iTunes 4.5 Released, iTMS Updated W/Free Tracks, Limited WMA Support, iMix & More

April 27th, 2004 at 3:00 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin and Brad Smith

In the late hours on Tuesday, the iTunes Music Store began displaying information about new features for both the store and the now-available iTunes 4.5. The store now offers free downloads every week, user iMixes (playlists created by users and uploaded to the store), music videos, movie trailers, and radio charts. The new release of iTunes (version 4.5) includes a new party shuffle feature for dynamic playlist creation and modification on the fly, CD insert printing for burned CDs, a new lossless encoder, and Windows Media Audio (WMA) support in the Windows version. From the info page:

Free Downloads/Single of the Week
Great music from emerging artists each week. Check back every Tuesday for the latest

iMix - Publish Your Playlists
Be a tastemaker on iTunes. Publish your playlists for all the world to see. Itis easy to send lists to friends and family via "Tell-A-Friend" to boost your ratings and top the charts.

Music Videos Page
Now thereis a whole area dedicated to music videos, with new ones added all the time. Buy the songs you like with just one click.

Movie Trailers - Now in iTunes
The ultra-popular movie trailers from Appleis QuickTime site are now available on iTunes.

Radio Charts
Check out the most played tunes on your favorite radio station. Updated weekly, there are more than 1200 stations across hundreds of cities nationwide.

Party Shuffle
Playlists just got even easier. Party Shuffle is a new dynamic playlist thatis always on and ready to party. It shuffles songs from your library or playlists, and you can add or delete on the fly. Be the DJ youive always wanted to be.

Links to Music Store
Your own music library now links back to the Music Store for a seamless connection to the artists you love.

CD Insert Printing
Once youive burned your CD, print a jewel case insert for it right in iTunes. Choose from several cool designs using a mosaic of album cover art or just a single cover. iTunes also lets you print a list of all the songs or albums in your music library.

Wish List
Found a zillion songs on the Music Store you want to buy? Save the previews by dragging them into a playlist and download them later with a single click.

Import WMA Files (Windows)
Along with your AACs and MP3s, you can now import WMA (Windows Media) files (unprotected files only).

Screenshot of the iTMS page detailing the new features

TMO will have full coverage when Apple officially releases details, as well as of this morningis conference call on the year anniversary of the music store.