What’s new in iTunes 8

Take a look at new features that will make iTunes 8 your favourite iTunes yet.

iTunes music. Now 100% iTunes Plus.

Now, every song available on the iTunes Store is an iTunes Plus song. That means you get high-quality music with 256-Kbps AAC encoding, making every song you download virtually indistinguishable from the original recording. iTunes Plus songs are all free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM). So the music you buy will play on iPod, Apple TV, all Mac and Windows computers, and many other digital music players. It’s also easy to upgrade songs you previously purchased from iTunes to iTunes Plus. You don’t have to buy the song or album again. Just pay the 30¢ per song upgrade price. (Music video upgrades are 60¢ and entire albums can be upgraded for 30 percent of the album price.)

Millions of songs for just 69¢, 99¢, or $1.29

Browse over 10 million songs on the iTunes Store and discover new favourites to add to your collection. Purchase songs for just 69¢, 99¢, or $1.29. And, as always, most albums are $9.99.

Genius Playlists

How Genius Works

Meet Genius: a brilliant way to create perfect playlists. Play a song, click the Genius button, and iTunes creates a playlist of other songs from your library that go great together. Genius playlists help you discover songs in your library you never knew you had — and rediscover forgotten favourites.

Genius Sidebar

Let Genius introduce you to new music, movies, and TV shows you’ll love. Select a song, movie, or show in your library, and the Genius sidebar displays recommendations from the iTunes Store that go great with it. The Genius sidebar won’t recommend anything already in your library, and you can preview and buy recommended items directly from the sidebar.

HD TV Shows

Purchase select episodes of your favourite TV shows in high definition for just $2.99. Or get the whole season in HD with a Season Pass. And when you buy HD, iTunes doubles your viewing pleasure: You also get an iPod-ready version with a file size and resolution that's ideal for smaller screens.

Enhanced Accessibility

iTunes 8 is now screen reader friendly on both Mac and PC. Manage your iTunes library using VoiceOver in Mac OS X Leopard or Window-Eyes for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Or use your screen reader to purchase or download content from the iTunes Store — including iTunes U.

New Visualizer

Turn on the new Visualizer and lose yourself in a 3D-scape of spheres, ribbons, and lights that pulsate to the beat and tempo of the song you’re playing.

Faster. Smarter. More entertaining.

Speed improvements

iTunes gets a speed boost. Now when it comes to loading large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, and syncing your devices, iTunes responds faster than before.