Choosing Your Shopping Preferences

The final step in preparing to shop is to configure your shopping preferences. To do so, follow these steps:

1.	Open the iTunes Preferences dialog box.
2.	Click the Store tab to open the Store pane (see Figure 24.8). Figure 24.8. You can customize your iTunes Music Store experience using the Store pane of the iTunes Preferences dialog box.
3.	To show the iTunes Music Store source, which is the default condition, check the Show iTunes Music Store check box. If this box isn't checked, the Music Store won't appear in the Source List.
4.	Choose your shopping method by clicking either the Buy and download using 1-Click radio button or the Buy using a Shopping Cart radio button. tip On the Manage Artist Alerts screen, check the Send me Artist Alerts for all artists in my Purchase History check box and then click Save Changes if you want to be notified when new music from any artist whose music you have previously purchased is added to the iTunes Music Store. Click Clear All to get rid of all your alerts.
5.	If you want songs that you buy to play as soon as you download them, check the Play songs after downloading check box.
6.	If you use a slow Internet connection and want song previews to download completely before they play, check the Load complete preview before playing check box. This will enable the preview to play without pauses that might be caused by your connection speed (or lack thereof).
7.	Click OK. If you select the Shopping Cart method, the Shopping Cart and Purchased Music playlist will appear inside the Music Store source; expand the Music Store source to see them. If you use the 1-Click method, you'll see the Music Store and Purchased Music playlist separately on the Source List. You are now ready to shop!

The Absolute Minimum

Shopping at the iTunes Music Store is better than any other music store I have ever seen. Here are some more shopping points to keep in mind:

• When you shop in the iTunes Music Store, you can choose the 1-Click or Shopping Cart method.

• To shop in the store, you need to obtain and configure an account.

• After you have an account, you configure iTunes to shop according to your preference.

• Almost all the music you buy from the iTunes Music Store has artwork associated with it. You can view the artwork by clicking the Show Artwork button.

• The music you buy from the iTunes Music Store is in the Protected AAC audio file format. This is the same AAC format in which you can import music into your Library, but it also includes some protections against copyright violations.

• The best thing about music you buy from the iTunes Music Store might be that you don't have to unwrap a CD. I hate trying to pry them out of their plastic wrapping!