iTunes Store is a digital marketplace selling songs, albums, music videos, ringtones and alert tones.

[5] Steve Jobs saw the opportunity to open a digital marketplace for music due to the rising popularity of easily downloadable tracks.

At the January 2009 Macworld Expo, Apple announced that all iTunes music would be made available without DRM, and encoded at the higher-quality rate of 256 kbit/s.

However, at Macworld 2009, Apple issued a software update which automatically allowed 3G and EDGE users to access the store's full functionality for files smaller than 10 megabytes (MB).

[42] The iOS 3.0 update added the ability to download movies, TV shows, audiobooks, iTunes U, and ringtones on mobile devices, in addition to the previously available songs and podcasts.

Unlike other iTunes purchases, donations made to charitable organizations through this system are not subject to the 30% handling fee Apple usually charges.

[53] However, this is not universally true; for example, Living in the Heart of the Beast by Henry Cow is 16 minutes and 18 seconds, yet is available for individual purchase as of 24 December 2013[update].

In September 2009, Apple introduced the iTunes LP format (known pre-launch by the code name "Cocktail")[55] which features visual, interactive content alongside album tracks and lyrics.

[56] Gibraltarian flamenco metal band Breed 77 released an exclusive album called Un Encuentro to coincide with the launch of "iTunes Latino".

When iTunes launched, the decision was made to standardize on AAC instead of the more popular MP3 format on the supposition that it offers better quality compared to other codecs at similar bit rates.

[65] In January 2004 at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Steve Jobs announced (Sellers, 2004) that an unnamed person had purchased US$29,500 worth of music.

A user must also pay with an iTunes gift card or a credit card with a billing address in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United States or Vietnam.

FairPlay was built into the MP4 multimedia file format as an encrypted AAC audio layer, and was used by the company to protect copyrighted works sold through the store, allowing only authorized devices to play the content.

[147][148] The restrictions imposed by FairPlay, mainly limited device compatibility, sparked criticism, with a lawsuit alleging antitrust violation[149] that was eventually closed in Apple's favor,[150] and various successful efforts to remove the DRM protection from files,[151][152] with Apple continually updating its software to counteract such projects.

[162] Full DRM-free "iTunes Plus" music availability was achieved in the US on April 7, 2009, coinciding with the introduction of a three-tiered pricing model.

On Super Bowl Sunday, February 1, 2004, Apple launched a promotion with Pepsi in which they gave away 100 million songs, through tokens on selected soft drink bottle caps.

He then received a phone call from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who offered his congratulations, as well as a 40 GB 3rd Generation iPod laser-engraved with a message of thanks.

Songs could be redeemed until August 31, 2005, by entering a code printed on the Slurpee cup into iTunes Music Store application.

[166] From August 8 to 31, 2005, each customer who tried on any pair of Gap jeans could receive a free download for a song of their choice from iTunes Music Store.

On July 25, 2006, Facebook and iTunes began offering a promotion where members of the Apple Students group would receive a free 25 song sampler each week until September 30 in various music genres.

[167] However, in order to prevent abuse of the promotion, the weekly code that Facebook provided stopped working after it was redeemed one million times.

On February 24, 2010, the 10 billionth song, "Guess Things Happen That Way" by Johnny Cash, was purchased by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia.

[173] During his Macworld Keynote address on January 9, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs used the band's song "With a Little Help from My Friends," followed by "Lovely Rita," to introduce the music-playing capabilities of the company's new iPhone.

[175] In a related development, Apple announced on August 14, 2007, that the entire solo catalog of John Lennon would be available on iTunes.

Instead, Universal said that it would market music to Apple at will, allowing it to remove its songs from the iTunes service on short notice if the two sides did not agree on pricing or other terms.

On August 9, 2007, UMG announced a plan to sell some songs in MP3 format, without Digital rights management, through a variety of online services such as Amazon Music and the newly created gBox.

While these tracks continue to be available through the iTunes Store, Universal chose to license these songs in DRM-free formats only through other services.

[186] It was later clarified that this change only applied to series produced by NBCUniversal-owned Universal Television, including Universal-produced shows on other networks such as House.

NBC programs produced by other studios, such as Chuck (Warner Bros.) and Journeyman (20th Century Fox), would remain available on iTunes.

[188] NBC claims that they never asked to double the wholesale price and insisted that their shows would be sold by the iTunes Store through early December.