Sunday, July 8, 2012

My Virgin Attempt at Buying from SG iTunes

Starting from last week or so we Singaporeans are finally able to buy from iTunes with our SG-issued credit and debit cards. So I decided to hop onto the Apple bandwagon and attempt to purchase Anna Netrebko's Live from the Met CD album. If you are curious to try but are not sure how to, here's a step-by-step series of sreengrabs to help you figure it out (click on any of the images below to enlarge for clarity):

Step 1: Open up iTunes programme. If you haven't already had it installed you can download it for free at www.itunes.com:


Step 2: Select "iTunes Store" on the left column. You should see an exciting array of ads for downloads of music, movies, ebooks and podcasts. Type in the recording you are looking for in the toolbar on the top right corner. Alternatively you can simply type in an artist's or work's name and browse through the selection that the system offers:




Step 3: The system will display the album that you searched for as well as songs contained in the album. You can choose to download the whole album (the Live for the Met album costs SGD12.98 but price for each album differs) or download individual tracks for about one to three dollars each. You can also select options to share the iTunes page for that album on Twitter, Facebook or other social media websites:


Step 4: The system will request to confirm your purchase, hitting "ok" will lead you to the Terms and Conditions page. Just go through it as you usually do in these circumstances:



Step 5: iTunes will prompt you for your user ID and password:


Step 6: After which, you will be led to the credit card payment and billing info page:


Step 7: Your download will start once your credit card payment is approved. You can keep track on the iTunes Downloads page on the right toolbar, just below the button for the iTunes store:


Step 8: After all the tracks have been downloaded, the album will be shown in your personal music folder:


The package of downloads also includes the linear notes in PDF form. Unfortunately our iPhones are unable to open PDF files without special apps and a really complicated process of transferring them, so you'll just have to admire the pictures and translations on your computer:


Voila, I'm a happy shopper! Here's to my first ever legal online music purchase! Not sure if it'll entirely replace my usual CD shopping habit, but it does seem to open up a lot of new possibilities. While this purchase felt somewhat lacking as there isn't a material object for me to hold, it is less of a hassle as I don't have to rip the CD into my system and then transfer it to my MP3 player before I can start enjoying my purchase. I look forward to seeing rare releases from independent labels such as the Opera Rara and Chando's Opera in English series to be available soon. Meanwhile I have a new CD to listen to. Cheers!

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