Will itunes have subscription service this year?

it sounds cool, I just hope it’s an option and not mandatory or anything.

No

Steve Jobs thinks subscriptions suck.
I would rather own my music anyway, and not have any of the iTs controlled by subscription pricing, as the labels would love to have happen.

There is recent speculation that the next iTunes release (expected in late September ‘08) v.8.0 will add new features, including an “iTunes Unlimited” which is supposed to offer access to ablout half of the iTunes catalog for $99 / year fee payable up front. There is an article on it at macrumors.com but I don’t have the exact link for you (sorry). Apparently the rumor was from a semi-credible source.

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/08/20/september-apple-event-rumor-itunes-unlimited-iphone-idisk-access/

^^see above reference

Well Steve Jobs also said that people don’t want to watch video on a iPod. And the rest is history.

It sounds all too stupid and complicated – doesn’t seem like Apple.

half of the iTunes store, what half. Just music and zero videos? If apple does do it, I would gladily pay that if I got videos. Apple Tv might actually be applealing in that case.

I think they will. And I think it’s coming soon. Regardless of if they do or not, iTunes 8 is on its way. Maybe this month, maybe in 5 years, but it IS on its way. iTunes 8 is the PERFECT time for a subscription service. Why? Well what happens when you turn that little digit? That’s right. You have iTunes ∞. Kinda gives you the idea of iTunes Unlimited, huh? I don’t doubt that it’s coming. It’s just a matter of if it’ll be successful or not. If it includes movies, I’m definitely in. Right now their plan for movie rentals sucks if you asks me. Something needs to give (either price or time limit. Double the time limit so I can watch it twice if I like it [without playing it on a loop], or make it a reasonable price). If movies were bundled in this “iTunes Unlimited,” along with music, it’d sell great. I would still probably buy my music, but I’d get unlimited rentals. And that’d be what I want.

@bmhit1991, I think that movies would be a great addition, but I can’t see the studios signing onto a subscription service for their movies

umm…Netflix?

that’s what I was thinking. Most of them already have for Netflix. It’s just more of a fair game if iTunes has a rental service like that. And if they have renting music included, they pretty much create a monopoly out of it because you’d be stupid to not go for it.