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iTunes Gets 'Complete My Album' Feature

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

March 29, 2007, 10:44 AM

Apple said Thursday that it would allow iTunes users to purchase a full album at a discount if they had already purchased one or more of the tracks.

Called Complete My Album, it is the first feature of its kind from any music service. Normally, when buying a single track of an album, to purchase the rest of the songs one must buy the entire album. iTunes would give a 99-cent credit for each song bought previously.

For example, if a user has purchased four songs off of a $9.99 album, it would amount to a $3.96 credit and the full album would be available to the user for $6.03.

There is a 180-day time limit for users to decide whether they would like to purchase the rest of the tracks. Albums eligible for the promotion would be listed on a special page available from within iTunes.

"Music fans can now round out their music collections by upgrading their singles into complete albums with just one click, and get full credit for those songs they have previously purchased from iTunes," iTunes vice president Eddy Cue said in a statement.

Add a Comment (6 Comments)

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By Joe Dirt

posted Mar 29, 2007 - 4:28 PM

I agree with billweh. I don't think this will be a good thing at all. There are reasons that I don't buy the entire album. Most of the time all but one or two songs suck.

No thanks.

Score: 0

By billweh

posted Mar 29, 2007 - 1:08 PM

I'm not sure this is going to be that big of a hit. I think that most people are only buying the tracks they want because the rest of the album is not as good. I know that I have a whole host of CDs I have purchased over the years where I rarely listen to them because I only like one or two of the songs.

Apple has finally figured out "up selling". I guess we'll start seeing this everytime we buy a new track "would you like an album with that?"

Score: 0

By Reap_r

posted Mar 29, 2007 - 2:37 PM

I totally agree. So many songs nowdays are just filler/fluff to fill up tracks so they can ship the album before the newest star cools off.

Good post

Score: 0

By bakura

edited Mar 29, 2007 - 2:27 PM

I wonder what happens if it is a 14 track album and the customer has purchased 12 of those tracks individually. Do they get the rest of the album for free? Do they get credit for the tracks they purchased over the $9.99 price?

I know, not a very likely scenario, but I just wonder if it is a system that people can, and will, exploit.

They really need to do this with TV seasons.

Score: 0

By frankwick

posted Mar 29, 2007 - 11:28 AM

Makes sense to me. I'm not sure why it has taken so long to implement though. I'm sure the record companies were pushing hard for this.

Score: 0

By raveen69

posted Mar 29, 2007 - 1:07 PM

I don't think record companies would push for this. For each song you im sure they get their own cut. If you have to purchase the same song twice, they are getting profited twice.

Score: 0

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