Section 29. Request Music from the iTunes Music Store

29. Request Music from the iTunes Music Store

Before You Begin	See Also
Sign Up for the iTunes Music Store	Watch for Newly Added Music Using an RSS Feed
Browse the iTunes Music Store	Tell a Friend About an Album in the iTunes Music Store

Even though the iTunes Music Store has more than two million songs in its catalog with thousands more being added every week, there's bound to be some music you'd love to buy in crisp clear AAC format but that just doesn't seem to be available in the store, or some great music video you remember from the '80s that you can't find anywhere. Apple expends great effort in finding music not just from the big labels but from small and obscure publishers, too. But there are simply far too many albums being produced every year for Apple to feature all of them (to say nothing of all the albums that have been published throughout music history). Furthermore, some big-name artists are conspicuously absent from the iTunes Music Store; these artists, such as Metallica or the Beatles, might have their own reasons for keeping their music out of the world's largest legal digital music downloading system, but for now there's nothing weor Applecan do but wait for the inevitability of progress to overtake them. (The Rolling Stones, originally missing from the iTunes Library, is now prominently featuredperhaps a positive sign of things to come.)

Note

The Beatles are holdouts from appearing in the iTunes Music Store because of a longstanding legal trademark battle between Apple Computer, Inc. and the Beatles' label, Apple Records. The two firms have clashed numerous times over the years, usually whenever Apple Computer decided to add more sound or music features to the Macintosh platform. Naturally, when Apple became a music publisher with the iTunes Music Store, Apple Records was far from pleased. However, after the most recent round of legal fisticuffs (in which a court ruled in Apple Computer's favor), the word is spreading that Apple Records is finally in the process of remastering the Beatles' library in preparation for release as digital downloads, so keep your fingers crossed.

Nonetheless, the iTunes Music Store staff provides a mechanism for you to send them your requests for music that they simply haven't gotten around to adding yet. If they receive a lot of requests for a certain album or artist, that music is a lot more likely to show up than an album or artist that nobody's interested in. Communicate your interest and help make the iTunes Music Store as complete as it can be!

Request Music from the iTunes Music Store

Search for Music

First, check to make sure that the music you want isn't actually in the store. Type the name of an artist, album, or track into the Search Music Store box and press Return or Enter. If the desired music doesn't exist in the store, the search result page appears empty-handed (possibly with a suggestion of another artist name, if one with a similar spelling to what you typed exists).

Provide iTunes Feedback

On the page resulting from an unsuccessful search, a message reads Request music you can't find; the word Request is a link. Click it to open the iTunes Feedback page at Apple's website. Another, more direct way to get to this page is to choose iTunes, Provide iTunes Feedback (Mac) or Help, Provide iTunes Feedback (Windows).

Enter Your Information

Fill out your name, email address, and as many of the rest of the fields as you wantthey're all optional, but they help the Apple staff prioritize your request. Most importantly, select the appropriate type of request (Song, Artist, Album, and so on) from the Request Type drop-down list.

Request Music You Can't Find

In the Comments box, describe the music you want; just list artist names and albums according to the type of request you've indicated. There's no need to be especially wordy.

Submit Your Request

Click the Send Feedback button. Your request is sent to Apple's support staff. Don't expect to hear anything back from Apple in response to your request; their hands are full. But be satisfied that you've made your request known, and watch the newly added music every Tuesday to see whether your requests have been acted on.