[kevkrom]

I've used iTunes via the Pepsi promotion, and I like the setup. $1 a song (ok, 99 cents) is pretty reasonable, especially since you can pick and choose which songs you want, and not the entire album.

The service lets you preview 30 seconds of a track for free, so you're not buying completely unheard stuff.

[hunter112]

I've used iTunes via the Pepsi promotion

Steve Jobs is out there saying that iTunes is a success, but if you take away the freebies from the Pepsi promotion, it looks pretty anemic to me.

Of course, that could be a marketing model, songs could become the great freebie giveaways to promote other products, and iTunes, etc. could just be in the coupon redemption business as their primary business model.

Real Rhapsody lets you listen to songs for two weeks free, then you can cancel. No, there are no downloads, but if you have the Total Recorder software running (or similar software) you would be able to capture the song (illegally, of course, so don't try this at home, kids!) It would also have the effect of stripping out any tracking bits that were put in a song. (oh, oh, there I go again, saying naughty things!)

[rwfromkansas]

Itunes is being pressured by the RIAA to raise its price to 2 bucks or more per download.

Greedy bastards.

luckily they have not buckled yet.