iTunes increases previews to 90 seconds
Apple has set the master time switch in the iTunes store three times longer. Now, all of us get song previews that are 90 seconds long instead of just 30, making it easier to tell that we have the right song.
Yes, I know that there are people that can name that song in three notes. But they probably can’t tell if it’s the radio version, the album version, or one of the live versions. We all know how hard it can be to pick just the right version of a song out of the many that get recorded and released and raising the preview length from 30 to 90 seconds is going to make that easier. It will also give us a better idea of all those other songs by an artist we like so that we can make a more informed decision about what to buy. I would imagine that most of us will spend more time on iTunes now, which probably won’t hurt Steve’s feelings, either.
There have been rumors about a preview length change flying around the blogosphere for quite some time. Perhaps the biggest surprise here is the length of preview that Apple decided upon. The rumors mainly talked about an increase in the length to 60 seconds, doubling the old limit, according to a CNN story. What we got instead was a tripling to 90 seconds, which feels like a significant bonus. The letter sent by Apple to the record labels includes the following: “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.”
This is almost certainly a good thing for everyone. Artists get more time in which to convince a consumer to buy a song, Apple and the labels sell more songs, and all of us will have an easier time finding music that we like. It’s hard to think of a better outcome for all sides, and in the end looks like it was a fairly simple no-lose decision.
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