featurettes" (shorter than 15 minutes) or full-length episodes (more than 15 minutes). Free content may vary from show preview to bonus content to pilot episodes and the entire season of TV shows (eg free seasons including HBO's Weights and ABC Pan-Am ). Some networks, such as ABC and NBC, have their own pages "Premier Season Free".

Although previously the US iTunes Store has offered as many as three free songs each week (singles in a week, Discovery Download and CanciÃÆ'³n de la Semana) in recent years, the store replaces all three categories with the single "Single" Banner "Sunday", with single single from the upcoming new artist. In 2015, Apple suspended the "Single of the Week" program.

Current model

Music

• Songs usually cost 99Ã, Â ¢; however, for songs with high popularity, the price is usually raised to $ 1.29. By default, songs longer than 10 minutes are considered "Album Only"; distributors also have the power to make the song "Album Only." For special offers, the price of the song can drop to 69Ã, Â ¢ or free.
• By default, music albums cost $ 9.99 or the price of all songs combined if they are less than $ 9.99. However, music album distributors can set a higher price for an album (as long as it's a dollar and 99 cents), which usually happens on popular music albums. For special offers, the price of a music album can drop to $ 5.99, $ 6.99, or $ 7.99.
• As of June 30, 2015 Apple launched Apple Music as a subscription service, initially available in 110 countries. New customers are offered a free trial of three months with ongoing subscriptions with prices ranging from $ 9.99/month in the US and Ã, £ 9.99 in the UK.

TV Shows

• By default, HD television episodes cost $ 2.99, while standard definition television episodes cost $ 1.99. However, distributors can create a television episode "Seasons Only."
• The television season costs a certain amount of dollars (determined by the number of episodes and definitions) and 99 cents with numbers in one place to 4, 7, or 9, or the price of all episodes combined.

Movies

• Unsaved movies cost $ 7.99 to buy in standard definition and $ 13.99 or $ 14.99 to buy in HD. Popular movies or new releases cost $ 13.99 or $ 14.99 to buy in standard definition and $ 17.99 or $ 19.99 to buy in HD.
• Unpopular movies cost $ 2.99 for rent in standard definition and $ 3.99 for rent in HD. Popular movies cost $ 3.99 to rent in standard definition and $ 4.99 for rent in HD. For the latest release, this price is raised by $ 1.
• Movies available in 4K and HDR format (HDR10 or Dolby Vision with HDR10 profile) are priced the same as HD, and are automatically upgraded from HD to 4K and HDR at no additional cost. Movies can be played back in 4K and HDR formats on Apple TV 4K connected to a compatible screen, and can play back in HDR on iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, 10.5 "iPad Pro and second gen 12.9" iPad Pro running iOS 11 or later.

Apps

The price is determined by the developer. Prices can be free or cost a certain amount of dollars and 99 cents.

iTunes Store for iOS

iTunes Store allows users to purchase and download items directly to portable Apple devices, such as iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and iPod Touch. Apple offers three apps, each of which provides access to certain types of content.

• The App Store app sells apps for iOS, and also provides updates for this app.
• The iTunes Store app sells music and videos.
• The iBooks app sells ebooks.

Other free content available from the iTunes Store is accessible from two other iOS apps:

• The Podcast app lets users download, subscribe, and sync podcasts.
• The iTunes U app gives access to iTunes U educational materials.

Initially, the phone user must connect to the Wi-Fi network to enter the store, then his real name: iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store . However, at Macworld 2009, Apple released a software update that automatically allows 3G and EDGE users to access full store functions for files smaller than 10 megabytes (MB). The iOS 3.0 update adds the ability to download movies, TV shows, audiobooks, iTunes U, and ringtones on mobile devices, alongside previously available songs and podcasts. On February 18, 2010, Apple increased the download limit of 3G 10 MB to 20 MB. In March 2012, Apple increased 3G download limit to 50 MB, and, by the end of 2013, Apple increased the limit to 100 MB when they released the latest iOS 7 version for their new iPhone.

Customer support

In the United States, Apple provides technical support for the iTunes Store via email, no phone number for problems with iTunes purchases. Most customer service requests are handled online, via the Report a Problem link in iTunes.

Donation charity

In response to major natural disasters, Apple provides facilities for donations to be made through the iTunes Store. Unlike other iTunes purchases, donations given to charitable organizations through this system are not subject to the 30% handling fee that Apple normally charges. The iTunes donation page was established after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Japan's Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In all of these cases, donations were diverted to the Red Cross.

Music

The store started operations after Apple signed deals with five major record labels: EMI, Universal, Warner, Sony Music Entertainment, and BMG. Songs from more than 2,000 independent labels were added later, the first from The Orchard on June 24, 2003.

In 2017, iTunes Store offers over 43 million songs, including exclusive songs from many artists. Not all artists are available on iTunes, but many holdouts, such as Led Zeppelin and Radiohead, have allowed their music to be sold on the iTunes Store in recent years. New songs are added to the iTunes catalog every day, and the iTunes Store is updated every Tuesday.

Downloaded songs come with song information (name, artist, album) that has been filled, although iTunes provides free services by Gracenote to do this for songs not purchased from the store, even though they must be imported with iTunes. Songs that have an entry in the iTunes Store also come with album artwork (Artwork embedded in metadata). Artwork can be obtained for songs that are not purchased from the store for free if the user has an iTunes Store account. Songs purchased are not accompanied by lyrics, nor is iTunes providing services to get lost lyrics. However, some third-party apps exist to search and automatically add lyrics to the user's music. " Album Only "song

Some songs are available from the store by "Album Only", meaning songs can only be obtained through the purchase of an entire album, while most songs can be downloaded separately from their albums.

Songs over 10 minutes in length are standard Album Only songs. However, this is not universally true; for example, Living in the Heart of Animals by Henry Cow is 16 minutes and 18 seconds, but is available for individual purchases on December 24, 2013.

Soundtracks also often have many Album Only songs.

Sometimes, a 10 minute restriction works in favor of an artist. Examples include Prince's Lovesexy and deluxe version of Phoenix Bankrupt! , both of which have an album as a single song rather than a separate one, (in Prince's case, the song is the album, while in Phoenix's case, it's a collection of demos and censored) that force buyers to buy the album own.

The movie soundtrack usually includes songs owned by many different labels, making the license more complicated. For example, Forrest Gump: The Soundtrack includes songs from Peacock Records, Argo Records & amp; Capitol Records, among many others. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have only one song, "Higher Ground", which is not available for download per song, while Circus (Britney Spears' 2008 album) has two songs available for album downloads only, Rock Me In and Phonography .

Partial Album

Some album areas are available from the store by "Partial Album", which means that the album can not be fully purchased, but one or more of the tracks that can be purchased on their physical CD version are not included, e.g. probably because of permissions issues. The song

"Work Only"

Some tracks are listed as "Work Only", which means they can only be obtained by purchasing all the works (in the album); tracks can not be purchased as singles. The works are mostly classical pieces of music: symphonies, string quartets, etc., in many movements. Format

"LP"

In September 2009, Apple introduced the iTunes LP format (known pre-launch code-named "Cocktail") featuring visual, interactive content in addition to album tracks and lyrics.

Store Section

Upon entering the US music store, there are sections to visit. Music is divided into genres (Alternative, Classical, Jazz, Soundtrack, etc.), and there are a number of links to other parts of the store under the Quick Links headers. These include those Recommended for You, Complete My Albums, iTunes LP, as well as thematic sections, such as the iTunes Festival section.

On November 1, 2006, Apple created a category for Latin and Latin content, "iTunes Latino". Telemundo and Mun2 made several of their popular programs available for purchase, becoming the first Hispanic television content in the store. It offers music, music videos, audiobooks, podcasts and television shows in Spanish in one concentrated area. A short description given for content in Spanish as well as several subcategories. Gibraltarian Flamenco Metal band Breed 77, released an exclusive album called Un Encuentro to coincide with the launch of "iTunes Latino". It features 11 songs, all from previous albums, but all sung in Spanish.

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Sensor

There is a censorship-sensing policy in the title in iTunes. This has resulted in a Scunthorpe error, in which the offensive titles are censored due to a series of accidental letters. If the song has an explicit label, it will be marked "explicit" next to the song title. If a song marked "explicit" is not available for purchase if "restrict explicit content" is checked under parental control preferences. Often there will be a "clean" mark next to the title of some songs, which means the lyrics have been censored, and available for purchase in all accounts. Generally if a song is marked "clean" there is an explicit version available as well.

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Reception and commercial success

Since its launch, iTunes Store has passed many milestones. In the first 18 hours, the store sold about 275,000 songs, and more than 1 million songs were sold within the first 5 days. When released for Windows in October 2003, iTunes was downloaded more than 1 million times in the first 3 days, selling more than 1 million songs in that period. On December 15, 2003, Apple announced that it had sold 25 million songs.

In January 2004 at Macworld Conference & amp; Expo in San Francisco, Steve Jobs announced (Seller, 2004) that an unnamed person has purchased music worth $ 29,500. On March 15, 2004, Apple announced that iTunes Music Store customers have purchased and downloaded 50 million songs from the iTunes Music Store. A song sold on iTunes gives the artist 9 cents in profit. They also reported that customers bought 2.5 million songs a week that translated into a projected annual run of 130 million songs a year. The 50 millionth song is "The Path of Thorns" by Sarah McLachlan.

On April 28, 2004, the iTunes Music Store marked its first anniversary with 70 million songs sold, a clear dominance in the paid online music market and little profit. The store also offers hundreds of movie trailers and music videos, in an effort to increase the soundtrack sales. In the conference, Steve Jobs reiterated that the subscription service is still not for the benefit of customers and reported that only 5 million of the 100 million songs offered in the Pepsi giveaway campaign are redeemed, which he blames on technical issues in the Pepsi distribution. According to Apple's press release dated August 10, 2004, the iTunes Music Store is the first store to have a catalog of more than a million songs. Also, the iTunes Music Store at the time retained a 70 percent share of the legal music download market.

The monopoly that emerged from the store had been criticized by Mike Lang of Miramax for "effectively choking the industry". He said that because the music industry has allowed too few content providers, it is now suffering. Lang considers this issue more of a threat than music piracy.

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Sales Milestones

Music

• 100 million songs sold : July 11, 2004

(Kevin Britten from Hays, Kansas, bought the 100 millionth song, and the twenty-year-old received a call from Steve Jobs to congratulate him.)

• 125 million songs sold : September 1, 2004
• 150 million songs sold : October 14, 2004
• 200 million songs sold : December 16, 2004

(Ryan Alekman from Belchertown, Massachusetts, bought 200 million songs, which is one of the songs on the U2 digital box set The Complete U2.

• 250 million songs sold : January 24, 2005
• 300 million songs sold : March 2, 2005
• 400 million songs sold : May 10, 2005

Initially only Mac OS X users who have credit cards with a US billing address can purchase songs with the service, but Steve Jobs announced plans to support Windows and non-American users. The Windows version of iTunes and support for the Windows platform of the iTunes Music Store was announced on 16 October 2003, with immediate availability. Starting in 2004, this service is available in a number of countries other than the United States:

To purchase files through a store, users must install iTunes's digital media player to access the store. This software is only available for certain versions of Macintosh or Windows operating system.

• According to Apple's press release, the iTunes Europe Music Store sells a combined total of 800,000 songs a week, with 450,000 songs sold in the UK.
• Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek shops have been localized.
• On December 3, 2004, the British Office of Fair Trading referred to the iTunes Music Store to the European Commission for preventing consumers in one EU country from buying music from stores in other EU countries, in violation of the EU's free trade law; the direct cause of referrals is because the price of EUR0.99 charged at Eurozone is equivalent to UK Â £ 0.68 in sterling, rather than the UK $ 0.79 actually charged there.
• The iTunes Music Store in Japan has 1 million songs available at the beginning. In the next four days, the store has sold a million songs - faster than in US stores. In addition to long delays, Apple failed to have a set price for single people. Experts speculate that this might indicate the introduction of new pricing structures to other stores in the future, which support record labels that want to see higher prices for new songs. This extension to another country was announced in January 2009.
• An iPod release capable of recording video also sees a store launch in Australia with music videos and short films by Pixar. The iTunes Gift Card (as it is now known) is now also available in more stores such as JB Hi-Fi, David Jones, and Woolworths store network. Access was inadvertently given to several people in New Zealand as well. Failed negotiations with the Sony BMG label mean that no label artist is available at launch; they were then added on January 17, 2006.
• New Zealand users can buy from Australian stores when they first open until the gap is closed.
• On November 1, 2006, the store began offering a variety of Latino content including television and music shows for Hispanic American, Mexican and Puerto Rican clients.
• The Spanish language used in Mexican stores has been modified to Spanish Mexican.
• Since the 2009 Macworld Conference & amp; Expo, Apple does not provide new information about inclusion (possibly, future) and expansion of music videos, TV shows and movies in other European countries. Shops from the UK, Germany and France are currently the only European stores with local and/or local selections of TV shows, movies and music videos.

Payment options

A user must also pay with an iTunes gift card or credit card with a billing address in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece , Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania , Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, or Vietnam. Apple also offers other payment methods (like Paypal), which vary from country to country. People in other countries can only purchase gift cards from merchants or download free podcasts and previews.

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Digital rights management

iTunes Store uses Apple FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) technology. FairPlay is built into the MP4 multimedia file format as an encrypted AAC audio layer, and used by companies to protect copyrighted works sold through the store, allowing only authorized devices to play content. The restrictions imposed by FairPlay, especially limited device compatibility, have sparked criticism, with a lawsuit accusing antitrust violations that eventually closed for Apple's good, and successful attempts to remove DRM protection from files, with Apple continuously updating its software to counteract the project.

In February 2007, an open letter by Steve Jobs, Apple's then CEO, discussed the use of DRM on music, raised points about the future of protection and announced company support to end DRM use. Although an open letter initially caused mixed industry reactions, Apple signed a deal with a major record label the following month to offer iTunes customers a purchase option for a more high-quality, DRM-free version of the label track. In January 2009, Apple signed an agreement with all major record labels as well as a large number of independent labels to offer all iTunes music in DRM-free options. This does not apply to downloaded songs when using Apple Music, a subscription-based music streaming service from Apple.

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Promotions

On Super Bowl Sunday, February 1, 2004, Apple launched a campaign with Pepsi in which they distributed 100 million songs, through tokens on selected soft drink bottle caps. Unfortunately for Apple, Pepsi failed to distribute the bottle to major metropolitan areas until just a few weeks before the promotion ended, despite a one month extension of the deadline by Apple. The promotion was repeated on January 31, 2005, with 200 million songs available, and an iPod Mini was given every hour.

On July 1, 2004, Apple announced that, beginning with the sale of 95 million songs, an iPod would be given to buyers of every 100 thousand songs, for a total of 50 iPods. Purchasers of 100 million songs will receive a PowerBook, iPod, and US $ 10,000 gift certificate to the iTunes Music Store.

Ten days later, on July 11, Apple announced that 100 million songs had been sold through the iTunes Music Store. The 100 millionth song is titled "Somersault (Dangermouse Remix)" by Zero 7, bought by Kevin Britten from Hays, Kansas. He then received a phone call from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who offered his congratulations, as well as a 40 GB 3rd Generation IPod carved with a thank you message.

Inspired by Pepsi's marketing success with iTunes prizes, Coca-Cola partnered with 7-Eleven to share free iTunes songs with every 32Ã,Â, USÃ, flÃ, oz (950Ã, ml). Slurpee frozen drinks until July 31, 2005. Songs can be redeemed until August 31, 2005 by entering the code printed on the Slurpee trophy into the iTunes Music Store app. Coca-Cola does this despite having its own music store, myCokeMusic.com, which competes with the iTunes Music Store in Europe. myCokeMusic.com stopped doing business on July 31, 2006.

On July 5, 2005, Apple announced that they counted up to half a billion songs. Buyers every 100,000 songs up to 500 million will receive iPod Mini and 50 song reward cards. The top prizes for people who download 500 million songs are 10 iPods of their choice, 10,000 song rewards, 10 50-song rewards or 4 tickets to Coldplay's world tour. Twelve days later, on July 17, Apple announced that 500 million songs had been sold through the iTunes Music Store. The 500 millionth song, purchased by Amy Greer from Lafayette, Indiana, is "Mississippi Girl" by Faith Hill.

On July 28, 2005, Apple and The Gap announced a promotion to provide iTunes music downloads to Gap customers who tried a pair of Gap jeans. From August 8 to 31, 2005, every customer who tries a pair of Gap jeans can receive free downloads for their preferred song from the iTunes Music Store.

On February 7, 2006, Apple announced that they counted up to the download of the billionth song and started a campaign similar to the previous 100 million and 500 million countdowns. Anyone who downloads the billionth song will receive 20 "iMac, ten 60Ã, GB iPods, and US $ 10,000 iTunes Music Card.The 60th song was purchased on February 23, 2006 by Alex Ostrovsky of West Bloomfield, Michigan. purchased is "Speed ​​Sound" as part of Coldplay album X & amp; Y .

On July 25, 2006, Facebook and iTunes began offering promotions where Apple Students group members will receive a free 25-song sampler every week until September 30th in various musical genres. The idea behind promotion is to make students more familiar and enthusiastic with each service when the Fall classes approach. However, to prevent abuse of promotions, the weekly code provided by Facebook stops functioning after being redeemed a million times. In addition, promotion causes discontent among international students, since the code only applies to the US iTunes Music Store.

On April 10, 2009, Apple announced that it would count down to its billionth app. Apps become apps for iPod Touch and iPhone. Launching a counter that continues running on Good Friday, Apple starts counting down. Connor Mulcahey, age 13 from Weston, CT, downloaded the billionth app, "Bump" by Bump Technologies, and received 17 "Macbook Pro, 32GB iPod Touch, Time Capsule and $ 10,000 Gift Card for iTunes Store.

On February 11, 2010, Apple announced it would count down to 10 billion songs downloaded. A $ 10,000 gift card is offered as a gift. On February 24, 2010, the 10 billion song, "Guess It Happened" by Johnny Cash, was bought by Louie Sulcer from Woodstock, Georgia.

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Other platforms

Currently, iTunes is supported on macOS operating systems (Leopard and above) and Microsoft Windows. iTunes is known to run well on Linux on x86-based computers using the Wine compatibility layer; However, in December 2011, this is no longer the case. Users without installed iTunes can view the content database (but not hear or view the content itself) using the iTunes Preview service, which runs inside their internet browser. This service also allows users to watch footage for upcoming movie releases. If they choose to buy any media, they will be redirected to iTunes.

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Technical details

Store pages are sent using standard HTML with custom headers. This change was made when iTunes 9.0 was released. iTunes uses WebKit to display these pages on the screen. These pages can also be accessed on the Web, at itunes.apple.com, allowing pages from the iTunes Store to appear in search engine results.

Prior to iTunes 9.0, iTunes Store was sent using a special XML format that describes the positions of all elements, boxes, album covers and all of its properties - including whether reference links can be dragged out of iTunes and into other documents.

The store's back-end software uses WebObjects - Apple's own application server it derives from NeXT. Content uploaded to iTunes data storage using an internal Apple program called iTunes Producer, which automatically encodes and adds metadata to uploaded files.

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Legal disputes

Apple Note

For three years, the record company The Beatles, Apple Records was in a legal dispute, Apple Apple's Corps v. Apple, with Apple Computer on behalf of "Apple." On May 8, 2006, a verdict was declared in favor of Apple Computer, but Apple Records said it would appeal the verdict. Nevertheless, the plan was announced by Neil Aspinall in April 2006 to fully update and release the entire Beatles catalog on an unspecified online music service, as well as release some work previously unheard by the band. No date specified at that time. It has also been reported that the Beatles music catalog may initially appear on iTunes only, as Apple is reportedly negotiating with the UK EMI group through an online distribution deal that may be exclusive for a limited time.

During January 9, 2007, Macworld Keynote's address, Apple CEO Steve Jobs used the band song "Lovely Rita" to introduce the music playing ability of the company's new iPhone. This is considered by industry observers as further evidence that the Beatles catalog will be introduced to the iTunes Music Store catalog in the near future. On February 5, 2007, Apple Corps and Apple Inc. announced that they had reached a settlement in their legal dispute.

In related developments, Apple announced on August 14, 2007 that all of John Lennon's solo catalog will be available on iTunes. The solo catalog of three other Beatles, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, is also available on iTunes.

On November 16, 2010, the entire Beatles catalog is officially available on the iTunes Store.

Norwegian Consumer Council EULA challenges

On June 6, 2006, the Consumer Ombudsman in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark launched an open letter to Apple regarding the EULA iTunes through the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman BjÃÆ'¸rn Erik Thon. The iTunes case is based on a formal complaint filed by the Norwegian Consumer Council on January 25, 2006.

The main allegations are that:

• The EULA is unbalanced to dislike customers. The Scandinavian law requires written approval to support both parties. Weak parties also enjoy protection from exploitation under Norwegian consumer laws.
• Use of Digital rights management from iTunes Store limits the number of devices that purchase playable songs.
• The iTunes contract entitles the company to at any time change the terms of the contract without notice, including the selection of players or the software that should be used for the iTunes file, as well as the number of times the subscriber can change or copy already the files purchased.
• The EULA is unclear and difficult to understand for the customer.
• The EULA states that the legal relationship between the company and the customer is governed by English contract law. It does not make sense to expect Norwegian consumers to have a comprehensive knowledge of English law. Products marketed to Norwegian consumers in Norway are subject to Norwegian law - a right that can not be ignored by clauses in standard enterprise customer contracts.
• The EULA removes iTunes liability for damages to consumer computers caused by software errors even though responsibility can not be ignored in the Scandinavian Law.

Apple responded to July 31, 2006.

On January 22, 2007, German and French consumer groups joined Norway and Finland. Their goal is to create a unified European front against iTunes (Germany and France each have a negotiating process with iTunes). According to press statements Apple supports this. The key points in the negotiations are:

• Interoperability: the consumer must have the right and ability to play his music on any device at his option.
• Changes to the terms: iTunes must revoke its right to change terms and conditions (EULA) at any time without consent from the consumer.
• Liability: iTunes must change its clause that limits its obligation to recover consumer damages if it is caused by content sold by iTunes.
• Applicable Laws: Consumers who enter into a contract with iTunes must be able to rely on consumer protection regulations in accordance with the laws of the country in which they live.

EU anti-trust case

In 2004, Which one? magazines complain to the European Commission about higher prices in the UK for the same song sold in other parts of the EU: typically EUR0.99 across the EU and £.79 in the UK. In 2008, the Commission withdrew its investigation after Apple agreed to end the price disparity.

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Content dispute

Universal Music Group

On July 1, 2007, New York Times reported that Universal (currently the world's largest music company) will not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes. Instead, Universal says that it will market music to Apple at will, enabling it to remove its songs from the iTunes service with short notice if both parties disagree with the price or other terms.

On August 9, 2007, UMG announced plans to sell several songs in MP3 format, without digital rights management, through online services such as Amazon Music and the newly created gBox. While these tracks continue to be available through the iTunes Store, Universal chose to license these songs in DRM-free format only through other services.

NBC Universal TV series

On August 31, 2007, Apple announced that the program on NBC's 2007-08 television schedule would not be available on iTunes. NBC had notified Apple the previous day that it would not renew its contract. It was later clarified that this change applies only to the series produced by Universal Media Studios of NBC Universal, including Universal-produced events on other networks such as House . NBC programs produced by other studios, such as Chuck (Warner Bros.) and Journeyman (20th Century Fox), will remain available on iTunes.

Apple has publicly confirmed that NBC will only renew their contract if Apple approves a $ 4.99 per episode price increase, which they did not. The NBC dispute claimed, claiming that Apple strongly rejected NBC's request to package the event together and make wholesale prices more flexible. NBC claims that they never ask to double the wholesale price and insist that their show will be sold by the iTunes Store until early December. Other networks that sell their events via iTunes do not follow it. On December 1, 2007, NBC's event was withdrawn from the iTunes Store.

On September 9, 2008, Apple and NBC Universal announced that NBC TV shows were once again available on the iTunes Store USA.

The UK iTunes Store has many events from NBC available, although it is distributed by Universal Studios. Prices for these seasons are higher than in US stores, for example, Season 3 from Office with UK prices £ 43.47 (about US $ 72) vs $ 52.99 (US Store HD).

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See also

• iTunes
• Apple Music
• iTunes Festival
• Apple Inc.
• Apple TV
• iBookstore
• Online music store comparison

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References

Source of the article : Wikipedia