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 in iTunes 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. Best of all, 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 20p per song upgrade price. (Music video upgrades are 40p and entire albums can be upgraded for 25 percent of the album price.)

Millions of songs for just 59p, 79p or 99p

With over 10 million songs to choose from, the iTunes Store makes finding new favourites an all-out joy. Now you can purchase music priced at 59p, 79p or 99p a song. And, as always, most albums are £7.99.

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

While you reacquaint yourself with the music you already own, let Genius introduce you to new music you’ll love. As you select songs in your library, the Genius sidebar displays songs from the iTunes Store that go great with it. The Genius sidebar won’t recommend songs already in your library, and you can preview and buy recommended songs directly from the sidebar.

HD TV Programmes

Purchase select episodes of your favourite TV programmes in high definition for just £2.49. 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.

HD Films

Rent or buy the films you love in high definition directly from your Mac, PC or Apple TV. See every brilliant detail as your movie plays in stunning 720p resolution. And when you buy an HD movie, you also get a standard-definition version that’s perfect for viewing on your iPhone or iPod.

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.

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.

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.