The iTunes Music Store has made obtaining legal music online much
easier than in the past. Previously, legal music downloadable from
the Internet would frequently work only with certain devices or
certain applications.
There was nothing like the iPod to draw (almost) everyone
together using a single application, and many PC users played their
music through a myriad of applications such as WinAmp, MusicMatch,
or RealOne player, whereas Mac users often used Audion or
SoundJam.
Now that the iPod has become popular (to put it mildly), it has
pretty much standardized iTunes as the music player of choice for
both Mac and PC users, and most people are familiar with the iTunes
Music Store even if they haven't used it.
CDs or Downloads?
There are those who are hesitant to purchase anything over the
Internet (my mother, for instance), who would prefer to actually go
to a store to buy what they want. What many do not realize is that
the iTunes Music Store can help them out. Each song is available
with a 30-second preview. While sites like Amazon.com often have
previews of a selection of songs from an album available, iTunes
gives you the ability to preview all of them so that you can just
buy the tracks that you like.
I was surprised to see that they have a classical section, and
they will give you a 30-second sample of any piece of music there,
too.
iTunes track sampling also provides a great way to learn about
new music. Often, bands and artists listed on Last.fm, a music
profiling site, don't have tracks that can be previewed on the
site. The iTunes Music Store provides a useful second stop - plus a
place to actually purchase the music that you heard.
This not only gives you - the consumer - the choice of whether
to buy the album or not, but where to buy it. If you would prefer
to have the actual CD, you can purchase it from your local record
store just as easily as you can from iTunes. Simply use iTunes to
sample tracks before you buy.
This is great, but those who decide to purchase from their local
HMV or Tower Records are sales lost for Apple. Yes, digital music
is the future, but many people still like CDs. For some the idea of
owning something physical is preferable to downloading it over the
Internet. Some have cars that only support CDs.
Artwork and Liner Notes
Others really like to get the artwork and track liner notes that
only come with physical CDs. Sure, iTunes provides support for
album covers, but its support isn't for high-resolution artwork
that can be browsed through like a booklet.
It would be nice if Apple offered a proper way to download and
view the liner notes of an album you've purchase. Perhaps an idea
for the next version of iTunes, this could convince some to
purchase music over the Internet instead of in a store - especially
if they could print out the booklet, fold it, and store it in a
generic CD case with the burned copy of the album they just
downloaded from iTunes.
While I do not think that Apple should sell physical CDs (not
only would this make little sense due to costs, but it would also
be possibly infringing even more on the Apple Computer vs. Apple
Corps dispute), I do think that Apple should look into including
high-resolution artwork and liner notes with the downloaded music.
Not only would this potentially bring in some of the CD-only
purchasers, but it could ultimately provide a new creative format
for bands and producers to use in order to distribute art and
information along with an album. 
