Apple has informed music labels that it will soon triple the length of music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds.
This change to iTunes has long been rumored, but we originally thought that Apple would double the song sample length to 60 seconds. Instead though, Apple is giving users a 90-second sample as long as the full-length song isn't shorter than two minutes and 30 seconds.
From the letter sent by Apple to the labels:
"We are pleased to let you know that we are preparing to increase the length of music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds on the iTunes Store in the United States. We believe that giving potential customers more time to listen to your music will lead to more purchases."
Longer song previews are a win for users and for labels. Our guess is that the change will lead to more purchases, and we don't think users will be complaining about longer previews either.