As we reported on Tuesday, iTunes users have long complained about having to pay twice for songs after first buying a single track and then going on to buy the entire album. Now, Apple is putting a stop to this.
From today, Apple's iTunes Store features a function called 'Complete My Album'. It scans the individual tracks you've bought and then lists the albums that are available to 'complete' and how much it will cost to do this. So far it looks like Apple is only offering this function for music, and not TV programmes.
Previously, if you bought a single track for 79p and then decided to splash out and buy the entire album you would have to pay for that song again as part of the £7.99 album price. Now Apple will give you a 79p discount off an album for every track you've already bought
"Music fans can now round out their music collections by upgrading their singles into complete albums with just one click, and get full credit for those songs they have previously purchased from iTunes," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes.
"Complete My Album is a wonderful new way that iTunes helps customers grow and enjoy their music collections."
During a limited period you can complete your albums regardless of when you bought them, but soon a six-month cut-off date will be applied. In this way, Apple is responding to criticism from users - and probably hoping for an increase in album sales. Another new function added to the iTunes Store is 'My Alerts', where you can get tips on new releases from artists that you have already bought music from.
