MacWorld Paris -- good time for iTunes to go international?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Paris seems like the ideal venue to announce the iTunes Music Store going international. Any chance Apple could have all of the legal issues hammered out that soon?



It would be great to announce iTunes for Windows at the same time too. Of course, announcing iTunes for Windows, but only for the US, wouldn't be the ideal announcement for Paris.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    Paris seems like the ideal venue to announce the iTunes Music Store going international. Any chance Apple could have all of the legal issues hammered out that soon?



    It would be great to announce iTunes for Windows at the same time too. Of course, announcing iTunes for Windows, but only for the US, wouldn't be the ideal announcement for Paris.




    I was thinking the same thing, perhaps show of Panther a little more, then debut of iTMS PC. Didn't really think about the whole US centric thing. So I would say no.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Heheh... 'US centric'

    How about... 'Foreign legal hurdles'



    Unfortunately, I think many countries will never get access to the iTMS. There are just too many special-case licensing issues that, at some point, make legal console prohibitively expensive for a given market size.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dfiler

    Heheh... 'US centric'

    How about... 'Foreign legal hurdles'



    Unfortunately, I think many countries will never get access to the iTMS. There are just too many special-case licensing issues that, at some point, make legal console prohibitively expensive for a given market size.




    I prefer centric because it could be any number of reasons and doesn't limit me in future interpretation of my reply. Centric doesn't just mean Apple prioritizes the US but is located in so the US is the center or central point of operations. US should get everything first if it's not at the same time.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    somehow, I doubt it.



    The legal jungle there is in europe is so thick, that if ANYTHING, we may see a country by country approach. I would be AMAZED if Apple managed to get a pan-european agreement for music sold through iTunes.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ZO

    somehow, I doubt it.



    The legal jungle there is in europe is so thick, that if ANYTHING, we may see a country by country approach. I would be AMAZED if Apple managed to get a pan-european agreement for music sold through iTunes.




    Wouldn't the EU help cut through some of this mess for all member countries collectively? Certainly that leaves several European countries out, but it would be nice for Apple if the EU can be a package deal.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by shetline

    Wouldn't the EU help cut through some of this mess for all member countries collectively? Certainly that leaves several European countries out, but it would be nice for Apple if the EU can be a package deal.



    The EU doesn't handle music contracts - record companies do, and they usually have a branch in every country handling country specific record deals.



    Most European musicians don't have a pan European record deal and their music is only published in a few countries.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    The rights for Abba sold in Sweden may be handled differently and with different remuneration in Italy for example. U2 might have a special deal in Ireland and for some reason Isalnd Records doesnt have rights to sell directly in Portugal but through a local distributor.



    Who knows.



    The music industry is like little feifdoms and in the hands of few and they all want to protect it as uch as possible.
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