iTunes Plus

"Bum, Bum, Da', Da', Du', Du'!"

Are you ready to listen to some jams? If so, iTunes has it all! From, "Finnish Fiddle Folk Rock", to, "The Ultimate Disney Animated Movies Music Compilation".

Actually, it doesn't, don't believe the lies. iTunes is useful for us peeps who don't wish to *questionably* download our music from Limewire or other sites. But sadly, it doesn't rival the sheer mass of tracks available to those using fore-mentioned client programs. However... quality, if your willing to spend a few bucks, can be the winning factor in one's choice to hassle with clients, or paying cash. Thus comes, iTunes plus! Some music, an odd selection due to licensing issues, is available in 256 kbps quality, but... is it worth the 30 cents extra it costs for the "plussed" music?

Kinda. If it's offered, and you want the music, might as well, because if you ever want to purchase plus material you have to upgrade your entire library, that is "eligble" for "Plus". So yeah, when I wanted to upgrade my Sonata Arctica albums, I had to feel the pain as I DLed enhanced "Celtic Woman" albums. Now, if you have a brother that doesn't listen to Celitc Woman, then I guess your fine, but if you ever purchased an album that you found out you didn't care for, and it is now in iTunes plus, you have to upgrade it too. And it cost 30c for each song for the upgrade. I spent 20$ for about five albums and a handful of single songs. It was pricey indeed, but it sounds better. Still...

"Reckoning Night" the fourth studio effort from Sonata Arctica, was always a bit... muted? Thus it was my least favorite of all their albums. Strange thing too, considering the mixing quality on SonArc albums is usually so good. Well, I updated it with iTunes Plus, and I gotta say, it sounds much better. It all does. So if you got the extra buck, it's pretty cool feature from Apple.

By the way, it seems all songs in iTunes Plus are now the normal one buck at purchase time. You still have to pay the upgrade cost though. Oh well...