As a new iTunes user...

In the last few weeks I finally signed up for an iTunes account.  I've resisted for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that even at $0.99 a song I still feel that a lot of music is overpriced, and on top of that, even if I do pay that $0.99 a song I wouldn't 'own' the copy but instead would be paying for the rights to play a copy on some limited number of systems and devices.

Over the last few years, the folks at iTunes (and Apple) started pushing for non-DRMed music (music without Digital Rights Management restrictions) and that perked up my interest though I still didn't care that much for the prices and didn't like the idea that you had to pay extra to get versions of the songs that didn't include the stupid restrictions.  Apparently iTunes/Apple recognized that issue and in the last few months they've eliminated the difference in price between iTunes Plus music and non-Plus music.  Now all songs are $0.99 or less, whether they include DRM restrictions or not.

I like the idea that the prices are coming down, but still find myself somewhat frustrated with iTunes because there are still not enough musicians works in the Plus format, and too many still in the restricted format.  I can definitely find tunes that I'd like to have, but of course they come in Apples proprietary format, with the stupid restrictions, in a lower quality level when they are non-Plus.  Thanks, but no thanks on those.

I probably wouldn't have gotten into iTunes at all, but Starbucks has been giving away a Song of the Day each day for the last month (give or take).  Supposed to be 37 total tracks.  Some by artists I wouldn't listen to at all, some by artists I might check out but not regularly listen to, and some by people I definitely like and would like to hear more of.

It's a nice marketing ploy and seems to have worked enough on me to get me to at least give iTunes a try.  As Apple gets more music over into the Plus format, I might actually think about buying some tracks.  There are at least a few collections I'd like to get, but I'm going to hold off buying for now in favor of avoiding the hassles of having to burn the tracks to discs and then rip back into my own preferred format.  It's not that difficult, but it is a p-i-t-a that I don't want to have to deal with and won't if I can help it.

Too bad that there are only a few days left in the Song of the Day program.  I'd love to add several more tunes to the library for free (though they aren't free as I do wind up buying a Starbucks drink to get the freebie).