Don't get me wrong, the new iTunes music store is a great start and a bold and courageous move by Apple. I am hoping and praying this works. I love buying a song at a time without traveling to a physical store or waiting for a CD in the mail. I might even buy some albums this way too for immediate gratification and convenience. Now if I hear a song on the radio or elsewhere or learn about a new artist, I can get it instantly and effortlessly.
But, now that I'm thinking more seriously about buying music electronically, other considerations arise. I want to get everything I was getting with a CD and then some. Here's what I'm going to want to make the *iMusicStore* my preferred music source:
- CD-quality or higher. I am not sure these AAC-encoded songs are recorded at a high enough quality. Maybe the buyer should have a choice between 128 kbps or 192 kbps or even 256 kbps. Some buyers will not want to fuss with re-encoding to 128 kbps later for their iPod and will happily buy 128 kbps. The sticklers like me are going to want the 256 kbps - I have a fast internet connection and I want the high quality for the times when I play the song on a high-end stereo.
- lyrics - and can they scroll across the screen while the song is playing in iTunes or on my iPod as an option? - I like to sing along.
- access to all the art and info on the CD. I want the cover, liner notes and additional pictures. It only seems fair that I should be able to download that stuff as well - it's fine if the pictures are at a lower-pixel depth.
- have a place to put that extra stuff. It's by album, not by song - can you store it once rather than once per song? A refinement that I would like to see as the amount of data increases.
I guess the floodgates of desire are opening up... That's a good thing – I hope. Meanwhile, I'm getting even more excited about playing my iTunes playlists in my car and on my home stereo. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...