How to Browse Content at the iTunes Store

Man and woman talking in record store

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by Sam Costello
Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others.
Updated April 05, 2019

While the browse feature is still available in iTunes, it doesn't seem to work very well anymore. For instance, selecting an artist in music will often show albums, but no songs within those albums.

The main way most people find music, movies, TV shows, and other content to buy at the iTunes Store is by searching or by checking out the main pages of the store. But those aren't the only ways to find content. If you want something with fewer graphics and more organized lists, you can actually browse the iTunes Store, too. Just pick a thing to browse—music or podcasts, for instance—pick genres, subgenres, artists, and other details and find all that the iTunes Store has to offer. This can be a great way to discover content you're not already familiar with (though there's a huge amount to sift through). 

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Browse Genres/Categories at the iTunes Store

Browse content at iTunes store, step 1

To browse content at the iTunes Store, follow these steps:

  1. Begin by opening iTunes and going to the iTunes Store.
  2. Scroll to the very bottom of the iTunes Store window. Look for the Features column and click Browse.
  3. The iTunes window transforms from the colorful, highly illustrated iTunes Store to a basic grid that's very similar to the Song view of your music library in iTunes.
    In the left-hand column of that grid are the kinds of iTunes Store content you can browse: Audiobooks, Movies, Music, Music Videos, Podcasts, and TV Shows. Click on the kind of content you want to browse.
  4. Once you've made your first selection, the next column will display content. What appears here depends on what you selected. For instance, if you chose audiobooks, music, music videos, TV, or movies, you'll see Genre. If you chose podcasts, you'll see Category.
  5. Continue making selections in each column (such as subgenres, artist, etc.) to refine your browsing.
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Select Content to See More Information

Select content to see more information in the iTunes store

When you've navigated through the full set of columns for the kind of content you chose, the final column will display the albums, TV seasons, etc. that match your selection. Assuming you've found something you're interested in, click it and move on to the next step.

If you've come to the last column and haven't found something you want to check out, go back a column or two, make some new selections, and move through the column selections again.

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Preview and Buy Content

Preview and buy content screens in the iTunes store

Once you've selected something in the far-right column, you'll see the listings of the item you selected in the bottom half of the window. (This is also the place where the feature often stops working, as described in the note in the introduction.)

  • For Audiobooks, you'll see all the audiobooks matching the Genre and Author/Narrator you selected. Double click an audiobook to hear a 30-second clip from it.
  • For Movies, you'll see a list of all movies in the selected genre. Double click a movie to watch its trailer.
  • For Music, you'll see that album's songs. Double click a song to hear a 90-second clip from it.
  • For Music Videos, double click a video to watch a 30-second clip.
  • For Podcasts, double-clicking your results will play the podcast.
  • For a TV Show, you'll see all the episodes for the season you selected. Double-clicking an episode will play a 30-second preview.

Next to each item is a button. These buttons let you download, buy, or view the item you've selected. Click it to take those actions and you'll be ready to start enjoying your new content.

To download free items or to purchase paid items, you'll need an Apple ID.