No more iTunes app in Microsoft store

[ultrarunner2018]

Hey all;
I have always purchased my music - mostly from iTunes, but I also own about 100 CD's which I have ripped to .flac and store on my computer's SSD while keeping dual backups (both located off the computer), so I think my music files are well protected.
I use MusicBee to play tracks on my Windows PC, and PowerAmp on my Android phone.
However, I am still buying new tracks - mainly on iTunes, which I have installed on Windows 10.
Since Microsoft has removed iTunes from the MS store, I am concerned that I won't be able to re-install iTunes if my system crashes.

Are there other music services that will allow me to purchase single Rock & Roll tracks (as well as albums)?
I have purchased a few tracks from 7Digital and maybe HDTracks, but there don't seem to be many places where one can still purchase music for download - rather than streaming.
While I could switch to a streaming service, such as Spotify, I don't see the point in paying $10/month for songs I already own. In addition, I use Tracfone, so I don't have unlimited data. I could download tracks from Spotify to my phone to play without streaming, but I would really rather keep my own music library on my computer.

So, should I just buy all the tracks I think I will ever want from iTunes right now, or is there some other place I can find the variety of tracks that is currently available through iTunes?
Of course I could probably find used (or new) CD's on Ebay, but if I only want one or two tracks, the CD's will cost a lot more than the $1.29/track I pay on iTunes.

Thanks for your help
Ultrarunner

[phred]

Perhaps it's your location, but here in the US, I can get itunes from the Microsoft Store. A quick Google search shows an Apple support page on how to get itunes without the MS Store.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210384

You can download single tracks from Amazon, but I haven't dug into it to see if they're 320 mp3 or flac.

[sveakul]

Amazon only offers MP3 downloads and the bitrate used varies.  If they have what you're looking for, the best place to purchase files IMO is Bandcamp (https://bandcamp.com/), as they offer a choice of formats--FLAC, MP3 320k, MP3 V0, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, ALAC, AIFF, and WAV.  A recent purchase of mine of an album of songs in FLAC resulted in receiving 24-bit, 96kHz files, a welcome surprise.  I believe getting those vs.16-bit/44.1kHz depends on what was supplied to Bandcamp by the label/artist.  It is also common to get files that include embedded lyrics.

As phred indicated, if Microsoft Store drops iTunes you can still download it from Apple itself, e.g. the latest 64-bit version is at https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/win64 .

[ultrarunner2018]

Thanks guys;
Interesting thing: This morning - just after I posted here, I did a Google search for 'iTunes for Windows', and found the link here:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210384. The file 'iTunes64Setup.exe is for ver 12.11.3.17.
When I installed it on Windows 11 and opened the app, there was an update available, so I installed it. The update version is 12.12.3.5 - the same version I have on Windows 10.
I could not locate the setup file on my system, which wasn't surprising, as I had updated from within the app.

Now I have downloaded the file from the link provided by sveakul, and it is ver 12.12.3.5. Very confusing. One Apple site has a newer version than another?
When I went to the MS store in Windows 10, and entered 'itunes' into the search bar, it did come up with iTunes, but instead of the 'get' button, there was the 'open' button - since I already had the app installed.
When I switched to Win 11, I never even bothered to try the MS store; I just installed the (older) version I had found previously - and then ran the update.

So I may have reacted a bit too quickly on reading that iTunes was no longer available on the Windows store.
Now I have both versions saved to a backup drive, but I wonder how long Apple will allow music to be purchased and downloaded if they are trying to migrate to a streaming service (Apple Music?) exclusively.
I would rather not be at Apple's or Microsoft's mercy, so I will indeed check out bandcamp. I have tried Amazon, but I was not satisfied with the quality. That said, I would love to try some 24-bit  96KHz on my system to experiment with the quality.
I play music from MusicBee through a Schiit Modius DAC into a Schiit Magnius amp with Senn HD600 cans using balanced config. But I'm not so young anymore, so I kind of doubt I would be able to hear the difference between 16/44 and 24/96.
I have the same music on my Galaxy A51 (Android 11) phone and use HiFiMAN Deva Pro with their 'Bluemini' DAC/amp over BT LDAC when at home, but use a much less capable JBL/UA Train Wireless for running.

[ultrarunner2018]

OK. I signed up as a fan with bandcamp. Now, how do I find the music I am looking for? Their search engine doesn't seem to work the way I would expect.
for example, I enter 'Journey' into the search box at the top of the page, but the results are just about everything except the Rock band Journey. Is it that Bandcamp doesn't have any tracks/albums by this artist, or am I doing something wrong?
I turned off my ad-blocker in Firefox, but that didn't help.
Also, when I try to confirm my e-mail, I don't see anything in my Gmail inbox, spam, or trash.

[psychoadept]

OK. I signed up as a fan with bandcamp. Now, how do I find the music I am looking for? Their search engine doesn't seem to work the way I would expect.
for example, I enter 'Journey' into the search box at the top of the page, but the results are just about everything except the Rock band Journey. Is it that Bandcamp doesn't have any tracks/albums by this artist, or am I doing something wrong?
I turned off my ad-blocker in Firefox, but that didn't help.
Also, when I try to confirm my e-mail, I don't see anything in my Gmail inbox, spam, or trash.

Bandcamp is an independent platform that allows purchasing directly from the artist or label. You're unlikely to find major label artists like Journey there.

[sveakul]

Now I have downloaded the file from the link provided by sveakul, and it is ver 12.12.3.5. Very confusing. One Apple site has a newer version than another?

Yes, that is so.  The newest version is always at the link I provided, not at the support site.  Why is anyone's guess.

I would rather not be at Apple's or Microsoft's mercy, so I will indeed check out bandcamp. I have tried Amazon, but I was not satisfied with the quality. That said, I would love to try some 24-bit  96KHz on my system to experiment with the quality.
I play music from MusicBee through a Schiit Modius DAC into a Schiit Magnius amp with Senn HD600 cans using balanced config. But I'm not so young anymore, so I kind of doubt I would be able to hear the difference between 16/44 and 24/96.

If you want to check out a 24/96 FLAC there, I could recommend the track "The Way This Will End" by "Witch of the Vale".  Some good doom gaze for a buck (https://witchofthevale.bandcamp.com/track/the-way-this-will-end-2 ).

As psychoadept said, Bandcamp leans heavily towards non-mainstream bands/labels, but you'll also find more obscure stuff here from mainstream as well.  Occasionally some bands will provide to links to free downloads (https://bloodsuckingmallory.bandcamp.com/track/first-winters-night-in-town).

I should mention that Jamendo Music (https://www.jamendo.com/start) provides free, Creative Commons licensed MP3 and some FLAC downloads after a free "minimal" sign-in procedure.  Their stuff is even more "struggling artist" oriented but there's lots of good listening there over many genres.

[ultrarunner2018]

I guess I'm mostly a 'top 100' fan, considering that's what I grew up listening to on the radio; however, I used to listen to FM stations that played progressive Rock, rather than the pop-rock that was played on most AM and some FM stations. That said, I'm always open to new music, so I'll spend some time on bandcamp, and the other sites mentioned, and see what they have to offer.
I'd love to create some music of my own, but never really had much talent for playing. I did play the Viola in grade through high-school, but never got anywhere with it. Why I stuck with it for so long is anyone's guess; I was probably convinced that my parents would be disappointed with me if I gave it up. My dad, who I don't think ever took a music lesson used to play (the Viola or Violin) better than I ever did. Maybe he had lessons when he was a child, but I don't recall him telling me that.
So now I've got a Nektar LX49+ keyboard and Reaper DAW. I sometimes get a bit 'creative' and bang out a few chords or play around with the drum pads. I have been trying to learn it (on and off - mostly off), but still have hopes that I might be able to learn to play something. In any case, it tends to relax me, even though I don't really play the keyboard - I play with it!