I don't buy music from iTunes. I would, though, if you'd sell me lossless files. You could even use your own lossless format. It's called Apple Lossless (ALAC). Look it up. It's a thing. It sounds great, and I can play ALAC files right on my iPhone. You wouldn't have to do much other than make that format available on iTunes.
I've been ripping my CDs in ALAC for years, and I do it for two reasons. The first is because I like the way lossless sounds. My ears probably aren't true audiophile ears, but I can hear the difference between 320kps files and 256kps files more often than not (audio source plays a factor, of course). I can definitely hear the difference in anything lower quality.
The second reason is more important: lossless files are the closest thing I can think of to future-proof my music collection we have, other than maintaining a massive library of AIFF files. Which I do, in the form of CDs that I can re-rip if and when digital music technology changes.
But come one. It's a hassle. I'd much rather be able to buy lossless files and manage all my music on my Mac.
There are places you can buy lossless music online. Bandcamp.com is my favorite. You can get all the lossless file formats there. ALAC, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC (which is a lot more popular than ALAC), and 320kps MP3 and AAC.
I love Bandcamp, but the service's catalog is limited. What I really want is for Apple to offer an ALAC option. Considering the reality that music sales on iTunes are declining, why not cater to the weirdos like me who still care about owning music in the first place?
So do what it takes. Get the labels to offer up the rights to sell ALAC files, and do it. It's past time.