iTunes is a Web site and a music store. It is also the software that allows you to purchase and download music for 99¢ per song. It boasts over 700,000 tracks from five major music labels and more than 450 independents.

iTunes has a good interface and is fairly easy to use, but don’t expect to sit down and copy songs without getting yourself acquainted with the software. First you need to become familiar with the iTunes Music Store. If you head to the Music Store knowing what you want, it will be easy to find. You can search by genre, artist, song, and album. If, however, you just want to browse, you may have to do some investigating before you find what you want. For instance, I wanted to view music from the sixties and found that I had to click on Charts, and then Billboard Hot 100 before I was presented with a list of music sorted by years. An iTunes search, however, is usually worthwhile. During my investigation I found some singles from Nora Jones, my current favorite singer, as well as an album called Disney Songs the Satchmo Way. Louis Armstrong singing When You Wish upon a Star was perfect for my music-loving four-year-old grandson.

In order to use iTunes effectively, you need to understand the different screens and their functionality. For a new iTunes visitor, this can be confusing since all the windows look very similar. For instance, when you are in the Music Store, there will be a Browse icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen. If you are in the iTunes software area, that icon will be a “Burn disk” icon. There is also a screen for your Library where your songs will be stored. Those of you who heed my advice to always look at the screen carefully should be able to ascertain the differences in the various screens.

Once you find a song you like, you simply double-click to hear a free 30-second preview. Click on “Buy” to purchase. Of course, you will have to set up an iTunes account, but that process is straightforward. Every Tuesday the iTunes Music Store offers a free song from a popular album. Even if you aren’t interested in the song being offered, downloading this song will give you an idea of how the software works.

iTunes is the only music download site that supports the popular iPod music player, but you can easily transfer the songs you purchase to other music players as well. You can also play them on your PC or Mac, and burn them to a CD.  The process of transferring music and burning CDs is fairly easy.

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Some processes, though, can be baffling to the average user. In order to work within the rules and regulations of the music industry, iTunes has certain restrictions. With iTunes 4.5 or 4.6 you can play the songs you purchase on up to five Macintosh or Windows computers. This is done through a confusing process called “authorizing” and “deauthorizing”. Also confusing was the process needed to share your music with other users of your own computer. Apple says that you can burn a play list containing purchased music up to seven times. You can burn individual songs onto an unlimited number of CDs for your personal use. You can listen to songs on an unlimited number of iPods. Fortunately, the average user who just wants to purchase the music they like to play on their own computer and/or burn to CDs, will not be bothered too much by these confusing rules and regulations.

iTunes also has some unexpected perks. For instance, you can check out the radio charts from cities across the country, and you can download the artwork from the CD cover. Downloading music is fun. Try iTunes, but beware! If you love music you may get hooked. It is so easy to choose and download music using your computer that you may never go to the CD store again.

Manufacturer:  Apple

Price:  99¢ per song