Apple has informed US record labels that it is planning to increase the length of iTunes’ song samples to 90 seconds.
The music store currently previews just 30 seconds of a track, which in some cases is too short to provide an accurate representation. Apple believes lengthening the samples will boost sales.
“We are preparing to increase the length of music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds on the iTunes Store in the United States,” Apple wrote in a letter to labels. “We believe that giving potential customers more time to listen to your music will lead to more purchases.”
Apple’s plans for iTunes outside the US aren’t known, though it seems likely that 90 second previews will become standard, not least because Apple is imposing the change itself.
“All you have to do is continue making your content available on the iTunes Store, which will confirm your acceptance to the following terms,” the letter says, implying that labels which don’t like the change can pull their music from the iTunes store.
