Apple officially opens iTunes Music Store in 56 countries
Apple on Tuesday announced it has opened the digital doors to its iTunes Store in 56 countries, including Russia, India and Indonesia, taking the total number of markets in which the service is offered up to 119.
The near doubling of iTunes Store coverage comes hours after reports trickled in claiming that iTunes was being activated in Russia, Turkey and South Africa, with users in those countries able to purchase music and videos from Apple's online store. Apple sent out invitations on Monday saying the iTunes team would be "holding a musical evening" in Moscow on Tuesday.
While all of the 56 newly added countries will be getting access to the iTunes Music Store, only Russia, Turkey, India and Indonesia will support movie and video purchases. Apple said the service will be made "available in select additional countries," but didn't offer a specific rollout timeline.
As reported by AppleInsider on Monday, the iTunes Store will not only feature music from top U.S. acts, but will also offer tracks from local artists.
From Apple's announcement:
The near doubling of iTunes Store coverage comes hours after reports trickled in claiming that iTunes was being activated in Russia, Turkey and South Africa, with users in those countries able to purchase music and videos from Apple's online store. Apple sent out invitations on Monday saying the iTunes team would be "holding a musical evening" in Moscow on Tuesday.
While all of the 56 newly added countries will be getting access to the iTunes Music Store, only Russia, Turkey, India and Indonesia will support movie and video purchases. Apple said the service will be made "available in select additional countries," but didn't offer a specific rollout timeline.
As reported by AppleInsider on Monday, the iTunes Store will not only feature music from top U.S. acts, but will also offer tracks from local artists.
From Apple's announcement:
The huge rollout is evidence of Apple's continued work to expand the reach of world's largest music store by striking deals with regional music publishers and extend current licenses overseas.The iTunes Store features local artists including Elka in Russia, Sezen Aksu in Turkey, AR Rahman in India, and Zahara in South Africa, international artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Coldplay, and world-renowned classical musicians including Lang Lang, Yo Yo Ma and Yuja Wang. Customers can choose from over 20 million songs available to purchase and download on the iTunes Store.
Comments
Depends on when/whether the RIAA/MIAA let them, I suspect...
only 4,000,000 rubles to buy a song
Ah, well, you don't need a Mac to access iTunes. And as for the content on iTunes, $1 or $2 gets you a song or a TV show, if available in that country.
According to Piper Jaffray Apple will kill iTunes/App Store in about ten years time (but he's been off before hasn't he)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splash-reverse
Bollywood market is going to be huge but how's the coverage in term of population who can afford (the hardware in first instance)?
Well, there are 61 Billionaires to start with.
I'm pretty excited that iTMS is available in India. I've just started downloading a Pink Floyd box set. This will be the first time I buy their collection digitally. So far it's only been LPs, CDs, Cassettes, MDs...
It doesn't look like there are any TV shows at the moment. Just films. I still need to get over the mental barrier of paying $10 for a HD film, rather than spending $15-$20 for the Blu-ray.
And iTunes Match is also available! Amazing!!
Hmm, doesn't look good for Carlo Slim, #1, going from $74B to $69B. Spot #2, Bill Gates, OTOH i going up: $56B to $61B. Then again, Slim has potential.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GadgetCanada
only 4,000,000 rubles to buy a song
Haha. It's not that bad )) The ruble has been redenominated 15 years ago.
By the way, the prices are pretty low: 15—19 rubles per song ($0.49—0.62), 100—150 rubles per album ($3.24—4.86). The local artists selection is minuscule – about 20 artists and not a single real star among them. Still, it is incredibly satisfying to finally see the iTunes Store open after almost a decade of waiting.
You are thinking the right ways.
Russia etc are major pirate areas, in part due to lack of legal channels for US, UK etc stuff. If the copyright holders get on board with this and in a timely fashion much of the casual pirates (the 'I wouldn't do it but I have no other option’ types) could go legal. Same as in the US if places like HBO would stop waiting for a year etc.
Hopefully this is a step toward some major change
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilBoogie
According to Piper Jaffray Apple will kill iTunes/App Store in about ten years time (but he's been off before hasn't he)
I think will be proven completely wrong. The Stores as we know them now might be killed off but something new will remain. The world is going digital and there are no signs of it turning back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BestKeptSecret
I still need to get over the mental barrier of paying $10 for a HD film, rather than spending $15-$20 for the Blu-ray.
It would help if those digital copies were more like the Blu-ray. I mean with the disk you get slightly better video quality, much better audio, multi language support, subtitles, and often some killer special features. for many that all together is worth the extra money.
h.265 is due out in the coming year and it is said to allow better quality video for the same file size (or only slightly higher) so that could get the first issue under way to 'solved'. Much of the rest is just the copyright holders putting in it there. They could also be the reason why Apple's iTunes Extras aren't working in iOS (the studios dont want it to so they can 'protect' their disks). If they get over that and give us better files that would work on our 60 inch TVs then disks could go the way of the rest. But until then, not so much.
It would also help if this new 'blu' HD came as part of the package and not an extra cost. Same when passive 3d files finally go digital (and I believe they will in the next year or two). All video should be at least 720p and drop the SD only option. Let us have the full range of current and future formats in one price point. And drop that freaking price point down. For things bought SD only in the past many wouldn't object to a $1-2 'upgrade' cost like they did with music but no higher than that or folks won't do it. Also drop the HD on computer or by renting, SD on devices/buy crap. Really? I work in the industry and I find that stuff embarrassing.
Similar with TV shows. The prices are too high for many things, especially cable net offerings. I love Boardwalk Empire as much as the next person but $5 an ep? And I save a whole dollar if I get the season pass. Really? Again embarrassing. The Studios/Nets need a total rethink on pricing and timing. It's no wonder with the year long waits that the top torrented shows are all HBO and Showtime.
Originally Posted by PhilBoogie
According to Piper Jaffray Apple will kill iTunes/App Store in about ten years time (but he's been off before hasn't he)
What conceivable reason would he have to think that? Simply because it doesn't line up with his precious little chart there?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ifij775
This is great news for spreading the Apple ecosystem. I'm surprised it has taken this long, though.
As someone who works in the industry I'm not. I am surprised that 'hot bed of pirating' Russia is on the list. Mainly because of the Studios saying that more digital options will just make it easier for pirate which is why they resist iTunes, Hulu etc. Instead of actually testing it out to see if the more likely outcome of reducing pirating happens (it will never be killed cause some folks do it because they want to be rebels but if it could come down sharply that's still a win)
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichL
How does this compare to the app store? I assume that the app store is available in more countries?
As I recall, Apple has released the App Store in every country that has a legit way (Apple Store or Authorized Reseller) to buy any of the iOS devices. However each developer gets to pick which stores an app goes in. Which is why you will see some things like Netflix not available in many countries because they don't have the rights to 'broadcast' any titles in that country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curtis Hannah
This looks like another profit Increase for Apple.
That is the plan. The 'long game' for Apple is the App/iTMS stores. HW will just drive the experience, but the money will be made on the content.