The Complete Guide to Using the iTunes Store

Although you can fill your iTunes library and your iPod, iPhone and Apple TV devices with content from a wide variety of sources, the iTunes Store provides an excellent one-stop shop for a huge array of content of various media types, with millions of songs and podcasts and thousands of movies, TV shows and audiobooks available for purchase, depending upon your country of residence. Even for users with large media collections from other sources, the iTunes Store can provide a useful source of information on new content and previews of songs, movies and TV shows. Further, the iTunes Store now includes the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch, making it the source for new applications for these devices.
In this guide, we take an in-depth look at the features available in the iTunes Store, going beyond the relatively intuitive browsing and purchasing of content to look at some of the more advanced options for iTunes Store users.
iTunes Stores by Country
The first thing to keep in mind is that the iTunes Store is not an open international marketplace. Each country effectively has its own iTunes Store, and not all content is available in all countries. In fact, the iTunes Store itself is not available in all countries. You can choose which country’s store you want to view by scrolling down to the bottom of the iTunes Store window and clicking the small round flag icon which appears in the bottom-right corner. This will bring you to a list of countries in which the iTunes Store is available, and you can change which country is displayed simply by clicking on the appropriate icon.

Although you can browse the iTunes Store in any country without being signed in, you can only purchase content from the iTunes Store for your own country. This is enforced via the billing address associated with your credit card or other payment method that you use with the iTunes Store. You can use the iTunes Store in all countries of which you’re a resident, but you’ll either need a separate iTunes Store account for each one, or you’ll need to continually be switching your billing information on your single account. Generally, it’s simpler just to set up an alternative account for these situations.
Setting up an iTunes Store Account
To begin using the iTunes Store, the first thing you’ll need to do is to actually set up an iTunes Store account. This can either be done specifically by choosing Create Account from the Store menu in iTunes, or simply by attempting to purchase an item from the iTunes Store and using the “Create New Account” button which appears in the sign-in dialog box.

If you already have an Apple ID, perhaps from registering your iPod or Mac with Apple, purchasing items from the Apple Online Store, or as part of another Apple program such as the Developer Connection, you can use this as your iTunes Store account. Further, MobileMe accounts are already pre-configured as iTunes Store accounts as well, and your MobileMe user ID and password will work here without needing to sign up for a new account. In this case, you can log in directly with that account and will simply be prompted to review your account information. If you already have a credit card on file with your Apple ID from Apple Online Store purchases or for your MobileMe purchase, this is simply used by default for your iTunes Store account also. In fact, this credit card continues to be tied to your Apple ID, rather than your iTunes Store account specifically—change the credit card information in one place (such as on the Apple Online Store), and your iTunes Store account will be updated to use the new credit card information as well.

With the exception of Podcasts and iTunes U content, even free items on the iTunes Store require that you have a valid iTunes Store account to download them.
Regardless of which method you choose, the actual sign-up process is basically the same. You will be taken through a series of screen in iTunes itself which will take you through the process of showing you the terms and conditions and collecting the necessary information to create your account.

On the Terms and Conditions screen, you must check the box indicating that you have read and agree to the iTunes Terms and Conditions in order to continue. Note that the terms and conditions shown are specific to the iTunes Store for your selected country. If you are not a resident of the indicated country, you can choose a different country by clicking on the link as indicated.

You will next be prompted to enter an e-mail address, which effectively becomes your Apple ID. You will also need to enter a password, and a question, answer and date of birth to be used for password recovery. You can optionally choose to opt-out of receiving promotional e-mails from Apple. With the exception of your actual Apple ID, all of these settings can be changed later.

Once you’ve chosen your Apple ID and password, you are then prompted to enter your payment information. If you had logged in with an existing Apple ID or MobileMe account, you will also be taken directly to this screen to enter your payment information. The available payment methods will vary between different countries.

Setting up an iTunes Store account in this manner normally requires a valid credit card with a valid billing address in the country that you are setting an iTunes Store account for. For U.S. users, a PayPal account may also be used, however a valid U.S. billing address is still required for a PayPal account, and is checked via the bank account or credit card that is associated with your PayPal account. As with the Terms and Conditions screen, a link is provided to allow you to switch countries if your billing address is not in the chosen country. iTunes does not bill your credit card until you make an actual purchase, although if your credit card statement shows pre-authorizations, you may notice a $1 authorization made by iTunes against your card. This is not an actual charge, but merely an authorization request of a token amount just to check the validity of the card itself. The $1 is never actually paid, and the pre-authorization clears itself off automatically.
If you are coming to the iTunes Store to redeem a gift card or gift certificate, you can enter the code in the designated field instead of entering credit card information. A billing address is still necessary even in this case, although the iTunes Store will not have any means of validating the address, since gift cards and gift certificates do not have an associated address. You can also set up an iTunes Store account from a gift card simply by using the “Redeem” link found near the top-left corner of the main iTunes Store screen. This will prompt you to enter your gift card or gift certificate information, and once validated will take you through the process of setting up an iTunes Store account.

Redeeming gift codes is one method of setting up an iTunes Store account without providing credit card information, however the advent of the App Store provides another method. If you attempt to “purchase” a free item from the App Store, iTunes will prompt you to log in or create a new account in the same manner as for any other purchase attempt, but when you arrive at the screen to enter your payment information, an additional option of “None” becomes available.

Choosing “None” as a payment method will set up an iTunes Store account for you and allow you to download free apps from the App Store. As the note on the payment method page indicates, you will be asked to provide a payment method when you make an actual purchase. Note that you must be purchasing a free app from the App Store for this option to become available. Free downloads from other areas of iTunes still require you to set up an iTunes Store account using either a credit card or gift code.
Note that an iTunes Store account is also required to register an iPhone or iPod touch or to download artwork from the iTunes Store. These services are free, and if you’re concerned about giving your credit card information to Apple, you can set up a free iTunes Store account using one of the above methods instead, as there will be no requirement for Apple to have a valid credit card in order to provide you with free services.
Managing your Existing iTunes Store Account
Once you’ve set up an iTunes Store account, you can manage your existing account by clicking on the small drop-down triangle that appears to the right of your account name and choosing the Account option from the pull-down menu.

You’ll be prompted to sign-in for confirmation and then be taken to a summary screen of your account. From here you can edit your account info, including changing your password, update your payment information and billing address, switch to a different country, view your purchase history and manage a number of other aspects of your iTunes Store account.

Using Gift Cards and Gift Certificates
The iTunes Store also provides the ability for users to use Gift Cards and Gift Certificates to make purchases. A Gift Card is a physical card, normally purchased in a retail store, while a Gift Certificate is purchased from the iTunes Store by another iTunes Store user and printed out or e-mailed to the recipient.

Both types of gift items work on the basis of providing a code which the recipient enters into a screen in iTunes to redeem. The value of the gift card is then credited to their iTunes Store account, and any purchases they make are deducted from this account balance first. These balances can be used to partially fund purchases as well, provided another payment method such as a credit card is available to make up the difference. For the most part, gift cards and certificate balances can be used to purchase any item on the iTunes Store, although some restrictions do exist in various countries. For example, gift cards/certificates cannot be used to purchase iPhone applications in Canada allegedly due to Canadian Commerce laws.

If you have a balance on your account it is shown in the top-right corner of the iTunes Store, immediately to the left of your iTunes Store account name. The main iTunes Store home screen also shows your account balance under the welcome note, immediately above the Quick Links section.

Gift Cards and Gift Certificates may only be redeemed in the country in which they were purchased. For Gift Certificates, this means that they must be purchased with an iTunes Store account in the same country as the recipient. For Gift Cards, this means that they must be purchased as a retail store in the recipient’s country. For example, you cannot purchase a Gift Card or Gift Certificate in Canada and send it to a user in the U.S. as that gift certificate can only be redeemed in the Canadian iTunes Store.
Making Allowances
If you’re a parent who may not be particularly enthused about the idea of giving your son or daughter unlimited access to the iTunes Store, you’ll be happy to hear that Apple provides an allowance feature. Instead of setting up an account for your son or daughter with your actual credit card, you would set up your own iTunes Store account that only you access, and then set up an automatic monthly credit to your offspring’s iTunes Store account, ranging from $10 to $50 per month, in $10 increments. You can initiate this process from the Buy iTunes Gifts section by scrolling down to the “Allowances” heading and clicking Set up an allowance now.

You are prompted to enter your own name and the recipients name, choose an amount to send out on the first of each month, and whether to send the first installment now or wait until the beginning of the next month. You can also choose to either create a new Apple ID for the recipient, or use their existing Apple account if they have already set one up. You can also enter a personal message to go with the allowance. The recipient will receive an e-mail

If you opt to create a new Apple Account for the recipient, you’re taken briefly through the process of setting up the Apple ID and password for the recipient. The date of birth is used for password recovery, and the default question is set to “Who gave you your allowance?” with the allowance provider’s name as the answer.

After you’ve filled in the necessary information, you’re shown a purchase confirmation screen to confirm that everything is correct before hitting the “Buy” button.

The recipient will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to access their iTunes Store account and information on the allowance itself. They will also receive a notification each month on the first of the month when their allowance installment is deposited to their account.

You can manage allowances that you have given out from your normal iTunes Store account management screen. Click on the “Manage Allowances” button will take you to a screen where you can view the allowances that you have set up, and choose to either modify the amounts, suspend the allowance until you re-enable it, or remove it entirely. You can also create additional new allowance from here.

Allowance funds will appear as a credit balance in the recipient’s iTunes Store account in the same way as a gift card or gift certificate, and work in the same manner—purchases come from the gift balance first, and any purchases which exceed the remaining balance must be funded with a separate payment method. Basically, an allowance is just the automated equivalent of buying a gift certificate at the beginning of each month. Keep in mind also that accounts receiving an allowance still function as normal independent iTunes Store accounts, and these users are not prevented from buying additional content using their own payment method. In fact, parents can supplement the allowance on special occasions by purchasing gift certificates or gift cards.
Content Restrictions
For a number of years all content sold on the iTunes Store was protected by Apple’s FairPlay Digital Rights Management (DRM). In 2007, Apple announced a new format for iTunes Store music purchases known as iTunes Plus. Music sold in the iTunes Plus format was higher quality and did not include any DRM restrictions. Initially, only a limited selection of iTunes Plus tracks were available, customers paid a premium price for these tracks, and they had to pay an upgrade price to upgrade their existing DRM-laden iTunes Store tracks to this new format.
Earlier this year, Apple announced that the entire iTunes Store music library was being transitioned to the iTunes Plus format. In this process, the premium price for iTunes Plus content was dropped, and all iTunes Store music became available in the higher quality DRM-free format. At this point, any new music that you purchase from the iTunes Store, including music videos, will be using this new format and therefore has no content restrictions applied to it.
Unfortunately, this only applies to music content (including music videos). Other types of content such as audiobooks, movies and TV Shows remain DRM-protected, and it doesn’t look like this is going to be changing any time soon. For purchased content that is protected by iTunes FairPlay DRM, you’re limited to using that content in iTunes on up to five computers, each of which must be authorized with your iTunes Store account. You can also transfer and play your content on up to five Apple TVs and an unlimited number of iPod or iPhone devices, provided the content is transferred from one of your five authorized computers. Further, a given iPod or iPhone can only contain content from up to five different iTunes Store accounts.
Another important point to note is that content purchased from the iTunes Store may only be downloaded once. If you attempt to purchase an item again, iTunes will warn you that you have already purchased the item, but if you proceed with the purchase, you will be billed again. Apple strongly recommends backing up your purchases yourself. There exist cases where the iTunes Store Customer Service department has permitted users to re-download lost content, but this is the exception rather than the rule and you should not rely on it.
Navigating the iTunes Store
You can browse the iTunes Store without having an iTunes Store account, or even having signed in, but as noted above you’ll need an account to download anything—even free content requires an iTunes Store account, with the exception of Podcast and iTunes U downloads, which actually come from third-party sources.
With the recent release of iTunes 9, the iTunes Store itself has undergone a significant redesign in its layout and some of its features. Upon accessing the iTunes Store from within iTunes, you’re taken to the main iTunes Store screen, showing you a cross-section of featured content within the different content sections.

The main, top panel provides a changing list of featured new release content. You can click on any of these panels to immediately be taken to the page for that content. Hovering over the bottom-right corner will reveal a small arrow icon which can be used to scroll down through this featured content on-demand.

To the right of the main featured content panel is a Quick Links menu for accessing specific iTunes Store features such as redeeming or buying gifts, searching the iTunes Store, accessing your account information, contacting iTunes Store support, or viewing targeted content lists such as your Genius Recommendations, Wish List, artist alerts, or seeing your albums that are available for completion or tracks that can be upgraded to iTunes Plus.

The remaining content in the iTunes Store window simply provides sections to feature various types of content through top listings and specific categories, such as “Top Charts” or “$7.99 albums.” Notably, however, a “Free on iTunes” section is often shown at the bottom of the screen, highlighting those albums and other content that is presently available for free download, although an iTunes Store account is still required to download these items. Note that a scroll bar appears beneath most of these listings, allowing you to scroll left and right to view more options in that featured category.

Hovering over an individual item in any of the item listing panels on the right-hand side will display options to preview or purchase that item.

Clicking on the item itself will take you directly to the main page for that item, the “Buy” button will immediately purchase the item, and the blue Preview button will either simply play back an audio preview for an audio item, or open a preview window for video item in a floating pop-up over the existing iTunes Store page. The preview can also be viewed by hovering over the cover artwork and clicking the small playback button which appears in the bottom-right corner. Additional information is shown beneath the preview, as well as the standard “Buy” button.

In a similar manner, hovering over an album or TV Show entry will display a small info icon in the bottom-right corner. Clicking on this icon will open up a detailed list of that album or TV Show in a floating pop-up window. Options for purchasing individual episodes are shown here, as well as a toggle to switch between HD and Standard definition in the case of TV Shows that have more than one format available.

Each “Buy” button also acts as a pull-down menu, providing other related options for the current item, including the ability to purchase the item as a gift, add it to your Wish List, e-mail the link to that item to a friend, copy the link to your system clipboard, or share the link on either Twitter or Facebook. Note that not all options will be available for all items; for example rental content cannot at the present time be added to your Wish List.

Beyond the home page, the main content sections are now organized at the top of the iTunes Store window in a menu bar layout. Click on any of these headings takes you directly to the home page for that section. However, if you however over a section heading, you’ll see a small triangle appear. Clicking this presents a pull-down menu that allows you to navigate directly to specific areas within that section.

Each content section’s home page is laid out and functions in a manner similar to the main home page, although of course only content relevant to that particular section is shown. Other functions related to selecting, previewing and purchasing work in the same manner throughout the iTunes Store.

Music
Music is generally available on the iTunes Store in the form of individual tracks or entire albums. Traditionally, individual tracks on the iTunes Store sold for $0.99 and most albums sold for $9.99. Earlier this year, Apple announced that they would be introducing a variable pricing model for music, with three price tiers: $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29. For the most part, very few tracks have appeared at the $0.69 price tier, with the vast majority of tracks remaining at $0.99 and popular new release tracks selling for the higher $1.29 price tag. Albums have similarly seen a more variable pricing model, with some albums selling for as low as $7.99 and other new release albums selling for as much as $19.99 for “Deluxe Editions.”

Clicking on an album in any of the iTunes Store listings will bring you to a page for that album with more information about the artist, some additional notes, ratings, and a track listing. From this screen, you can either purchase the entire album or individual tracks. Note, however, that some tracks may only be purchased as part of the album itself. An icon will be displayed in the top-right corner for albums that include the new interactive “iTunes LP” content, and the iTunes LP item is normally shown at the beginning of the track list. Other special types of content may also be included with an album, such as music videos and digital booklets. These are indicated by special icons immediately to the left of the time column.

It is also not uncommon to see albums with a mixture of tracks at the different price tiers, mixed in with some album-only tracks as well.

As with the main iTunes home screen, hovering over a track name will display a Preview button in place of the track number, which can be clicked to listen to a 30-second preview of the selected track. Both audio and video tracks may be previewed in this manner. No preview options are presently available for iTunes LP content or digital booklets.

The Music section also includes Music Videos, which are often included with albums but can also usually be purchased separately. All of the music tracks now available from the iTunes Store are in the iTunes Plus format, which is 256kbps AAC with no digital rights management copy or transfer restrictions. Purchased tracks are, however, tagged with the name and user ID of the iTunes Store account with which the track was purchased.
Audiobooks
Audiobooks have their own section in the iTunes Store, but the process of previewing and purchasing audiobooks works much the same as for music content. The major differences are that prices of different audiobooks vary greatly, and most audiobooks remain protected by iTunes’ FairPlay Digital Right Management.

For more information on Audiobooks see our Guide to iTunes Audiobooks, Podcasts and iTunes U.
Movies
In several countries, the iTunes Store provides movies available for purchase or rental in both standard and high-definition formats, although this varies from country to country. For example, HD movies are only available for sale in the U.S. iTunes Store at this time. Standard-definition movies in the U.S. iTunes Store sell for between $4.99 up to $14.99. HD moves sell for $12.99 up to $19.99, depending on the title and date of release. Movies can be rented in the U.S. iTunes Store in standard definition for $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and in high-definition for $3.99 for library titles and $4.99 for new releases.

Clicking on a specific movie title or image will take you to the detailed information page for that movie, which provides additional notes and a plot summary, a link to the movie trailer, details on the format, release date and other specifications, and customer reviews.

Not all movies are available for both purchase and rental. Some titles are rental-only while others are purchase-only. It is also quite common to see new release movies only available for purchase initially. These movies usually include a note on their detail page indicating when they will actually be available for rental. A small number of movies also include the “iTunes Extras” bonus content which provides the additional features normally found on a DVD version of the movie. If a movie includes iTunes Extras an icon to that effect will appear in the top-right corner. iTunes Extras are not presently available for rented movies.
Most HD movie rentals are only available directly from the Apple TV at this point. Movies that are available for rental in HD on the Apple TV will not this on the movie’s iTunes Store page. Generally, movies that may be purchased in HD may also be rented in HD from iTunes itself, but HD movies that are only available for rental in HD must be rented from the Apple TV.
Movies purchased from the iTunes Store are protected by iTunes FairPlay DRM, but otherwise work like most other types of purchased content and may be transferred to multiple supported iPod, iPhone or Apple TV devices and viewed on any device at any time, subject to the DRM restrictions. Rented movies, on the other hand, may only be stored on a single device at a time, and must be moved between devices, rather than copied. Rental content expired automatically 30 days after purchase of the rental, regardless of whether you’ve watched it or not. Rented movies from the U.S. iTunes Store expire 24 hours after you begin watching them, while iTunes Store users in Canada and the U.K. are given 48 hours to finish watching a movie once they have begun. For more information on how iTunes Movie Rentals work, see our Guide to iTunes Movie Rentals.
Television Shows
The iTunes Store now provides television shows for sale in several countries as well, although the available content here varies significantly between different countries, the catalog in non-U.S. iTunes Stores is increasing rapidly. TV Shows are organized by show and by season. You can purchase individual episodes for $1.99 in standard definition or $2.99 in HD. Season prices vary based on the number of episodes in the season, but are generally about two or three episodes cheaper than buying the episodes individually.

TV Shows that are currently airing can also be purchased in the form of a “Season Pass.” This is similar to purchasing an entire season, except that you pay in advance for the entire season and new episodes are downloaded automatically as they become available. For most current-run TV Shows, new episodes are available from iTunes a day after the show airs on TV.
Selecting an individual show will display detail about the show, including a description of the show and a list of the episodes from the current season. As with other elements in the iTunes Store, hovering over an episode reveals a preview button that can be used to watch a 30-second clip from that particular episode.

Each episode also includes a brief description with an info icon beside it that can be clicked on to reveal a more detailed description about that particular episode in a pop-up window.

Note that if a TV Show is available in high-definition, the iTunes Store page will always default to showing the HD version. A link will normally appear toward the bottom-left corner allowing you to view the standard-definition version. TV Shows purchased from the iTunes Store are all protected by iTunes FairPlay DRM and the normal restrictions apply.
For information on managing your purchased TV Shows in iTunes, see our Guide to Managing iTunes Videos.
About High-Definition Content
As previously discussed, some movies and TV shows in the iTunes Store are available in both standard-definition and high-definition formats. High-definition content can only be played via iTunes or Quicktime on your computer, or on the Apple TV. The iPod and iPhone are not compatible with HD content. As a result, when you purchase an item in HD from the iTunes Store, Apple actually provides you with two copies of that item: The High-Definition copy you purchased, and a standard-definition copy that can be used on your iPod or iPhone. Within iTunes itself, these files are merged into a single listing for both content types, and are effectively treated as a single entry. The “HD-SD” tag which appears beside each entry indicates that both formats are available.

By default, the HD format is played in iTunes and on the Apple TV, and the SD format is synchronized to your iPod or iPhone. This happens seamlessly within iTunes itself, and you generally don’t need to worry about the specifics. Even the played status and current playback position is synchronized between the two versions, so you could watch part of a show in standard definition on your iPod, sync back to iTunes, and then pick up watching the high-definition version on your computer or Apple TV. You can manually choose a different version to view on your computer by right-clicking on a selected track in iTunes, and choosing your preferred version from the Version context sub-menu. You can also change the default preference to display all videos in standard definition on your computer by checking the appropriate setting in your iTunes preferences under the Playback tab.

Note that if storage space is at a premium, it is possible to remove or delete the standard-definition version, as it is a separate file within your file system. Simply right-click on the track in iTunes and choose Show in Finder or Show in Windows Explorer to open a window to the actual file itself. Note that deleted versions cannot be recovered from the iTunes Store without repurchasing the item, so you’re better to back up the standard-definition version somewhere in case you need it again in the future.
Podcasts and iTunes U
The iTunes Store also provides a front-end catalog for a wide variety of podcasts and educational content from colleges and Universities. This content is not actually provided directly by the iTunes Store itself, but rather from third-party web-sites—Apple merely provides the listing of content.

Note that since this content is not being provided directly by Apple, you can download Podcasts and iTunes U collections without an iTunes Store account. For more information, check out our Guide to iTunes Audiobooks, Podcasts & iTunes U.
The App Store
The iTunes Store also provides the gateway to the App Store where you can purchase applications for your iPhone and iPod touch. The App Store is in many ways a completely separate section from the traditional iTunes Store, but within the iTunes application itself, it works in much the same way.

Browsing for and purchasing apps works in much the same way as in any other section on the iTunes Store. Previews are not specifically available, although the detail pages for a given application will show a set of screenshots for that app which you can scroll through.

Apps are also unique in that Apple allows you to re-download an app for free that you’ve already purchased previously. Simply attempt to purchase it again, and you will receive a message indicating that you’ve already purchased this item, and allowing you to download the app again at no charge.

Apps are also updated from time to time, and iTunes itself will notify you when updates for your applications are available by displaying a number beside the “Applications” category in the iTunes source list. Updates are always provided free of charge at this point, and replace the older version in your iTunes library automatically.

With the introduction of In-App Purchases with iPhone OS 3.0, the iTunes App Store also lists the top in-app purchases for a given application on that app’s detail page. This can give you an idea of what other expansion options are available for the app after you’ve purchased it, and what you can expect these to cost.

Gifting Specific Items
In addition to gift cards and gift certificates described earlier, it is also possible to give a specific iTunes Store item as a gift. To do this, simply choose the “Gift Item” option from the drop-down menu beside the Buy button. A screen will be shown where you can enter information for the gift such as the recipient’s name, e-mail address and a personal message, and choose to either send out your gift via email or print it out yourself. The recipient receives a gift code that works in a manner similar to a gift certificate, except that it is used specifically by the recipient to download the gifted item, rather than being applied as a balance to their account.

The recipient will need to set up an iTunes Store account if they do not already have one, and as with gift certificates, their account must be in the same iTunes Store country where the gift was purchased. The gifted item will be downloaded by their iTunes Store account like any other purchase. If the item is DRM-protected, then it will be associated with the account of the recipient.
Reviews and Ratings
The iTunes Store allows you to post your thoughts on items found on the iTunes Store in the form of a review, and read the reviews for any item that have been written by other iTunes Store users. Reviews are normally found on the main iTunes Store page for a given item. Note that individual music tracks and TV Show, podcast or iTunes U episodes cannot be reviewed directly; reviews are instead associated with an album, season, podcast or iTunes U collection. Further, since apps can be updated from time to time, reviews of applications are organized based on the version of the application.
Each user can provide a paragraph or two of thoughts on the item as well as a rating from one to five stars. When viewing other customer reviews, you can choose to sort by Most Helpful, as judged by other iTunes Store users, Most Favorable, Most Critical, or Most Recent. Links are also provided on each review to report a concern with the review or indicate whether or not you found the review helpful. A note below each review indicates how many viewers considered the review helpful—not however that the total number shown here is not the number of people who have read the review, but merely the number who have responded either Yes or No to the Was the review helpful? question.

You can write your own review of an item simply by clicking the Write a Review link that appears above the other reviews. You’ll be given an option to enter a rating, title, and some text for your review. If you’ve already posted a review of the item previously, then your existing review is displayed for you to edit—you cannot add more than one review to a given item.

Note that reviews are moderated by the iTunes Store staff before they actually appear on the iTunes Store. Further, some items such as Applications require that you have actually purchased the item before you can write a review.
iTunes now also allows you to rate items without actually having to write a review. A summary of ratings for an item will be shown in the left-hand side of the iTunes Store page for an item, showing the average overall rating as well as the number of users for each rating.

You can add your own rating simply by hovering over the stars beside Rate This and clicking on your preferred rating.

Ratings for applications are displayed a bit differently, with a drop-down to provide your own rating. Note that like reviews, application ratings are based on the current version, and therefore reset each time a new version is released. Note that you must have actually purchased the app in order to rate it.

Sharing Links to Items
iTunes 9 also expanded the social networking aspects of the iTunes Store ever so slightly. In addition to being able to send links to item to your friends via e-mail, you can now also share them on Twitter and Facebook. To share a link in this manner, simply choose either Share on Twitter or Share on Facebook from the “Buy” drop-down menu for an item. A web page will be opened up to the appropriate service with a link to the item filled in.

Note that links to items in the App Store cannot be shard on Twitter or Facebook at this time.
Browsing the iTunes Store
If you’d prefer to just browse through content listings directly rather than navigating through all of the web-style content pages, you can access the iTunes Store Browser view by selecting View, Show Column Browser from the iTunes menu, or selecting Browse from the Quick Links menu in the iTunes Store itself. You will be shown the same familiar three-column browser view used to navigate through your own music library.

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The first column will allow you to select the media type you’d like to browse through. Depending on your selection, the additional columns will change to display information appropriate to that media type.

You can preview items from here by double-clicking on them, view additional information such as the description, or purchase the item with the purchasing buttons. You can even add and remove columns from this view in the same manner as you would in your own iTunes library to display the specific information you would like to see.
Note that some content such as Movies and TV Shows that are available in more than one format (ie, HD, SD, purchase or rental) will provide a “View” button instead of a “Buy” button. The “View” button takes you to the main iTunes Store page for that particular item so you can see the various purchase formats that are available.
Searching the iTunes Store
With over 10 million items on the iTunes Store, it’s not practical to simply browse through the iTunes Store collection looking for individual items. Fortunately, iTunes provides a reasonably powerful search feature to help you find specific tracks or videos. The simplest and quickest search is the one built right into iTunes itself—the Search box in the top-right corner of the iTunes window. Although this same field is normally used to search your own iTunes library, when you’ve in the iTunes Store, any text you enter in here is searched for on the iTunes Store instead. Essentially, this field searches through whatever you’re currently looking at in your iTunes window. Simply type something in here and his the Enter key and a list of matching search results will be displayed across all categories. From this results screen, you can filter by media type or simply scroll down through the window to view, preview or purchase any of the displayed content. The results screen works in the same manner as any other iTunes Store screen, with previews available by hovering over individual items, and expanded pop-up track listings that can be accessed by hovering over an album or TV show name and clicking the info icon. Only a small sampling of items is shown for each media type; a See All button is provided to see all of the found content available within that category.

An advanced search option can also be accessed by selecting Power Search on the iTunes Store menu, or selecting the Power Search option from the normal search results screen. You’ll be shown a basic search screen to search through all items on the store by either title or artist.

The basic search options are pretty generic, but if you choose a specific type of content, additional more specific search options are shown for that content. For example, in the case of movies, you can limit your search to only movies that are available for rental, or only movies that include closed captioning.

Working with Season Passes and iTunes Passes
As noted earlier, some of the content from the iTunes Store is available in as a sort of subscription, known as a “Season Pass” or “iTunes Pass.” This is most often used for TV Shows that are currently airing, but is also occasionally used to offer music content from specific artists. The idea behind a Season Pass or iTunes Pass is that you essentially pre-purchase the content before its actually released, and then iTunes downloads the new content automatically before it comes out. This is particularly useful for TV Shows that you’re interested in following, as it saves you the trouble of having to remember to check back each week and download the latest individual episode. Further, the price of the Season Pass is usually slightly lower than the combined price of the individual episodes.
To ensure that iTunes automatically downloads new content as it becomes available, you need to make sure that you have enabled the option to Automatically download prepurchased content from your iTunes preferences under the Store tab. Note that this doesn’t necessarily ensure that iTunes will download new content immediately after it becomes available, but it will check for new content whenever you start iTunes up, sign on to your iTunes Store account, or whenever you happen to be downloading other new content from the iTunes Store. If you’re using the same iTunes Store account on more than one computer, you may want to disable this option on secondary computers to ensure that all of your season pass content gets downloaded only to one location, rather than scattered across several iTunes libraries. Note that pre-purchased content also includes pre-ordered albums and movies in addition to Season Passes and iTunes Passes.

By default, you also receive e-mail notifications for your Season Passes as new episodes become available. These notifications include a link that will tell iTunes to download the new content, or instructions on how to do so manually in iTunes.

You can view and manage notifications for your Season Passes by choosing the Manage Passes button from your iTunes Store Account Information Screen. A list of all of your current and expired passes will be shown. Current passes will display an option to enable or disable e-mail notifications for those passes, while completed passes will show their completion date—the date the last episode in the pass was delivered.

Using the iTunes Store Wish List
With the release of iTunes 9, Apple introduced a new “Wish List” feature to allow you to keep track of items that you may want to purchase later. This somewhat replaces the “Shopping Cart” found in previous versions of iTunes, although it doesn’t offer exactly the same functionality. On the positive side, you wish list is stored with your iTunes Store account, so it can be accessed from any of your computers running iTunes. What many fans of the Shopping Cart will find disappointing, however, is that there is no ability to automatically add items to your Wish List instead of purchasing them outright. The Add to Wish List option is found under the Buy drop-down menu, and must therefore be specifically clicked; the Buy button is not fixed as a one-click purchasing option.

You can view your Wish List either by selecting it from the Quick Links menu in the top-left corner of the main iTunes Store home page, or by choosing it from the drop-down menu under your account name. Items in your Wish List are categories by media type, and you can purchase and preview items in the same manner as on any other iTunes Store page. To remove an item from your wish list, simply hover over it and an X will appear in the top-left corner; click on this to remove the item from your Wish List.

If you prefer you can also still create a playlist of iTunes Store items in iTunes 9 simply by switching to the Browser view as described above, and then dragging-and-dropping tracks from the iTunes Store browser into your playlists. Within these playlists, items you’ve already purchased will show the actual tracks, while items from the iTunes Store will show a Buy button and can be previewed by double-clicking on them. This can be a very useful way to build a playlist of content for purchasing over a period of time; once all items are purchased, it will function as a normal playlist.

This works for all media types with the exception of Apps, which can’t be placed into playlists even in your own library.
Viewing your Purchase History and Reporting Problems
You can view a history of all of your iTunes Store purchases from your Apple Account Information screen. This displays your most recent purchases at the top of the screen, and previous orders summarized below it. You can view the detail for any of your previous orders by clicking on the arrow to the left of the order date.

From here, you can also report a problem with any item in your order, such as an item that was corrupted or didn’t download properly. To do this, click on the Report a Problem button, and a “Report a Problem” link will appear beside each item in that particular order.

Clicking one of the “Report a Problem” links will open up a screen where you can choose the nature of your problem from a drop-down list and enter additional details about your particular problem. iTunes support represents will contact you via e-mail to respond to your problem report.

Authorizing and De-authorizing your Computer
With the exception of music, podcasts, and iTunes U, most of the content on the iTunes Store remains protected by Apple’s FairPlay Digital Rights Management (DRM). FairPlay DRM allows you to play your content in iTunes on up to five authorized computers. These computers are normally authorized automatically when you purchase and download content from the iTunes Store on that computer, or the first time you try to play that content. If you haven’t already recently logged into the iTunes Store, you may be prompted to enter your iTunes Store user ID and password to complete the authorization process. You can also initiate this process manually by selecting Authorize Computer from the Store menu in iTunes.

Your computer’s authorization is transferred automatically to any iPod, iPhone or Apple TV as soon as you transfer any purchased content to those devices. There is no limit on the number of iPod or iPhone devices that can be authorized for a given iTunes Store account, although you are limited to five Apple TV devices per account.
As you authorize each computer, a counter in your iTunes Store account is incremented, and once you reach the five-computer limit, you can no longer authorize any additional computers. The problem is that the authorization is based on unique information about your computer such as its hardware configuration and your current operating system installation. If you make significant hardware changes to your computer, such as replacing the main board, or you reinstall your operating system, then iTunes will see this as a new computer and require you to reauthorize your “new” computer for your iTunes Store account. This will take up another authorization slot, since iTunes thinks your previous authorization is still being used by another computer.

As a result, you should always be sure to de-authorize your iTunes Store account on your computer before sending your computer in for maintenance or performing any hardware upgrades or reinstalls on it. Likewise, if you’re switching to a new computer, make sure you de-authorize the old one before selling it or giving it away. You can only de-authorize a computer from that specific computer, so if you no longer have access to that computer, you will have no way of de-authorizing it. You can de-authorize a computer from your iTunes Store account by selecting Deauthorize Computer from the Store menu in iTunes. You will again be prompted to enter your iTunes Store credentials, after which iTunes will report that you have successfully de-authorized your computer and report the new authorization count.

Note that if you’ve reached your five-computer authorization limit and don’t have access to some or all of the old computers to de-authorize them, iTunes allows you to reset all of your authorizations once per year. Once you’ve reached your five-computer limit, a Deauthorize All button will appear in your iTunes Store account information screen. Clicking on this button will reset all of your authorizations and your authorization count back to zero. You will then have to manually re-authorize any computers that you still want to use with iTunes.

Again, note that this can only be done once per year, so once you’ve reset your authorization count you will have to wait 365 days before you can use this option again. This should not be considered a replacement for properly de-authorizing your computers as described above. Further, the Deauthorize All button will only appear after you have reached your five-computer limit.
Using the iTunes Store on your iPhone and iPod touch
The iPhone and iPod touch also provide access directly to the iTunes Store via two apps that are installed on these devices. The iTunes Store app is used to access media content such as music, videos and podcasts, while the App Store app is used to browse and purchase applications from the App Store.
Browsing and using these applications is relatively straightforward on the devices, and as of the iPhone 3.0 OS, you can even switch iTunes Store accounts and manage your iTunes Store account directly on the iPhone or iPod touch. although there are some restrictions.

Items larger than 10MB in size can only be downloaded over a Wi-FI connection. This applies to media content and applications. Note that larger podcast episodes can be streamed live via the iTunes Store app, so you can still view podcast episodes on-demand, you just can’t actually download these larger episodes to your device.

You can redeem gift codes on the iPhone and iPod touch by using the Redeem button found at the bottom of the main Music listing.

High-definition content, digital booklets, iTunes Extras and iTunes LP are not supported on the iPhone and will not be downloaded directly to the device. If you purchase an album or video containing these items, the unsupported content is queued up to be downloaded directly to iTunes later. This is noted on the item’s page in the on-device iTunes Store.

Note that you cannot rent high-definition movies on the iPhone and iPod touch, since these do not come with a corresponding standard-definition version and would not be playable on the device itself.
Items purchased on the iPhone and iPod touch will be automatically transferred back to your iTunes library during the next sync. These are placed in their own Purchased playlist based on the name of your device. Movies rented on the iPhone and iPod touch are not transferred back automatically, but can be moved manually to your iTunes library as for any rented movie.
Using the iTunes Store on your Apple TV
The Apple TV also provides the ability to access the iTunes Store and browse, purchase and rent media content. The App Store is not available from the Apple TV. As with the iPhone and iPod touch, content purchased on the Apple TV is automatically transferred back to your iTunes library during the next sync and organized into a Purchased playlist based on your device’s name.
The Apple TV provides a Wish List for Movies and a Favorites list for TV Shows. These do not presently sync with your iTunes Store account or to any other devices; they are stored on the local Apple TV only.
Movies rented on the Apple TV, regardless of whether they are in standard-definition or high-definition, cannot be transferred back to iTunes or to another Apple TV. They must be watched on the Apple TV device on which they were originally rented.
The Apple TV can also be used to automatically download season pass episodes for TV Shows, provided these passes were purchased on the Apple TV initially.