iTunes Plus

Apple launched iTunes Plus today, letting users buy DRM-less content. Probably what I like most about the service is that they don't ever make the exclusion of DRM out to be a negative thing. Usually, you'll hear it in the form of 'unprotected content', a term which I will no longer be using to refer to DRM-less content. But that's not the case with iTunes Plus; Apple always refers to the tracks as higher quality or DRM-less.

Upgrading my existing music was easy as pie. The iTunes Plus page, which highlights all the DRM-less content, shows you how many songs out of your library of music purchased on the iTunes Store are upgradable to the higher-quality, unrestricted format. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a screenshot of the page that actually shows you the individual tracks that can be upgraded. Sorry. :(


After that, I just click the buy button and it replaces all the corresponding tracks in my library with the newer versions, giving me the option of either trashing the old ones or putting them in a folder on my desktop. Overall, it was a painless experience.

When I upgraded the music, the Store asked me if I wanted to see the iTunes Plus tracks instead of the DRM'ed tracks wherever they may be available. So now all the iTunes Plus tracks have a little plus sign beside them.


Unfortunately, only a total of two tracks that I had bought were upgradable and it cost me 40 cents per track. Makes sense, as the new Plus tracks are $1.39 instead of the $0.99 that the DRM'ed tracks cost.