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As an independent artist and producer, iTunes is a Savior of the best kind. It far out-sells other online stores, like Amazon or eMusic by HUGE margins (at times by at least 500% and more). What sets iTunes apart from all other online stores is the ability to make an iMix. This function alone allows virtually unknown artists to do their own marketing and create visibility by including their own music with other popular, relevant artists. There is also the built-in "link-ability" of artist/band names, which creates easy connections and visibility.

Others, like Amazon and eMusic, do not have this aspect and therefore it is very difficult to make use of them and create visibility. And if we're not selling, they're not selling!

Of course there is always room for improvement, but right now, all I can say is, I'm actually building a substantial source of income from iTunes by primarily utilizing what they have set up.

As for DRM, of course I'm into anything that will protect from piracy and inspire folks to just buy. We artists and producers work very hard on what we create.
Thank you iTunes!!!

I won't touch Itunes because of the DRM, the poor quality and the price. I use Media Monkey to manage my music which I rip in the Ogg format (open source). Then I play it on a 40 gig Iriver that's almost 5-yrs-old and still going strong.

I shop at thrift stores a lot and I find that people are dumping their Cds en mass. I buy full classic albums for $.99-1.99, rip them in my preferred format and then store the disks in CD binders against the sure to come massive hard drive crash or codec shift.

Jon-
You are correct that you are entitled to use your CD across all of your platforms, which is an issue with iTunes. One of the guests, however, complained that iTunes prevented him from sharing his music with whomever he wants, which is illegal.
Connie - Yes, ripping a borrowed CD to your computer is illegal.

I love itunes. I am OLD, too! I listen to all my WNYC favorites on my ipod at the gym, I never pay for itunes songs even though I download everything I want that's free. (Not only am I old but also CHEAP!) On a related subject, I have a question. Is it illegal to download a borrowed CD to one's computer, for instance, a CD that is borrowed from a library?

I don't even use iTunes because I download almost all my music illegally for free. This system of free music needs to be stopped somehow or no one will be able to make any money making music. I think great artists should have a chance to be rich. People will get their music no matter what, if they have to pay for it, they will.

Not only am I unable to find certain music on the itunes store, but after my first ipod broke for no good reason, the store informed me of a planned obselence device in the actual ipods!

Evan -- what you're not following here is that if you buy a CD it is copyrighted material and it works in your desktop, laptop, car stereo, cd walkman all without any effort. The manufacturer does not / cannot restrict your access to you this licensed material.

Nobody is discussing the sound quality difference between a downloadable file and the quality of a CD.

I wouldn't even consider buying a downloadable file.

I am quite content to get the higher sound quality and artist's programming to be found on a complete CD.

I listen exclusively on a quality home sound system.

I buy CD's on-line for less than $10, then import them into iTunes and listen on my iPod. That way I'll always have my CD if my computer crashes.

It's cheaper than iTunes and legal (I think?).

Is it not true that people will get their music one way or the other, and that one alternative to iTunes is the P2P sites? The torrent download sites?

Make it easy and cheap, and most people will fin it easier to buy the music than wait for days for a torrent download.

Im torn. On the one hand I like having music that I want with the click of a button. On the other hand, it has ruined the music industry. I feel like it encourages hits and mainstream music and makes it harder for the musicians to get a variety of their music heard.

as a consumer i think itunes is great. the price is reasonable, the selection is great and obviously the convenience is unbeatable.

I am however a listener of punk and indie rock and have heard complaints from bands and labels that it is a lousy deal for them, versus direct selling which was their previous distribution channel. i was wondering if your guests might comment on that.

I HAVE USED COMPUTERS SINCE THE EARLY '80S AND YET THE I-TUNE SOFTEWARE IS REALLY OBTUSE TO ME. IT IS ROCKET SICIENCE. IT IS BRAIN SURGERY. THE SONGS I HAVE ON MY SHUFFLE WILL PROBABLY REMAIN FOR MY LIFE. I CAN'T FIGURE HOW TO CHANGE THEM. HELP

Many companies have had gripes with apples strict restrictions on pricing structure because these lie with the interests of the consumer. AC/DC refused to sell their album via itunes because they wouldn't distribute the album only in entirety. I think if labels take issue with selling individual tracks they need to start selling and promoting albums that are better as a whole. After years of $20 cds the consumer finally has fair pricing for music and the option to get only the tracks they like.

do we have an alternative to itunes??

my main gripe with iTunes is that they haven't figured out how to provide album liner notes and artwork. It's bad enough that we are all being trained to accept the diminished musical quality of the mp3 format, but to lose all lyrics, artwork, album credits too. that sucks.

I bought The Who, "Thirty Years of Maximum R&B", at Amazon, 95 tracks, about US$36.++. So, what's that? US$0.39 per track? How much is that album at iTunes?

I have had no problems with itunes store.

I do wish itunes store had bookmarks so if I don't buy something now, I can find it later.

I am a fan of itunes.

IMPORTANT!!! The biggest problem with iTunes is the business model!!! It is the most Monopolistic type of system. Steve Jobs is killing everything with this type of model. Killing DRM is the worst thing to do because it free up all music. This will only increase piracry and illegal downloading. Once everything is out there, it will essentially be free and wipe the music businness out. Business in the US is the right for different companies to compete with each other and this will eliminate this and, like other companies right now, will go down completely!!! Stop iTunes before it is too late!!!

As a consumer i think itunes is great, the price is right, it is super convenient, and they have most of what i am looking for.

i am however a listener of punk and indie rock, and i have heard a lot of complaints from the smaller labels and bands that itunes is a lousy deal for them. i wonder if your guests might address the truth of that.

My main gripe about iTunes is that they haven't figured out a way to have album liner notes. It's bad enough that we're all being trained to accept the diminished musical quality of the mp3 format, but to lose all the lyrics and cool artwork. that sucks.

Not only itunes engages in these practices. Verizon phones will examine your personal, non proprietary, memory chip songs and refuse to play them if a license to their liking is not found. Talk about censorship!

iTunes (quite apart from its atrociously annoying lower-case i) has DRM so restrictive that I would prefer to go and buy a CD copy then rip it to my iTunes library before putting it onto my iPod. The same applies to its movies/TV shows - I would always go and buy the DVD, and I don't see much point in watching a film on a portable device that appealing anyway.

However, I'm clearly in the minority here - or else iTunes wouldn't have climbed its way to the top of the digital music market. How it's done that, with iTunes being a badly designed piece of software, and its DRM craze are, I suppose, just a testament to the popularity of the iPod - not necessarily iTunes itself.

Amazon, the ever-growing online shop, provides DRM-free MP3s which are nearly guaranteed to work on any gadget or any platform. I think this would be a much better alternative to anything Apple has developed.

i've found that there's almost nothing i can't find via a torrent service. while not legal, it delivers DRM-free software AT LEAST as well as iTunes or Amazon.

thepiratebay has movies before netflix or amazon or best buy. and they're of equal quality.

And I can use those files on just about any player device.

Please don't knock Tony Bennett. :)

Itunes is great (simple and easy to use)

I do not use the iTunes store because of DRM. I purchase CD's and can then use them as I wish. I know the AAC can be converted but I like to keep things simple. I want to LISTEN to music, not MANAGE music

I also have the Bose Lifestyle system, which requires CD's

I use iTunes exclusively as a music player, yet I find the store itself awful. The "home page" bombards you with lists and imagery and it's far too difficult to navigate - this coming from a moderately tech savvy 22-year old. If I could avoid the store altogether I would, but I subscribe to podcasts so that's not an option.

I'm considering an eMusic account, which, thanks to this program, I've learned about today.

I think people should know that itunes is not the only option for managing the music on your ipod. For example, there's Floola. You can use anyone's ipod on any computer with floola to upload any music you'd like to put on your ipod (as long as it's a file format it can play).

iTunes is pop-technology garbage the same way that the iPod is.

I have 8 computers in my house and one in my car. Mac and PC. God help you if you want to have more than one iPod on a given machine -- you'll chronically loose your data from on iPod or the other. My kids are constantly asking me to help them find their songs. Often when they log in their purchases are no longer there or acknowledged. If you want to upgrade your iPod or migrate your tracks to another iPod -- good luck with that. Oops! connected video iPod to a machine that had only audio? You're screwed.

Bottom line -- the reason everything is $1 is because you have to buy every track 5x!

I am an audiophile who uses the iPod for one thing only. PodCasts.

As an attorney, it's my understanding that, under the copyright laws, you are not entitled to share your songs with whomever you wish. Therefore, the dispute over DRM is somewhat specious. You may not like it, but the seller of the music is allowed to put DRM on.

I have used iRiver H10 20 gig mp3 players. They were great. I wound up with six of them. They started at US$300.oo; but I averaged about US$150.00.

Now, I have a 120 gig Zune, and I love it.
And the Zune software does not try to run my computer where music is concerned.

DRM is so easy to get around, as was already said on the air. If the company goes down and you didn't circumvent the locks, you can't get the music that you purchased legally.

iTunes is convenient (forgetting the weird navigation) and I'm usually able to find really cool music I never would have if I went to a physical store. I think it's the convenience that's been keeping me from shopping somewhere else.

I distrubute my self-published music recordings on iTunes store internationally and just sold my first album in the UK. Works for me.

Why does this have to be an either/or proposition? I use both a record player and iPod with iTunes. The record player is great for lounging in the apartment, but I can't take that thing on the L train. DRM's not an issue, because they are countless ways around it.

Mac is the Devil!! Ever thing that they do is to there owe benefit. Monopoly much?

a "moldy oldy" may be just as valuable to someone as the newest hit of the week. i think that's what's attractive to some folks...they know where to go look for that 1 song that takes them down memory lane and .99 is well worth it

I use amazon: no DRM and they seem to have a broader selection (almost all of Jonathan Richman's stuff is there, enough said).

I tried to get on the iTunes store to look for iTunes Plus, non-DRM. I could not get on the store without installing iTunes, which I tried and disliked and got rid of.

I am a big customer of mp3's at Amazon, where the quality is fine, generally 256kbit, the download is slick, and, if I buy a large compendium, like a multi disc set, the prices are very much cheaper, as low as US$0.50 per track.

I've walked away from iTunes in the past year and started picking up my music from Amazon MP3. A very comparable selection, sound quality is better, the prices are occasionally slightly cheaper (sometimes 89 cents instead of 99, plus no tax), and most importantly - NO DRM.