At Apple’s annual special music event, this year dubbed “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” they announced a new, old-style album-centric offering called iTunes LP. The image painted was of a young Steve Jobs, grabbing his bike, riding to the music store, buying the latest Dylan on vinyl, racing home, putting it on his turn table, and then lying back and listening, while pouring over the album art, liner material, lyrics, and other extras.

Fast forward to the era of CDs, and ultimately iTunes and digital downloads, and extras became less common, as did buying entire albums. For lazy artists who made one or two good songs and loaded the rest with filler, well deserved. For true artists who wrote albums like epics, like symphonies in multiple parts, well… the listener was the one missing out.

Admittedly, when we first heard about iTunes LP, code-named Cocktail, we worried that Big Music was trying to force Apple to force us to buy those lazy, filler-filled albums, and maybe even sneak DRM (Digital Rights Management) back into our freshly-liberated iTunes.

Turns out that young Steve Jobs and his Dylan album was closer to what we get with iTunes LP than a Big Music lock down scheme. And thank goodness for that.

Web developer Jay Robinson (via Daring Fireball) has taken a closer look at iTunes LP, and provided lots of great details for those interested in the format. Like what?

• The iTunes LP files are ITLP format and rather large (~500MB)
• They’re in 720p, (which is confusing for smaller display sizes like on some laptops, but might make sense on Apple TV, or dare we say, an iTablet“>iTablet?)
• iTunes LP visualizer
• Internal structure uses WebKit (the foundation of Safari) for rendering, HTML 4.01, CSS, and Javascript.
• And best of all — DRM-free! (YES!)

Check out Robinson’s full write up for a lot more on the new iTunes LP format, and if you try it out, tell us what you get and how you like it!

Inside iTunes LP: No DRM, Lots of WebKit is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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TiPb Presents: iPhone Live! #66 – It’s only rock and roll, but did we like it? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Yesterday was Apple’s annual, hype-filled, reality distorted, special music event, It’s only rock and roll, but we like it. Today is the colder, harsher morning after, and as we wipe our eyes, yawn, and look over, we wonder — did you really like it?

This is a multi-choice poll, so if you liked something, vote for it. If you didn’t, leave it hanging. Let’s see how Apple did…

Poll: It Was Only Rock and Roll, but Did You Like It? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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During the It’s only rock and roll, but we like it special music event, as usual, Apple spent some time up front discussing numbers. And as is increasingly usual when it comes to the music leg of their business, those numbers tend towards the HUGE. To date:

• 30 million iPhones sold
• 20 million iPod touches sold

That makes 50 million iPhone OS X platform device on the market, up from 45 million on July 21.

• 75,000 apps in the iTunes App Store
• 1.8 billion downloads (not counting updates)

Still no breakdown of paid vs. free, but up from 3,000 this time last year, and 65,000 and 1.5 billion back on July 14.

In terms of games, compared with other mobile platforms, here’s the library count:

• 21,178 for Apple iPhone/iPod touch
• 3,680 for Nintendo DS
• 607 for Sony PSP

But wait, there’s more…

iTunes and iPod is still doing gangbusters.

• #1 music retailer in the world
• 100,000,000 accounts (credit cards) on file
• 8.5 billion songs sold
• 27 million libraries submitted and analyzed by Genius
• 54 billion songs submitted and analyzed by Genius
• 100 million iPod nanos sold
• 220 million iPods in total sold

What do those numbers look like in the MP3 player space — which everyone including Apple believes is a shrinking business compared to more heavily convergent devices like the iPhone?

• 73.3% iPod
• 17.9% Other
• 7.2% Sandisk
• 1.1% Microsoft

Zune numbers look down from last year, iPod not wildly better. Maybe everyone including Apple is right? Still, even on a downward curve:

• Over 50% of iPod owners are new to the platform

Apple Music Event by the Numbers: 30M iPhones, 20M iPod touches, 75K Apps, 1.8B Downloads is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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If you just happened to miss today’s video of the “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” keynote or just so happen to be having issues downloading the full 850MB podcast feed like I am, jump on over to Apple’s site and instantly view it in it’s entirety via Quicktime stream.

Sure good to see Steve back…

Apple Posts “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” Keynote Stream is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple has posted all 850MB of their “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” special music event to their Apple Keynote podcast feed [iTunes link]. And, wow that was fast. Usually we get a streaming version from QuickTime Apple Events first, then the iTunes podcast later. This time, no waiting (but also no streaming version — yet!)

If you don’t mind beefy iTunes downloads, check it out and let us know what you think!

Apple “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” Keynote Podcast Now Available on iTunes is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Wow. Apple’s iTunes Store now has a Facebook Fan Page. During today’s It’s only rock and roll, but we like it special music event, Apple announced iTunes 9 and said it allowed users to share via Facebook. Apparently you can share some love for iTunes right back.

And if you do, you can get 20 free songs by indie artists. The process sounds hecka convoluted, but TUAW takes you through it admirably.

Let us know if you become a fan, and get your music!

iTunes Launches Facebook Fan Page, Offers 20 Free Songs is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Steve Jobs isn’t the story. But he’s the story. And today, arguably the most important and influential CEO in technology returned to the stage he’s so effectively owned. And he owned it once again.

Sure, he let Phil Schiller and Jeff Rubin do some of the work, but he’s been doing that for a while now. Was the reality distortion field back in full effect? Well, given no iTablet, no iPod touch video, and looking — in his own words — vertical, we got Steve Jobs, and it was good to see him back in action.

Steve Jobs Returns to Keynote Stage is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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So, as part of the It’s only rock and roll, but we like it special music event, Apple pretty much gave the one big feature everyone wanted for the third generation iPod touch… to the nano instead.

• Camera and mic for video (with nifty iChat style special effects!)
• VGA 640×480 recording, H.264
• Sync photos and video to PC (iPhoto on Mac)
• FM Radio + Live Pause, Tagging
• Nike +
• Genius Mixes
• VoiceOver
• Still nanochromatic in wide color range
• $149/$199 for 8GB/16GB

Still, sounds like a jogger’s, or ultra-light traveler’s dream music player, with a great amount of convergence built in… What do you think?

More pics after the break!

iPod nano, Has Video Camera and FM Tuner, Will Travel! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Sure, iTunes 9 leaked on… iTunes mere moments before Apple’s It’s only rock and roll, but we like it special music event got underway, but now you can have it — not just look at it. Hit up Software Update, and if that still shows the old 8.1.2 version, go directly to http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ and get your groove on.

New features include:

• In-iTunes App Management (YES!)
• Improved Syncing Options
• Genius App Recommendations
• Genius Mixes
• Share via Twitter and Facebook
• iTunes LP Enhanced Album Content
• DVD-style Movie Extras
• New, Redesigned Store

And no, you don’t need iTunes 9 to download iPhone 3.1… but you know you want it!

More pics after the break!

iTunes 9 Now Available for Download is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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