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"iTunes offers a new option to users: iTunes Pass. It's basically the iTunes equivalent of fan club; you buy the pass for a particular band (currently, only Depeche Mode is in stock) for a fixed fee, and you receive all their stuff - singles, remixes, exclusives, videos - as it appears on iTunes. \nIt may not be too interesting for the casual iTunes users, who buy a couple of songs per week, but it's a great option for the true fans - if executed properly. Here's why:1. It reduces the hassle\nOne of the biggest problems the entertainment industry faces today is not only the fact that pirated content is free; it's also more efficiently organized, faster, and in many ways better than what you get in stores. One of many reasons why this is so is the fact that to purchase something digitally, not only do you have to give money for it, you have to go through the process of purchasing it, which can be a hassle for various reasons. Perhaps you're a kid and you have to nag your parents to use their credit card. Perhaps you're scared of leaving your credit card number on the Internet. Maybe you're just lazy. With the iTunes Pass, you pay one time, and you receive stuff as it arrives on iTunes, without having to go through the process of purchasing new products every time. \n2. It offers more\nThe industry is trying to rip you off all the time. I can give you a very fresh example: a couple of days ago, I was at a Gaslight Anthem gig in Vienna, and they played a song that was recorded as an extra, iTunes-only tune. However, the band was unhappy with the deal; they told the audience they wanted this tune to be free for people who had already bought the album, but it wasn't so. Definitely not a good promotion for iTunes. \nNow, iTunes Pass should ideally be about offering exactly these kind of deals: extra content and features for the true fan out there, for a lesser price. Which brings us to another important point about iTunes Pass:\n3. It's cheaper\nOr at least so they claim on iTunes: The purchase price of iTunes Pass will not exceed the fair market value of individual items offered as part of iTunes Pass. \nIt doesn't sound too reassuring, though. Actually, it sounds like they're trying to rip you off again, by making you buy more for a tiny weeny bit lower price than it normally is. Hopefully, this won't be so: for a feature like iTunes Pass to work, the extra content that you get for the price must be attractive and plentiful, because the true fan will definitely know the difference between one crappy remix and, say, an entire live concert set. The industry needs to understand that a) fans are always thirsty for more content, b) there's a lot of content to give, and c) this is not the time to be cheap.\nWhen more iTunes Passes are available, we'll see if the music industry and iTunes are ready to make the best of this opportunity, or they see it as just another way to milk more cash from the fans. Hopefully, it's the former."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/02/24/itunes-pass/>