by: Matt Beckwith, Associate Editor

After some recent rumors and speculation, Apple officially announced the “Complete My Album” feature today. Finally, purchasers of single tracks will not have to buy duplicate tracks when later deciding to purchase the entire album. iTunes will credit 99 cents toward the complete album for each individual song that was purchased if the album was purchased within 180 days of the singles.

The great news is that, for the next 90 days, Apple will honor the “Complete My Album” credit for any singles purchased on iTunes, regardless of when you bought them!  The Apple website has a link to the “Complete My Album” page on iTunes which will scan your account for purchased singles and calculate exactly how much your discounted price is for each complete album. Having the ability to sort by price quickly showed some full albums I might want to add to my library.

I have purchased a lot of full albums and audiobooks on iTunes and was actually surprised that I had 82 individual tracks.

So, if you buy some singles and have avoided buying full albums because of the double paying penalty now is a great time to re-visit the iTunes store.