Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Apple is definitely venturing out of its comfort zone with its new iTunes Pass.  Essentially what Apple has done is combine the traditional album preorder, the teaser of the single, and all the bonus content usually on the deluxe addition, into a single offering for the content hungry fans.  Similar in concept to a TV season pass, the iTunes Pass will include all content released by a specific artist within a set time frame.

Beginning with Depeche Mode, users will be able to buy a $19 pass that will include the bands new single right now, the album when it is released, and various other exclusive multimedia content over time.  The pass will also include any videos or remixes the band puts out, until the pass expires on June 16th. 

All the music included in the pass will be the iTunes Plus version of the songs which guarantee DRM free listening at 256 kbps AAC.  Apple has also confirmed that the cost of buying the pass will not exceed the price of all the content purchased individually.

I personally can’t see this taking off with the casual iTunes user, but for someone who is a major fan of a particular artist this could be a very appealing offering.  Hopefully in the future Apple will apply this same concept to other artists or offer up specific genre passes that include monthly top tens.  For many iTunes users, this rekindles hope that Apple may be dipping a toe into the long rumored, subscription music business model.

Read [Venture Beat]