Not only can you purchase music and audiobooks from the iTunes Store, with iTunes 7 or later you can buy music videos, movies, and even television shows1 that play directly in iTunes. If you have Apple TV, you can view purchased videos on your TV. And if you've got a Fifth Generation iPod (with video), you can copy videos to your player to watch videos whenever and wherever you want. Here's how to browse, preview, and purchase videos.
Important Information about your iTunes Purchases
Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected video files purchased from the iTunes Store are protected by FairPlay, Apple's digital rights management system. FairPlay allows you to play your music on up to five computers at a time, enjoy unlimited syncing with iPods, and sync to up to five Apple TVs.
The iTunes Store also offers music videos without DRM protection, from participating record labels. These DRM-free songs, called "iTunes Plus," have no usage restrictions and feature higher-quality encoding. There are no burn limits and iTunes Plus music will play on all iPods, Mac or Windows computers, Apple TVs, and many other digital music players.
For more information about FairPlay authorization, see the "Authorization FAQ” page on the iTunes Store Customer Service page.
Browse and Buy Music Videos
Why wait for music channels to play your favorite music videos when you can own your own copy from the iTunes Store?
If you want a little visual to go with your music, check out the 9000+ music videos available in the iTunes Store—just click the Music Videos link in the left column under iTunes Store. Like other iTunes Store pages, the Music Videos store features the same familiar sections. You can browse the various sections for videos, click a genre under GENRES in the left column, or type an artist's name in the Search iTunes Store field in the upper-right corner to see videos (and music) from that artist.
Click any item to go to that music video's purchase page, which displays a Preview button, the purchase price, and all other music videos available for that artist. If you browsed for videos by genre, you can view a music video's page by clicking the small arrow button to the right of the music video name in the video list pane (all video files that appear in a list pane will display a TV icon next to their name so you can tell them apart from music files).
You can preview and purchase your chosen video on any music video page, as well as view all other videos available for that artist.
Click the Preview button to watch a 20-second snippet of your chosen video play on the page (or double-click a video listing if you're viewing a selection in the video list pane). You can also click any other video on a page to go to that music video's page and get a preview.
1-Click Shopping
If you set up the store for 1-Click shopping, simply click any "Buy Video" button to immediately purchase and download that video to your iTunes library. iTunes adds the video to your Purchased playlist in the Source list so you can keep track of all purchases you've made from the store.
With 1-Click shopping, you'll see "Buy Video" buttons, which let
you purchase and download videos with a simple click.
Shopping Cart
If you've opted to use a shopping cart, click any "Add Video" button to add that video to your shopping cart, which appears in the iTunes Source list under Store (click the disclosure triangle next to Store if you don't see Shopping Cart listed).
If you see "Add Video" buttons, clicking them adds videos to a virtual
shopping cart from which you can purchase and download items.
If you want to see what's in your shopping cart, just choose Shopping Cart in the Source list. Your pending purchases are listed in a preview pane just like what you see in any album or singles page. You can choose to buy everything in your shopping cart or buy items singly if that's your prerogative. Your total purchase price for everything in your cart appears at the bottom of the window.
To buy everything, click the "Buy Now" button at the bottom-right corner of the window. If you only want to buy certain items, click the "Buy Video" button next to the video you want. iTunes downloads your purchases to your iTunes library and adds the video to a Purchased playlist in the Source list so you can keep track of what you've bought from the store. To remove an item from your shopping cart, click the round X button to the right of a "Buy" button, or choose an item and press Delete on your keyboard.
With shopping cart purchases, you can decide to buy everything in your cart or choose the items you want.
Browse and Buy movies
Watch big screen cinema in the palm of your hands, browse through a full catalog of old and new releases available for purchase and download.
Enjoying a night at the movies is now easier than ever when you download Movies from the iTunes Store. You can find all your favorite classics, as well as latest releases, from film studios such as Disney, Paramount, and Lionsgate. From the iTunes Store, click Movies to access a catalog filled with great movies and short films available for purchase.
Just click any movie poster to view details about that movie, read the plot summary, view a trailer, or check out the customer reviews. When you’re ready to purchase, click the Buy Movie or Add Movie icon, you can also send a movie as a gift to your family or friends. Following the download, you can sync it with your iPod or enjoy your movie selection on your computer in iTunes. You can also sync or stream the movie to an Apple TV.
Browse and Buy TV Shows
No need to stay home and be a couch potato. The iTunes Store features lots of new and vintage shows for purchase that you can view on your computer, Apple TV, or iPod anywhere.
Forget programming your VCR, setting TiVo, or rushing to get home on time to catch your favorite TV show. You just might find it in the iTunes Store. Just click TV Shows under iTunes Store in the left column on the iTunes Store homepage to view all of the television shows available for purchase.
The TV Shows store is set up just like our music and audiobooks store and features current hit shows such as Lost, The Office, Desperate Housewives, Monk, and Law & Order, as well as classics including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dragnet, and Knight Rider. You'll also find various sketches from Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Just click any show icon, choose a show from the Top TV Shows chart in the right column, or choose a network from the Network section in the left column and then a show from there to go to a show's page. Each show page displays all of the episodes available for each season—you'll see the current season, but you can check out all back episodes too by clicking a Previous Season icon if there are more episodes available.
Just double-click any episode to view a 20-second preview (by default, iTunes plays the clip in the artwork and video viewer pane).
To preview any episode, choose one in the preview pane, then double-click it to watch a 20-second clip. You can buy individual episodes (click the "Buy Episode" or "Add Episode" button), a group of episodes within the current season (click the "Buy All Episodes" or "Add All Episodes" button), or purchase an entire season (click the "Buy Season" or "Add Season" button). To purchase a TV show, follow the same instructions for buying music videos here.
Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple's recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.
1. Some features for the iTunes Store mentioned in these lessons are not available in all stores, including AOL login, TV shows, and movies.