Apple reportedly readying major iTunes Store overhaul for late 2012
Insiders have indicated that Apple is working on "one of the largest changes" to its iTunes Music Store ever and will release a new version with tighter integration to its iCloud service later this year.
People with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg that the new iTunes will arrive by the end of this year. According to the report, Apple will embed iCloud into the iTunes Store so that users can "more seamlessly access" their digital content.
Apple is believed to be looking to iCloud as a solution to help users keep track of all their files across a range of devices. The new iTunes will "includes changes to how users find new material and how they access what they already own on different Apple devices," the publication reported a source as saying.
The tipsters also hinted that Apple will add new music-sharing features to iTunes. The Cupertino, Calif., company has reportedly been in talks with the record labels to allow users to send songs to friends for listening.
Apple tried in 2010 to add a social layer to iTunes that would help users discover new music, but the effort failed and is rumored to be axed in the next version of iTunes.
With Ping failing to gain user traction, Apple is searching for more ways to get iTunes users interacting with exclusive multimedia content from bands and artists. The company is said to have approached music labels for "more band photos and videos" to add to iTunes, said one source.
With music subscription service Spotify now the No. 2 revenue source behind only iTunes, music labels are believed to have asked Apple to offer its own subscription service. However, one source cast doubt on the likelihood that Apple would release such a service.
Spotify made a splash last July when it made its way over from Europe to the U.S. The company's director Sean Parker believes the service will overtake iTunes "in terms of contributions to the recorded music business" in less than two years.
The iTunes software first arrived in 2001 as the end result of Apple's acquisition of the SoundJam music player. The iTunes Music Store opened for business in 2003 and quickly grew into the world's largest digital music seller. In just five years, Apple passed Walmart to become the world's No. 1 music retailer overall. During the March 2012 quarter, iTunes brought in $1.9 billion in revenue for the company.
Apple is still continuing the expansion of its iTunes Music Store around the world. Earlier this week, the company announced that it was opening its store in 12 new countries across Asia. Apple also rolled out iTunes to the European Union and parts of Latin America last year.
Earlier this week, Apple released a standalone podcast app for iOS, a move that should help appease iTunes critics who accuse the software of becoming bloated. A "Redeem" button found in the app when running the as-yet-unreleased iOS 6 has prompted speculation that Apple could be planning a system for monetizing podcast content.
The new Podcast app's redeem button and subsequent landing screen only appears on devices running iOS 6.
People with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg that the new iTunes will arrive by the end of this year. According to the report, Apple will embed iCloud into the iTunes Store so that users can "more seamlessly access" their digital content.
Apple is believed to be looking to iCloud as a solution to help users keep track of all their files across a range of devices. The new iTunes will "includes changes to how users find new material and how they access what they already own on different Apple devices," the publication reported a source as saying.
The tipsters also hinted that Apple will add new music-sharing features to iTunes. The Cupertino, Calif., company has reportedly been in talks with the record labels to allow users to send songs to friends for listening.
Apple tried in 2010 to add a social layer to iTunes that would help users discover new music, but the effort failed and is rumored to be axed in the next version of iTunes.
With Ping failing to gain user traction, Apple is searching for more ways to get iTunes users interacting with exclusive multimedia content from bands and artists. The company is said to have approached music labels for "more band photos and videos" to add to iTunes, said one source.
With music subscription service Spotify now the No. 2 revenue source behind only iTunes, music labels are believed to have asked Apple to offer its own subscription service. However, one source cast doubt on the likelihood that Apple would release such a service.
Spotify made a splash last July when it made its way over from Europe to the U.S. The company's director Sean Parker believes the service will overtake iTunes "in terms of contributions to the recorded music business" in less than two years.
The iTunes software first arrived in 2001 as the end result of Apple's acquisition of the SoundJam music player. The iTunes Music Store opened for business in 2003 and quickly grew into the world's largest digital music seller. In just five years, Apple passed Walmart to become the world's No. 1 music retailer overall. During the March 2012 quarter, iTunes brought in $1.9 billion in revenue for the company.
Apple is still continuing the expansion of its iTunes Music Store around the world. Earlier this week, the company announced that it was opening its store in 12 new countries across Asia. Apple also rolled out iTunes to the European Union and parts of Latin America last year.
Earlier this week, Apple released a standalone podcast app for iOS, a move that should help appease iTunes critics who accuse the software of becoming bloated. A "Redeem" button found in the app when running the as-yet-unreleased iOS 6 has prompted speculation that Apple could be planning a system for monetizing podcast content.
The new Podcast app's redeem button and subsequent landing screen only appears on devices running iOS 6.
Comments
There's an App for that....Is it just me or is iOS just simply more fun to use than a Mac?
If I want a movie...go to the Apple Movie App, etc., etc.
That way I could make a quick decision of what rubbish app I could delete permanently etc. or offer my advice on that said value for money.
*emphasis
If they stick more Facebook or Twitter into iTunes, I'm going to burn down a building.
Is there a tie-in with a rumored Apple TV?
I don't care about Ping or any other social media with iTunes. I just want iTunes to be able to play my content efficiently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Insiders have indicated that Apple is working on "one of the largest changes" to its iTunes Music Store ever and will release a new version with tighter integration to its iCloud service later this year....
i think they should get rid of it altogether. Currently, iTunes is a syncing tool for devices and a store. The stores work better on the devices so iTunes should disappear and they should just write a syncing tool for the devices that still want to connect to a computer instead of a cloud.
- All devices (iPhones, iPads), have "Photos" "Videos" "Music" and "Books" apps with built in stores.
- The media is stored in "Photos" and "Videos" (etc.) apps on desktop class machines (instead of "iTunes") in an exactly similar fashion.
- All devices (including desktops) sync to iCloud.
- Optionally, "iSync" syncs the desktop media libraries to a device (if people want to do it the old way).
Quote:
Originally Posted by b9bot
I don't care about Ping or any other social media with iTunes. I just want iTunes to be able to play my content efficiently.
Actually, Quicktime plays your content.
iTunes is about organising and discovering content.
How about improving on the video playback options, similar to what the DVD Player has. I would like to be able to adjust the brightness, audio bass/treble, slow mo, step forward/backforward, etc. Quicktime 7 Pro has those, why can't iTunes?
I think you're referring to 'iTunes in the Cloud', which maybe you'll see in the future, and maybe you won't... ;-)
You can’t have it twisted more than this. OMG man ...
Is Parker related to Eric "Developers will develop for Android first in 6 months" Schmidt? At least he made his wish, err prediction for 2 years down the road and he can hope that nobody will remember what he said.
I'm still buying the majority of my music on CD and ripping in order to get high quality files. Luckily, iTunes converts to AAC on the fly for my Nano and iPhone but I don't want to listen to lossy music files at home. Not sure how much revenue this would bring but it would certainly get folks like me to make more purchases there. Maybe I'm the only "dinosaur" out there who prefers high quality files but I doubt it. The services that sell these now are nowhere near as slick as iTunes with scant offerings in their catalog which makes ripping after an Amazon CD purchase still the best option.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splash-reverse
One thing I would love Apple to do with their iTunes is to show how much I paid for purchases w/o going to my iTS account setting page and search over the hundred* of pages of my purchase history. That way I could make a quick decision of what rubbish app I could delete permanently etc. or offer my advice on that said value for money. *emphasis
I don't care about the price paid but I do wish that similar to iTunes Match I could see my purchased movies, tv etc in my library alongside my local stuff. Why should I have to go to my movies list to see that I don't have a copy of the movie on my computer and then hit the store, hit purchases, hit movies, search for the title and THEN hit download. Just let me see it in the movies list in grey with the download link right there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
i think they should get rid of it altogether. Currently, iTunes is a syncing tool for devices and a store. The stores work better on the devices so iTunes should disappear and they should just write a syncing tool for the devices that still want to connect to a computer instead of a cloud.
some folks still like to play locally.
on Mac OS it should be easy to set it up as
1. a store. either its own app or integration with MAS. or even take both to the web
2. a player/organizing. Perhaps with the ability to add plug ins to view or play any media like FLAC, WMV etc.
3. Sync tools, best accessed by having the device pop up on the screen and you double check to get to the screens in a finder like view. Same for importing CDs. And double, we don't have to have iTunes actually open. which would be awesome if it would be the same for things like home sharing over to the Apple TV, iPads etc.
Toss in support for iTunes LP and Extras for our Apple TVs and iPads. Get those back titles up to date in terms of availability and quality, get new things like this seasons whatever out before six months after the season finale. encourage studios to put all the features in the digital copies and so on.
oh and "people close to the matter" talking to Bloomberg is NOT my choice for reliable. I do think that Apple is working on something related to iTunes but I don't agree that they know what that means.