Apple increasing US iTunes music previews to 90 seconds

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Apple sent emails to music label representatives Tuesday notifying them that iTunes music previews in the United States will be extended from 30 seconds to 90 seconds.



In an email (shown below) obtained by AppleInsider, Apple announced that it is "preparing to increase the length of music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds on the iTunes Store in the United States." The letter was sent to label representatives from "The iTunes Store Team." No time frame was given for when the extended previews will be available to U.S. customers.



The letter explains that by continuing to make content available on the iTunes Store, the recipient is agreeing to the new terms. The new 90 second previews only affect songs that are longer than 2 minutes and 30 seconds, with shorter songs keeping the original 30 second preview length.



In late August, rumors swirled that Apple would announce extended iTunes music previews at its Sept. 1 special event. However, after the event came and went without the speculated announcement, Greg Sandoval of CNET reported that the plan may have been blocked by the National Music Publishers Association because of a licensing disagreement.



Dear Label Representative:



We are pleased to let you know that we are preparing to increase the length of music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds on the iTunes Store in the United States. We believe that giving potential customers more time to listen to your music will lead to more purchases.



All you have to do is continue making your content available on the iTunes Store, which will confirm your acceptance to the following terms.



You agree that this letter modifies our U.S. Digital Music Download Sales Agreement so that ?Clips? for songs longer than 2 minutes and 30 seconds may be up to 90 seconds long (?Clips? for shorter songs will stay at 30 seconds); and you agree to license, or pass through to Apple, gratis mechanical rights for 90-second ?Clips? embodying the entirety of compositions owned or controlled, in whole or in part, by you or your affiliates. Further, you represent that you have the authority to enter into this letter agreement for 90-second ?Clips?.



Thank you,

The iTunes Store Team

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    this is great!!!

    Ha!!! first for once!!
  • Reply 2 of 29
    franckfranck Posts: 135member
    I hope it will find its way to Europe in a near future.
  • Reply 3 of 29
    aeolianaeolian Posts: 189member
    I'm been saying this forever. There have been so many songs I didn't buy simply because the preview wasn't long enough. Especially when it's a 7 minute song and I got to hear a 30 second intro....



    Long in coming. Very appreciated!
  • Reply 4 of 29
    So beautiful to see this news. A minute and a half is a solid amount for free listening.
  • Reply 5 of 29
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Hopefully they change movie rental from 24 hours to 30 hours too.
  • Reply 6 of 29
    Awesome
  • Reply 7 of 29
    A. Is it true? I can't imagine that a simple letter to the Music Labels, are going to be ok with this.

    B. From what I understand, this didn't happen earlier because the labels didn't want to do this. So here's a letter basically saying... hey we're doing this, if you don't like it, pull out.



    Because the Music industry is just so frakkin' greedy... I wouldn't be surprised if labels start pulling out.



    However, this is much needed for the consumer. Like previous posts have said, I haven't bought music due to the duration of certain songs/albums. Some songs start slow, and however the 30 sec. clip was parsed at, you really can miss the song. I switch between 'previewing' albums from Amazon and Apple, just so I can get a better listen.



    Let's hope this is true!
  • Reply 8 of 29
    Thirty seconds isn't enough to make sure it's the right version. Especially with classical.
  • Reply 9 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Matthias03 View Post


    A. Is it true? I can't imagine that a simple letter to the Music Labels, are going to be ok with this.

    B. From what I understand, this didn't happen earlier because the labels didn't want to do this. So here's a letter basically saying... hey we're doing this, if you don't like it, pull out.



    Basically yes.



    Thing is, who needs who more. Apple or the labels.



    Also how is it going to look to the consumers if they pull out. Apple has positioned this as what is best for the consumers so if the labels pull out, it could be seen as a big F U to the consumers, who could protest with their wallets. Lord knows there's enough torrent sites etc that they can get their music and cheat the labels out of their money.
  • Reply 10 of 29
    Apple finally has a compelling answer to the claim that "our music lets you sell iPods." Now they can just response "no, our App Store sells iPods."
  • Reply 11 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Matthias03 View Post


    A. Is it true? I can't imagine that a simple letter to the Music Labels, are going to be ok with this.

    B. From what I understand, this didn't happen earlier because the labels didn't want to do this. So here's a letter basically saying... hey we're doing this, if you don't like it, pull out.



    Because the Music industry is just so frakkin' greedy... I wouldn't be surprised if labels start pulling out.



    However, this is much needed for the consumer. Like previous posts have said, I haven't bought music due to the duration of certain songs/albums. Some songs start slow, and however the 30 sec. clip was parsed at, you really can miss the song. I switch between 'previewing' albums from Amazon and Apple, just so I can get a better listen.



    Let's hope this is true!





    Some may pull out...just like NBC pulled out and then came back with their tail between their legs...
  • Reply 12 of 29
    mgl323mgl323 Posts: 247member
    This is great news for all users. This could probably sell more music because of this.
  • Reply 13 of 29
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    30 seconds is plenty of time to preview a song. When a song is 3-4 minutes, 90 seconds can be almost half, that is totally unnecessary. I hope Apple didn't waste too much "political capital" with the studios to get this un-asked for and unhelpful feature.
  • Reply 14 of 29
    i386i386 Posts: 91member
    This is good news for previewing music to buy the CD elsewhere. When they provide lossless format then I might actually buy something from the iTunes store.
  • Reply 15 of 29
    Makes sense really as the music is on youtube anyway. For the most part 30 secs is enough, but it depends on the length of the track. It could be restricted to a percentage of the track's length.
  • Reply 16 of 29
    steve-jsteve-j Posts: 320member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by charlituna View Post


    Basically yes.



    Thing is, who needs who more. Apple or the labels.

    Also how is it going to look to the consumers if they pull out. Apple has positioned this as what is best for the consumers so if the labels pull out, it could be seen as a big F U to the consumers, who could protest with their wallets. Lord knows there's enough torrent sites etc that they can get their music and cheat the labels out of their money.







    If a label pulls out, consumers will know nothing except that they can no longer get Lady GaGa on iTunes.



    Apple's positioning is unknown to most everybody.
  • Reply 17 of 29
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by walshbj View Post


    Thirty seconds isn't enough to make sure it's the right version. Especially with classical.



    +1



    As a professional disc jockey, this has always been an issue/gripe of mine. exciting that it might finallly be fixed.



    Now where the hell is 10.6.5?
  • Reply 18 of 29
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by i386 View Post


    This is good news for previewing music to buy the CD elsewhere. When they provide lossless format then I might actually buy something from the iTunes store.



    CDs are not lossless, smart a$$
  • Reply 19 of 29
    envirogenvirog Posts: 188member
    I too appreciate that this is coming. The short 30 second clips have impacted my decision to buy lengthy songs from iTunes in the past, particularly ones I've only heard once. Kudos Apple!
  • Reply 20 of 29
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    CDs are not lossless, smart a$$



    Really? I could have sworn CDs use PCM streams, which are by definition uncompressed and lossless.
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