How do I combine identical albums on iTunes?

Does ITunes help or deteriorate music artists? what is the implication of Itunes as a competitor of Albums?

• i can't seem to get the logic of artists allowing their songs to be included in Itunes. first of all, does Itunes really pay artists that big an amount of money? an amount that is so HUGE that these artists would rather sell their songs and allow their album sales to decrease. can somebody explain how all of this works? is the net profits from selling your crap on Itunes bigger than just having these songs exclusively available on their albums?

• Answer:

  Album or iTunes - the artist gets paid. It's just a different distribution medium. You can walk into a record store and stare at an album cover all day and still not know what the music sounds like unless you buy the whole thing for $15 or so. iTunes will give you a preview of any track, and let you buy the album as a whole, or individual tracks one at a time. No more buying a whole album for those two songs you like. I've even started out with one or two songs from an artist, then went back for the whole album. Business wise the exposure is huge - you get more ears to your music, a low entry price for people to try your music, and yes - the chance of it increasing album (physical or virtual) sales through expoure. I have heard songs on the radio I didn't know the name or artist of - hopped on the computer and looked up some of the lyrics to find who did the song, then hit iTunes to buy it for 99 cents while it was still playing on the radio. It may not be a lot of money I paid, but that artist (or their label) got a cut and I am sure others have had such impulse purchases pad their bottom line. Most of the music I have been buying is older stuff - I'm not liking much of the newer stuff. It doesn't seem to have the depth.