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  • Can I pre-order a music CD from the Apple iTunes Store?

Can I pre-order a music CD from the Apple iTunes Store?

November 24, 2011 / Dave Taylor / Amazon, eBay, and Online Shopping Help, iPod & MP3 Player Help / 2 Comments

I have a bunch of bands and musicians I follow faithfully and when I see that there’s a new CD coming out from one of them, I’d love to just have it show up on my iPod when it’s released without having to think about it again. Yeah, I could wait until my friends tell me about the new Nine Inch Nails or P. Diddy release, but I want to be first in the digital line. Is this doable with iTunes?

Of course you can do this in iTunes. Like every digital store, Apple does its best to separate you from your money. Happily, of course, but yes, there’s a pre-order capability once they know about the release of a music CD or album (pick your name based on your generation!).
I’ve been a lifelong fan of musician and singer Kate Bush and a few weeks ago noticed that she had a new CD scheduled for late November, 2011. Perfect, I’m in!
To pre-order the new CD, 50 Words for Snow, I found it in the iTunes Store — formerly the iTunes Music Store — and saw that instead of a “Buy” button it was set up a bit differently:

itunes pre order kate bush 1

Instead of “Buy” it says “Pre-Order”. So I dutifully click…
itunes pre order kate bush 2

Legally, Amazon can’t charge for a product it doesn’t have in inventory to deliver, so there’s actually no financial transaction at this point, that’s the gist of its warning message. But yeah, I want thew new CD so I’ll click “Pre-order” and proceed…
itunes pre order kate bush 3

That’s the feature you’re looking for! A click on “Yes” and the computer’s set up to automatically download the new Kate Bush CD as soon as it becomes available in the store.
itunes pre order kate bush 4

You’re welcome. Now, when will I get it?
If you look closely, you’ll see that the expected release date of 50 Words for Snow is November 22, 2011. You can imagine my delight when two days early I received the following in my email:
itunes pre order kate bush 5

I didn’t click on “Download your pre-order now”, however, because I was curious about how iTunes would automatically download the content.
By the time I switched over to iTunes on my MacBook Pro, however, it was already starting to download the CD, track by track:
itunes pre order kate bush 6

Sweet! A quick look in another view and it shows progress wheels for each of the tracks in the new CD:
itunes pre order kate bush 7

And, finally, a chance to listen to another amazing album from Kate Bush:
itunes pre order kate bush 8

In a nutshell, that’s how pre-order works, and your computer should have the new NiN CD downloaded for your listening pleasure well before anyone else in your circle has the time to find it, purchase it and download it onto their own iPods. Enjoy!

About the Author: Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. Author of over 20 technical books, he runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor.

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Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

2 comments on “Can I pre-order a music CD from the Apple iTunes Store?”

  1. Daniel Figucio says:
    November 24, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    Let’s not forget that the Kate Bush album itself is fantastic…

    Reply
  2. Oscar H. Mañas says:
    November 24, 2011 at 9:19 am

    I guess you mean apple, not Amazon:
    Legally, Amazon can’t charge for a product it doesn’t have in inventory to deliver, so there’s actually no financial transaction at this point, that’s the gist of its warning message.

    Reply

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