Due to the design of iTunes, only Apple can add support for FLAC <ahref="#footnote1">[1]</a>. And why wouldn't they? FLAC usage is accelerating, <ahref="links.html#music">many bands</a> like Pearl Jam, Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Metallica -- the same hip, influential people whose fans Apple courts -- are already distributing music in FLAC format, and users are clamoring for it in the iTunes forums:<br/>
<li><ahref="http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=784174&#784174">[2]</a><i>"I have seen a lot of people on live music message boards turn away from the iPod because there are other music players that support FLAC. I am on the verge... and I am an Apple die-hard!"</i></li>
<li><ahref="http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=799873&#799873">[3]</a><i>"If your source material is FLAC (as many bands have gone this way to distribute online music) your choice is to use another music player ..."</i></li>
<li><ahref="http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?threadID=&q=flac&objID=c149&dateRange=all&userID=&numResults=30">[4]</a> (many more requests)</li>
Make your voice heard! <ahref="http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html">Fill out the iTunes feedback form</a> (politely!) and let them know. Feel free to also direct them to this page. We at the FLAC project <ahref="developers.html">stand ready to help</a> as well.<br/>
<aname="footnote1"/>[1] <ahref="http://xiph.org/quicktime">XiphQT</a>, through tremendous effort by developers, goes as far as possible in allowing some playback capability via QuickTime. But proper iTunes support -- tag handling, no import delays, etc. -- is not possible without Apple.<br/>
