iTunes 9 bringing iTunes LP functionality, 'beautiful new look

by Paul Miller posted Sep 9th 2009 at 12:47PM

Ready to pay more for the same music? Good! We've just spotted some new "Deluxe Version" albums in iTunes, which apparently are part of the "iTunes LP" experience in the upcoming iTunes 9, if the album blurbs are to be believed. The albums pack in bonus material like art, videos and additional recordings. Sounds just like Cocktail to us, and we're sure Apple will be explaining it all soon enough.

Update: It's more or less official now, complete with a non-working "Download iTunes 9" button and everything. Apple's mainly touting the new interface for the store in this blurb, but we know it's just a front for taking more of our hard-earned cash and putting it in the hands of starving musicians. The nerve.

New features mentioned:

• Improved store navigation, including persistent navigation menu.
• Full window iTunes store. For times when that sidebar is just too much.
• Previews from anywhere in the store -- don't have to drill down to preview.
• iTunes LP includes lyrics, liner notes, video, photos and "more."
• iTunes Extras. It's like DVD extras, but with iTunes. Not clear if it includes director's commentaries, but let's hope.

Update 2: It's now official, and Apple has fleshed out some more functionality.

• Genius Mixes. It's like Genius Playlists, but it plays forever like a radio station.
• App management, letting you set up and arrange your home screens on the iPhone and iPod touch. You can drag and drop to move certain apps or whole pages of apps.
  
• Home sharing enables file transfers between up to five local computers of songs, videos and even apps.
• You can send items in the iTunes Store as gifts, add them to a wishlist, and publish them to Facebook and Twitter -- look who's getting all social all of a sudden!
• It's available today.

Source

As of writing, the download link still points to the old version of iTunes (version 8)