On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 11:07 PM, snarlydwarf <[email protected]> wrote: > > Newfiestang50;482593 Wrote: >> I just registered with Itunes, Amazon won't sell to Canadians. > > Be careful: itunes 'regular' tracks have DRM, and will only play on > iTunes or iPods. You have to pay extra for non-drm tracks. >
This is incorrect, at least for iTunes in the United States. The 'iTunes Plus" format, which indicates a 256 kbps AAC file, has the same pricing levels as the old-fashioned iTunes music format (a 128 kbps AAC file with a proprietary DRM layer). This is nominally 99 cents US, but can very by 30 cents either way since tiered pricing was introduced earlier this year which allows labels to charge more for new releases and offer discounts for others. iTunes does not sell DRM and non-DRM versions of the same files; once the release is available as iTunes Plus, it is no longer offered in a DRM format. What you may be thinking of is the 'upgrade' offer that Apple made available for people who previously purchased a DRM file before the iTunes Plus format became available. Apple charges 30 cents US to 'upgrade' (replace) old tracks with new versions. This is a concern for people who bought music in the past, but is a negligible concern these days at the point of sale for those just starting a collection. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, iTunes Plus is now the default format even for most major labels. There is still a chance that you'll come across music you wish to buy that is in a DRM format, which would of course mean device lock-in and a potential future 30 cents per track payment to get iTunes Plus versions if they become available. Again, I can speak only from experience has a US consumer, so someone with first-hand experience purchasing from Canadian iTunes may have a different tale to tell. -Steve _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
