The concept of trying before you buy is not a new one. We do that with clothes, we do that with apps, and we do that with music. Now previously Apple had allowed listeners to sample up to 90 seconds of a song as long as the song itself was longer than 2 minutes 30 seconds, which seems fair, since long songs can’t be judged in which a short period of time.
However it seems that Apple is rolling back on the 90 seconds and reverting to 30 second previews. Apple instituted the 90 second preview back in 2010, but it looks like they could be going back to the 30 second preview as reported by many iTunes users, along with the folks at AppleInsider who have confirmed the 30 second preview themselves.
Oddly enough there does not seem to be an explanation as to why Apple is doing that at the moment as the shortened previews appear to be random. There are still some songs reportedly offering 90 second previews, but there are some who have been shorted to 30 seconds, so it is possible that it could be a glitch.
Alternatively Apple could be facing pressure from the record labels who might not be too happy at the extended song previews. So, have any of our readers affected by the shortened previews?
Filed in iTunes.
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