Apple Extends iTunes Previews to 90 Seconds Internationally

Saturday July 30, 2011 12:13 am PDT by Arnold Kim

itunespreviews
Apple seems to have extended iTunes song previews to 90 seconds internationally. Apple first rolled out 90 second previews in the U.S. back in December, 2010. International song previews had been stuck at 30 seconds.

According to a number of reports, the new preview lengths are available in at least Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK and parts of Europe. As with the U.S. launch, not all songs will have 90 second previews.

In the U.S., Apple had made the change unilaterally in an email to labels telling them that they would automatically extend previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds in the iTunes Store in the U.S. It's unclear what was the reason for the delay for international markets.

Popular Stories

Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple Smart Home Hub to Feature iMac G4-Style Design

Wednesday September 30, 2026 4:36 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Apple's long-rumored smart home hub will have an iMac G4-style design and a host of unique features, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. The smart home hub is said to feature a square 6-inch display, with variants that can be placed on a countertop or mounted on a wall. It features a single FaceTime camera on the front, with microphones and speakers in its connected base. Gurman described the...

• 189 comments

New Apple TV 4K Leaked

Friday September 25, 2026 8:16 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris has uncovered an image file from Apple for an unreleased Apple TV 4K, suggesting that a new model will finally be released soon. The image is specifically for an "Apple TV 4K (4th generation)" model. Apple TV 4K (4th generation) image (on a gradient) The image reveals that the Apple TV will have the same external design as the current model, with all of its...

• 192 comments

Three New Apple Smart Home Products Coming on October 13

Wednesday September 30, 2026 4:04 am PDT by Hartley Charlton

Apple plans to introduce a series of new smart home products on Tuesday, October 13, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple reportedly plans to debut its long-awaited smart home hub device, a new HomePod mini, and a new Apple TV on the date. The new HomePod mini and Apple TV are set to retain their existing designs, but tout faster chips to support Siri AI. The new HomePod mini will...

• 56 comments

Top Rated Comments

jonnyb

198 months ago

90 second previews are very important for the discovery of dance and electronic music, especially, as the tracks tend to be much longer than your average pop song. A 30 second sample often doesn't do a track justice so these new longer previews are especially welcome for me.

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

chrono1081

198 months ago

I've bought more songs because of the longer previews. Sometimes 30 isn't enough.

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Dr McKay

198 months ago

I wonder if people actually buy songs only after listening to 90 seconds of it.

Well if the song is terrible then no ;)

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

arn

198 months ago

Just what Adele needs, more bloody promotion! :p

I just picked the #1 song off the list. :)

Not really sure how much this will effect sales. Don't most people use the preview to confirm its the song they are looking for?

It's good for music discovery. I was looking at some albums the other day, and trying to find some new music... so the 90 second previews were nice.

arn

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

weckart

198 months ago

Sure, why not? You can get a good idea of a song in 30 seconds - I don't think this is going to make a whole lot of difference.

Guess again. It all depends on where the clip is selected. Too many are from extended intros and non-singing portions of songs where you really have no idea what the song really sounds like.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)