Apple today announced iTunes 6, the next generation of the world’s most popular music jukebox and online music store. iTunes 6 lets fans purchase and download over 2,000 music videos and six short films from Academy-Award winning Pixar Animation Studios for just $1.99 each. Also, in a landmark deal with Disney, iTunes is now offering current and past episodes from two of the most popular shows on television, “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost,” as well as the new drama series “Night Stalker” and the two most popular shows from Disney Channel, “That’s So Raven” and “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” for just $1.99 per episode. Customers can now purchase and download their favorite television shows from iTunes the day after they air on TV, watch them on their Mac or PC, and Auto-Sync them onto the new iPod for viewing anywhere.
“We’re doing for video what we’ve done for music—we’re making it easy and affordable to purchase and download, play on your computer, and take with you on your iPod,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO in the press release. “Right out of the gate we’re offering 2,000 music videos, Pixar’s short films and hit primetime TV shows like ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Lost’.”
“For the first time ever, hit primetime shows can be purchased online the day after they air on TV,” said Robert Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company in the release. “We’re delighted to be working with Apple to offer fans a new and innovative way to experience our wildly popular shows like ‘Desperate Housewives’ ‘Lost’ and ‘That’s So Raven’.”
“Apple is giving music fans a great way to own their favorite music videos,” said Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M in the release. “The people at Apple fully understand the interaction between musicians and their audience.”
Featured exclusive music videos are available from artists such as Beastie Boys and U2 along with more than two dozen classic music videos from Madonna. Music videos are available from hundreds of artists, including classic hits by Michael Jackson and Sting and current hits from Coldplay and Kanye West. The first ever video iTunes Originals is being released with an exclusive performance and interview from Death Cab for Cutie as well as an exclusive video album from Brazilian Girls. Music fans can also purchase the Complete Stevie Wonder digital box set, which contains over 500 songs, a full color digital booklet and three bonus videos, available only on the iTunes Music Store. Movie shorts available from Pixar include “Boundin’,” “For the Birds,” “Geri’s Game,” “Luxo Jr.,” “Red’s Dream,” and “Tin Toy.”
New features in iTunes 6 include expanded online gift options which now allow customers to give specific songs, albums, music videos or their own iTunes playlists to anyone with an email address, a public beta of new “Just for You” personalized music recommendations and the debut of online customer reviews. Now more than 10 million iTunes music fans can read other customers’ reviews, post their own and rate their usefulness.
With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as integrated Podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, seamless integration with iPod and groundbreaking personal use rights, the iTunes Music Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music online. The iTunes Music Store features more than two million songs from the major music companies and over 1,000 independent record labels, 10,000 audiobooks, gift certificates and exclusive music not found anywhere else online.
iTunes 6 for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Music Store and is available as a free download immediately. Purchase and download of songs from the iTunes Music Store for Mac or Windows requires a valid credit card with a billing address in the country of purchase. Television shows are available in the US only, and video availability varies by country. Music videos and short films are $1.99 (US) each, and television shows are $1.99 (US) per episode.
More info and download link for iTunes 6 here.
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Wow!
iMac changes, video iPod with an optional cable to play video content on a TV.
Wow!
Christmas is gonna be expensive this year.
Awesome on all fronts.
And just like that, Napster, Real, Yahoo, and all the other music-only stores are left even further behind in iTMS’s wake. Apple’s only competition right now is with itself.
Jobs said a video iPod wouldn’t work without content. This takes care of that (at least it is a good start). And at $1.99 an episode/video? That’s a good deal.
I bet the negotiations to get Pixar’s shorts was pretty easy!
Did I misread this, or does it say Quicktime 7.0.3 req’d to watch videos purchased via iTMS…cuz I can’t fing QT 7.0.3 anywhere…maybe later today
Anyone know what the quality of the video playback is? I can’t imagine it is anywhere near dvd-quality. I wonder if we can rip our own dvd’s onto iTunes to import onto the new iPod? …would be nice.
Looks like Apple has has taken another giant leap ahead of all would-be competitors in the race toward digital-media dominance. Nice to see quality and innovation win!
I noticed that about Quicktime 7.03 too, and I couldn’t get the preview of any of the Pixar stuff to play, so I imagine we’ll see it soon.
One other thing I noticed today was that the Free Download of the week was 99¢. Oops!
The video content on iTMS certainly lays the groundwork for putting real movies online. I’m sure it will only be a matter of time now.
KenC
Oct 12, 05 – 03:19 pm
I bet the negotiations to get Pixar’s shorts was pretty easy!
hmmm Yah think?! (winks and smiles)
And once again, us Brits are left out in the cold :o(
No TV shows for us, no video library, and the few videos we can get are priced at £1.89. That’s $3.32 in American money…. Err has someone got their pricing wrong, or does the price include shipping? (Yes, that is the famous British sarcasm!)
QT 7.03 allready available-I downloaded it along with the new iTunes.
Just download the free QT-it is 7.03, just not advertised as such.
This is wonderful news. I hope first of all that the price stays at $1.99 an episode, and second, that other media companies come on board to offer their movies/videos/other content. I imagine that “DIY” / “HOW TO” short videos would be quite a lucrative market.
Like nekogami13 said, it’s going to be an expensive xmas this year!
This just opens up all sorts of possibilities, particularly with short films. Now all of those film festivals take on a whole meaning, with a greater market for the works on display and being created by everyone. It also adds more to those short film categories at the Academy Awards. People might actually start watching them.
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brits, the bloody lot of yous, can kiss in irish arse!
Why is there no mention of a DRM? Do these videos include FairPlay?
This is a waist!! The screen is tooo small. Has any one found the video’s at the music store? I can find Lost and other TV through the add but what happens when that link is gone? Wgere are the Pixar shorts?? I can only find them buy going to the apple store?
> Anyone know what the quality of the video playback is?
> I can’t imagine it is anywhere near dvd-quality.
Actually, I can easily see H264-encoded video being BETTER than “DVD Quality”. The question is what level of quality will actually be provided.
So the videos and TV episodes that are availabe on the iTMS are full screen H.264 Quicktime format? Does iTunes recode them or shrink them to fit on the new iPods?
I watch a lot of video content (from Bit Torrent and my own DVD stash) on a nifty little device for my GameBoy Advance called Movie Player. You have to be a little bit of a geek to convert and re-encode video for the GBA (and use a PC, ugh), but watching on a small screen is no problem for me.
I’ll have to download a TV show from iTMS tonight and see what it looks like on my GBA. It ain’t a video iPod, but I sure get a lot of looks when I’m watching TWiT or Family Guy on my GameBoy!
Also, it’d be totally awesome if there was a new iPod updater that unlocked video playback on current color screen iPods.
MW=property, as in the video content becomes forever your property after buying and downloading from iTMS!
You can download a million songs, or an episode of Desperate Housewives. Sounds like a content problem to me.
That new iTMS commercial featuring Eminem is really cool! I guess Apple and Eminem kissed and made up.
But the content is now up (MacGoog, maybe you were just trying too soon – you prob know, but just in case, you need iTunes 6 and QT 7.0.3.)
The avail of TV programs illustrates that Apple not only knows what kind of content consumers want but that they know how to negotiate. I would not have guessed that the studios (they have rights to the show, not the networks…right?…though in-season shows surely need network approval) would do it because they just realized the DVDs are a cash cow. Apple must have convinced them that the 2 are not mutually exclusive. I’m still shocked…can’t wait ’til 24 is availble. This is could be huge if it grows into what it could be – the right combination of DVR and on-demand.
I think it’s safe to say that today’s announcement about Apple’s video ventures was way above anyone’s predictions…
Anyone noticed that videos don’t come up in search results yet? Nor can you click an artist & see their available videos (try “Madonna”).
though when you go to U2, you *do* get their videos…
and when you click “see all” in a category under Music Videos, you get 16 results. Exactly 16 in every category. Wheee!
Looks like somebody scheduled their presentation too early..
anyone download the eminem tv ad before apple pulled it?
(i really liked it too)
i am sure i saw it on the apple web site before … but now cant find it
anyomne know where else it can be found?