Warner Music, Sony BMG and Universal going iTunes Plus very soon

For the latest information and update, please see my post on the next page.

OMG, I just opened up iTunes, casually clicked on iTunes Plus, and there I found new upgrade (DRM to DRM-free) songs for the first time in months; the two songs were Gnarls Barkley's Crazy and Neil Young's Hey Hey My My - both Warner Music songs. THIS IS NEW!

I live in Canada, and this means that Warner is going iTunes Plus, possibly a little early? Heh. To think we only heard about Sony!

EDIT: Pics - the upgrade screen itself and the album page for St. Elsewhere - it says right above that it's a Downtown Records (Warner subsidiary) album. Strangely, the page for Neil Young's album (where it comes right out and says Warner) shows no Plus logos but it's in my upgrade page, so whatever.

EDIT 2: Saturday; got another screen; this time for a Stevie Nicks song. The album page again shows no indication that it's iTunes Plus but it's in the upgrades! Modern Records - now Reprise, a Warner company. More proof! Will we see an announcement on Tuesday? Methinks YES!

EDIT 3: More proof: Crosby, Stills & Nash's Southern Cross shows up as iTunes Plus in the Genius Sidebar but not on its album page. Screen attached. I think it's basically official now... Same goes for much of the rest of their catalogue.

EDIT 4: MAJOR NEWS - I just saw an Edgar Winter song in the Genius Sidebar as iTunes Plus - he's with Epic, a subsidiary of Sony. Same thing with his album page not showing it. This means Sony is coming too. BIG NEWS. I guess the only thing left is Universal - TUESDAY WILL BE BIG!

RTW said:

Something definitely appears to be happening... I have about ten albums that suddenly appeared in my iTunes Plus, but they're almost all *Universal*. Not Sony, not Warners.

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Whoa. This IS big. Any examples/proof?

I cannot WAIT for Tuesday!

RTW said:

Sure. The Cure (Geffen). The Killers (Island). Nine Inch Nails (Interscope). Portishead (Go!-Universal Island). Simian Mobile Disco (Interscope). The Presets (Modular, dist. by Universal) etc.

Don't need a screenshot - you'll just have to take my word for it.

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I believe you, lol.

Anybody else seeing any other examples? This is turning out to be one weird weekend.

Cynicalone said:

It shows my Universal music is upgradeable but it's not able to be purchased at this time. So looks like the announcement is pending.

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Interesting, it's been purchaseable for me, but I haven't had any Universal music yet. Tomorrow cannot come fast enough!

iTunes Plus has mysteriously disappeared from the iTunes navbar - it did the same thing a few weeks ago, but NOW it makes sense. It's still accessible - best way is to click on a genre in music and then the sidebar. (Link for the main page: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/iTunesPlusPage ) Wonder if there'll be a big announcement?

BTW, joelovesapple, you can pick individual songs to upgrade, just navigate through to the "songs to upgrade screen" and you get to pick and choose. Or you can just delete the files you replaced already from your library and they won't show up.

joelovesapple said:

Where is that? I don't see it. It shows albums only. Will it show up if I click the buy button?

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Oh... yeah, the pick-and-choose only works with individual songs you bought. Tough break, lol.

U2 - wow, things are getting bigger - big names. Eksellent.

joelovesapple said:

Ah crap, it won't let me upgrade yet anyway. Says the file isn't there basically. So I could either wait til midnight UK time (my region), or tomorrow, after work.

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What do you mean by "won't let me upgrade yet"? What is iTunes telling you?

joelovesapple said:

The item you tried to buy is no longer available.

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Heh. That's actually pretty funny. ...no longer available UNTIL TOMORROW! hehehe