Surprised me a little I thought it was a bit older but probably not - I’d used Napster to get MP3 copies of maybe half a dozen songs I couldn’t actually buy on LP/CD/cassette at that time and welcomed Apple’s model where you actually paid for digital purchases which was only fair.
Took me ages to get an iPod and used various multimedia players well ahead of what Apple made at thet time offering video too. (Archos mainly for multimedia, Creative labs and iRiver later).
Culturally and historically significant it may be, but I remember being uncomfortable with the concept of paying for something I (literally) couldn’t put my finger on right from the start. I think I bought one or maybe two tracks I couldn’t find elsewhere, but nothing more.?
The 2012 Bruce Willis story, even though it ultimately proved false, raised exactly the sort of questions I had about the extent to which one really owns digital media one has paid money for. Streaming has, ultimately, done away with the original Apple Music model, but it’s still an oddity to my mind.
Did anyone here spend large sums on an Apple Music library?
Mark
“It was twenty years ago today,
Steven Jobs taught the band to play.
They’ve been going in and out of style….”
Etc.
I thought it was quite refreshing - this was a time when music was being pirated left, right and center online, long before streaming services so the ability to legitimately purchase digital downloads, admittedly at sub CD quality for less than a CD was good. Yes I hated the protected 128 kbps m4p files and was disappointed when they didn’t all get moved to 256 kbps AAC a few years later.
Yes, I think I have spent a hell of a lot via iTunes, initially audio but later when using AppleTVs I bought a heck of a lot of music videos, TV Shows and Movie/Film content too - the older video content was often poor quality but current 1080p/4k video quality is superb and cheaper than physical media.
As I rarely (if ever?) sell any physical media the cheaper online distribution is finally suiting me better, though in many instances I may already have content on cassette/CD/vinyl or betamax/VHS/DVD/BluRay/HDDVD/4k BluRay.
Yes, that’s a good point - it was a big improvement on the Wild West situation caused by Napster etc.!
Mark
20 years and I’ve survived without buying a single item ( although one new iPad a few years ago forced me to have a free copy of a u2 album).
iTunes also allowed us of course to rip our own CDs losslessly, and play higher than CD quality audio via DACs or over their mini optical connections.
Weird, anything post-2000 just doesn’t feel that long ago… I remember going into a Merc dealership asking about an ipod dock for our Smart For2 that had just been announced and being asked ‘whats an iPod?’ 
We have “after market” iPod docking ports fitted in both of our (veteran) Audis. Our iPod “Classics” get frequent use. Indeed I pace my run from Southampton to Daughter#2’s house in SE Londinium by Pink Floyd’s magnificent November 1974 Wembley concert!
(Two and a quarter hours, approx)
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