iTunes recently increased their song previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds. The reasoning is straightforward: give people an opportunity to hear more music and and you have a greater chance of converting them (provided the content is good). Makes sense. But if I want to preview an album, listening to 10-12 consecutive 90-second clips is not something I would do. I want to hear the album in its entirety - hopefully multiple times.  If I don’t make it thru the first listen, I’m not a buyer. Sometimes the first listen is just on in the background while I’m working.  Before I know it, the album is over and I think to myself that sounded good.  I’m going to listen again - this time paying more attention. Maybe I’ll listen to it during a run or on my way home.  I want to live with it for a few days/plays and decide if I really like it.  At that point, if it’s an album that I’ve enjoyed, there’s a good a chance I want to add it to my permanent collection and be willing to buy it.

iTunes is limited by what it’s content partners are willing to do, and clearly 90 seconds is more then 30 seconds, but it’s still short of what I want.  Give me the music, let me live with it for a few days, and then I’ll decide if I want to buy it.  Yes, this is what album previews on Spinner, MySpace, NPR, etc. do (without the mobility).  Yes, this is what TopSpin widgets and Bandcamp pages do (again w/o the mobility).  And yes, I’m able to do this via subscription services.  Which only reinforces the point that it it could be a powerful feature if integrated into iTunes.

I want to try before I buy.