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Media (Apple) Media

iTunes Australia to Launch Next Week 129

Posted by Zonk from the cheap-tunes-for-our-friends-down-under dept.
daria42 writes "It looks extremely likely that the iTunes music store will launch (finally) in Australia next week. Apple confirmed that its vice president of iTunes Eddie Cue, and vice president of iPod product marketing Greg Joswiak will be flying down under for a press conference on Tuesday morning. Cue has been prominent in a number of launches around the globe of the online music store, which is now available in around 20 countries worldwide. Australians have been waiting for the launch for more than a year now. It is believed Sony's Australian division wanted to block the launch."
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iTunes Australia to Launch Next Week More

iTunes Australia to Launch Next Week

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  • Variable pricing? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by The Amazing Fish Boy ( 863897 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @12:47AM (#13850716) Homepage Journal
    From the article:

    The iTunes Australia store is expected to provide largely the same offerings as its US and European stores, delivering access to almost one million songs at between AU$0.99 and AU$1.69 per song.

    Crikey!

    • Re:Variable pricing? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by cerebis ( 560975 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @01:07AM (#13850777)
      At current exchange rates, thats $0.75 to $1.25 US. We didn't fair too badly after all. I know one of the debated points has always been the price of a song. The music industry wants to charge more.

      I have a feeling the disagreement was that the music moguls are stuck with the misperception that if the RRP is still $30AUD, then they simply have to divide that price by the averge number of songs to get the download price. This ignores the fact that most Aussie music stores are regularly pricing new CDs at $19.95 and older ones at as little as $10.

      It turns out that $10-$20 / [average number of songs per album] actually works out quite close to the publicized pricing, with space for an extra reduction at the top end since it is just an mp3 with real licensing limitations due to the copy protection.

    • I really don't have a problem with variable pricing on its own, though I suspect that the owners would exploit the variation to price their stuff higher than current pricing, and never lower. I'll buy tracks at fifty cents USD, but not $1.49 or $1.29, and frankly, I haven't bought at $0.99 either.

      I don't buy music online, either by download or CD, but rather a local used CD store. Still, it's my hope that the ability to buy single tracks would lead to a pressure that improves the entire album. In the pas
    • in other words, between $.74 and $1.10 according to the current exchange rates.
    • provide largely the same offerings as its US and European stores, delivering access to almost one million songs at between AU$0.99 and AU$1.69 per song

      Most replies to this comment have completely missed the point (this is slashdot after all).

      The iTunes stores across the globe seem to have settled on a 99 unit price point - be it US cents, Euro cents, British pence, Pacific Island Bananas, etc. I might be wrong about the price point across all the stores, but the principle is the same.

      The variation i

  • For the past year, every single month the iTMS "is going to be released this month!" Sony BMG Are bitching like they did for Japan... There were technical difficulties... And it never happens.

    When it's up. It's up. Until then it's just like the usual apple rumours - Fake.
    • Almost like the Video Ipod, right?
    • Sony BMG Are bitching like they did for Japan.

      What is it with Sony and their obsession with screwing Australians? Crippled Playstations, DRM'd CDs that won't play in cars, mod chip wars, ridiculous region coding, Anthony Callea, and now this garbage. What did we do? Let a dingo eat their CEO's baby?

      Those pricks must own more Australian politicians than USCIB and PMA combined...
  • Finally. I would love to hear the whole "behind the scenes" story about why and who made it take so long. It must have been rather frustrating, but professionalism appears to have reigned despite that, I don't recall much gossip leaking out to the public.

  • This is untrue (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    this is tosh invented by the pathetic rumour mill that has never maneged to get a rumour correct, Appletalk Australia [appletalk.com.au]. They first fabricated this rumour on Wednesday this week and like the sheep they are Australian media outlets picked it up again. Remember their fake russell crow article that media outlets picked up? this is the same thing like the other ten times they told us the itunes store was opening in australia.

    read more at andrew's blog [dotmac.net.au] about what to expect from these people. iTunes music store aus

  • and the drummer plays on.... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by zappepcs ( 820751 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @12:57AM (#13850751) Journal
    It is high time that the drum beat of the digital age began conquering the lands it has not yet subjegated. That sounds harsh, but what I mean is that until digital content, and more importantly, digital distribution is ubiquitous (I dislike that word) there will be no revolution in the digital entertainment world. Until the entire world holds the *AA business model up for ridicule there will be no change worth reporting on the common man's news channel.

    I really don't care who makes digital music available in any country, I just care that it happens. Hoooray for music... horaayyy for music unfettered by malicious middlemen distribution companies. It is aobut time that musicians began getting paid for their music without all the middleman crap. In this case, the digital age moves ahead of current technology to support the small businessman, small business, and the artist.

    Copyright and patent be damned, this is a *GOOD* thing.

    Personally, I've not listened to commercial radio for a long time, it SUCKS. I do support Internet radio with my money, its worth it. Its time for all of the old business model to crumble, and crumble fast and hard... fsck the *AA and their Italian sports cars... (okay, that wasn't really PC)

    I'm just glad to see the old model breaking!!! :-)
    • But digital distributors ARE the new middlemen. There is nothing (much) to stop musicians setting up sites allowing their songs to be downloaded as MP3s in return for payment. So why, instead, do they want to be on a digital music store - whether a locked in one like iTunes or a non-DRM one like bleep.com? It's been possible to (fairly easily) record and distribute your own music since the distribution lock-in was broken in the 70s, and it's got easier with every year. While in the 70s you still had to pe
    • I've not listened to commercial radio for a long time, it SUCKS

      I guess you're just going along with what everyone else tells you.

  • About bloody time (Score:4, Interesting)

    by aussie_a ( 778472 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @12:59AM (#13850755) Journal
    So what was the hold up? They wanted to try to secure Sony's agreement to supply Australians with their music?

    The Seven Network has said it will start distributing popular television shows such as Dancing with the Stars to the Internet and portable devices by mid-2006.

    That's good to hear (not that particular show, but that australian shows will be uploaded), but do we get American shows, and if so, when do we get them? American shows are often delayed in Australia, with some episodes merely not shown at all (or shown out of order), while entire seasons can just not be shown at all (we never got Enterprise Season 4, the best bloody season of the lot and it wasn't aired). We also have to put up with sci-fi shows being stopped mid-season for rubbish like this. [wikipedia.org]

    It's better for people to just wait for the season to be released on DVD half the time (although not only do we get those delayed, we get shafted with those as well [ezydvd.com.au] compared with the American one. [amazon.com]

    If Apple can offer American shows to Australians at the same time as they offer it to Americans, they'll find a market ready and primed [tvaus.com] for them. Heck, if it weren't for the small screen size I'd include myself in those who would readily leap at the chance to buy the shows from Apple. Unfortunately I can just see the government and/or television companies trying to stop Apple :(

    • Re:About bloody time (Score:2, Interesting)

      by asdfrewq ( 887186 )
      This is probably the reason Australia is second largest downloader of TV programmes from the web [zdnet.com.au] at 15.6% ahead of the UK(18.5%) and the US(7.3%), according to figures from the linked article. Rather astounding considering our relatively small population.
      • Wow, that really does show that a lot of people download television shows not because they're filthy scum who want everything for free, but because of frustration.
    • or Spooks come to that?
    • Here Here!

      It's about time that we said:
      1. No, I don't want to watch (insert whatever "decent" show you want to watch) at 1am in the morning
      2. No, I actually don't want the TV that I watch to to the Timeslot Dance - BSG died on channel 10 this way going from 8:30 (for about three eps), then some "time off" or week skipping then moved later to about 10:30. I think they even changed the day! (Way to go channel 10 - you actually made the biggest sci-fi hit in the last 5 years flop!) I'm not even sure if they wi

  • Let's only hope (Score:3, Funny)

    by cdtoad ( 14065 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @01:03AM (#13850767) Homepage
    that Paul Hogan & Jackko never made it to mp3

  • This just in... (Score:5, Funny)

    by aussie_a ( 778472 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @01:06AM (#13850773) Journal
    Duke Nukem Forever will also be released in Australia within the year.

  • $1.69 a track?! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by coljac ( 154587 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @01:10AM (#13850785) Homepage
    I think US$0.99 is already too much and is stifling the market. AU$1.69 (US$1.26) is ridiculous. Although I'm sure Apple lobbied for lower prices, the end result is robbery and I hope Australians vote with their feet. Why should the price discrepancy be so large between the two markets?

    I wish the Slashdot-foretold Music Industry Apocalypse would hurry up and happen.

    • Why should the price discrepancy be so large between the two markets?

      Because I'm assuming that Apple and to renegotiate for permission to supply music to Australians, so they had to renegotiate the price.

    • Re:$1.69 a track?! (Score:4, Informative)

      by Fex303 ( 557896 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @03:47AM (#13851188)
      Why should the price discrepancy be so large between the two markets?

      That's a pretty standard markup for media or content in Australia. Remember we're still paying A$99.95 (US$74.88) for a new-release video game. Sometimes higher. A$33 for a CD isn't unusual either. So a ~25% price hike is pretty good by our standards.

      I'm suprised it wasn't around the A$2.50 per song mark...

  • iTunes in NZ (Score:2, Insightful)

    by usmc.spitfire ( 876614 )
    It will be nice when they finally open iTunes to New Zealand. People here have only owned iPods for what? 1½ years?
  • Let us buy songs from other countries.

    This is my biggest gripe about iTunes, I will pay the exchange rate difference just let me buy songs from other stores.
    • Yeah seriously. Now I am a USian that has never owned an iPod or a single piece of DRMed music, but I don't understand what stops Australians or anyone else from visiting the American iTunes store. Can't credit card companies just automatically do the currency conversion?

      I'm guessing it's like DVD country codes, a completely artificial restriction put on the download to try to manipulate the markets. If this is the case, then it seems to me that all the people here posting that widespread iTunes use subv
      • Differing copyright issues for different countries. Lots of complications and headaches. That's what stops...
      • Disclaimer: I know nothing.
        I think it goes like this:

        Band in US signs a deal with a manager. Manager gets a recording/distribution deal with US record company. US record company takes care of recording, pressing, promoting and distributing in the US. That's their area of expertise so that's what they do. That's a separate pile of money.

        Then US record company arranges to have music distributed in Country X by Company B. Company B then assumes all promotional responsibility (and costs) for this band in this c
  • "Joswiak"

    Was he able to climb up through the ranks because he's only one of six people on the planet whose last name rhymes with "Wozniak?"

    I mean, I realize with my last name it's a pot/kettle thing, but come on!
  • Hoofuckingray!
  • Australians have been waiting for the launch for more than a year now.

    Have we? I haven't. I have no intension of paying over $2 for a single, especially one that is DRM-crippled.

    • And your other option here is..?

      Every provider in Australia sells DRM-ed music online - you can't buy anything else - and it's much more restrictive than Apple's DRM. And the laws are only just beginning to be examined in light of the fact that it's still illegal to convert media format under Australian copyright law (ie illegal to go from CD to mp3). We have no fair use rights. There is no other option for portable music other than a portable cassette or CD player.

      There will probably *never* be a DRM-free
      • And your other option here is..?

        Buying CDs. Ripping them to MP3 for personal use. Sure, the ripping part is illegal under Australian law, but it would be a brave government indeed that tried to enforce that. Even Fuehrer Philip Ruddock himself has made noises about fixing that.

        And where did the $2 figure come from anyway?

        They're 99p in the UK. That's more than $2 Australian. They're unlikely to be cheaper here, and I did say over $2.

        • They're 99p in the UK. That's more than $2 Australian. They're unlikely to be cheaper here, and I did say over $2.

          You did read the article...right? If you did you must have missed this part:

          The iTunes Australia store is expected to provide largely the same offerings as its US and European stores, delivering access to almost one million songs at between AU$0.99 and AU$1.69 per song.
        • They're actually 79p in the UK. But that doesn't support for Apple-bashing.
        • And your other option here is..?

          Buying CDs. Ripping them to MP3 for personal use. Sure, the ripping part is illegal under Australian law, but it would be a brave government indeed that tried to enforce that. Even Fuehrer Philip Ruddock himself has made noises about fixing that.

          Exactly.

          So the choice is currently - join in, go (or stay) illegal or opt out entirely.

          Maybe in future our crack team of bozos (aka the federal gov't) will manage to change copyright laws here, but the noises currently being made mean

  • A Guilty Proposal... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jason_hutchens ( 239116 ) <JasoHutchens@gmail.com> on Saturday October 22, 2005 @02:06AM (#13850942) Homepage
    It's frustrating to have to wait for the iTMS to be released down here, knowing that the songs I want to buy are one (illegal) click away. The same goes for TV series and DVDs. There's a whole heap of stuff out there that us non-pirates have to patiently wait for, even though there are perfect digital copies of that same stuff floating around, ready for the picking, for free.

    A colleague of mine suggested that I (illegally) download the stuff I want, then send a cheque for the RRP direct to the artist, along with a letter explaining my predicament and suggesting that the developer hands over whatever percentage the publisher would normally take from them. The artist would thereby be compensated for one "stolen" copy of their work, and it would be up to them to decide whether or not to compensate their publisher in turn. I realised that this model could be extended to other kinds of digital content (movies, TV series, music, software), and that a lot of people out there would be happy to pay off their "guilty conscience".

    This got me thinking. How about a website (guiltyconscience.com) that accepts anonymous donations (via credit card or paypal or whatever) to allow people to pay-off the guilt they have for illegally downloading music, movies, games and so on? The website would tally up the donations received and make regular "royalty" payments direct to the artist. A user could donate $10 and spread it over 100 songs, if 10 cents a song is enough to offset their guilt. Products could be identified via their Amazon ID or similar, to allow the artist to be easily tracked down. The result would be a perfect marketplace, in that each individual defines how much they're willing to pay for something they want without knowing what others are paying. The website wouldn't promote piracy (i.e. it wouldn't help people locate and download illegal content), but it would help to offset the damage it causes. After all, aren't we constantly being told that piracy is "ripping off the artist"?

    Imagine how things would change if a good proportion of those who pirate movies, music and software actually DID pay the artist for what they "stole".
    • a great idea! But I would change the name of the website. Usual paranoia feelings - if the web site owners ever got sued and were forced to hand over user details then suing your arse in turn might be too easily as you've kinda already admitted guilt. Just a donation/thankyou site where you can give money to artists because you know they are getting ripped off by the music industry would be better methinks - thanksforthemusic.com???

    • This sounds great. I'd love to help artists but the idea of giving money to the **aa is just disgusting, i refuse to do it.
    • Awesome.

      Maybe at the end of this particular road is a better name for people who 'illegally' downloads music, and a 'fessing up (if indirect) from **AA that what they were so annoyed with all the time isn't us ripping the artists off, but them missing a chance to rip their artists off themselves.
    • Thing is, paying "conscience money" doesn't legalize your original action. Copying restrictions are as much about controlling the release of content as they are about getting a payment for each copy of the content. You might say that's nonsensical: media companies are entitled to a reasonable profit on each copy, but aren't entitled to play games with distribution in order to maximize that profit. I would certainly agree with that — but the law doesn't.

      Which leads me to a question that probably seem

      • Which leads me to a question that probably seems lame to iTunes users (can't afford it myself): what's to prevent an Aussie from using iTunes, even if there's no Australian iTunes server? Does the software check packet routing or something?

        The fact that you need a credit card with a billing address in a participating country (like the US, Canada, France or Sweden, for example) or a form of alternative payment (like PayPal accounts linked to a credit card with a US address in the US store and Click &

  • Too Late Apple (Score:2, Informative)

    by craznar ( 710808 )
    Already signed up here in frustration http://www.allofmp3.com/ [allofmp3.com]

    Only 2 weeks ago.
    • Already signed up here in frustration http://www.allofmp3.com/ [allofmp3.com]

      What's different/interesting about that? Everyone else has been illegally downloading for years too. The point is that when iTunes comes out we have a legal option, just like you will.

      • Re:Too Late Apple (Score:2, Insightful)

        by craznar ( 710808 )
        What's different is that it isn't illegal for me to buy music legally in another country .... in Australia.

        • Re:Too Late Apple (Score:3, Insightful)

          by natd ( 723818 )
          What's different is that it isn't illegal for me to buy music legally in another country .... in Australia.

          You're missing my point - deliberatly or otherwise.

          Most of us probably avoid illegally downloading (aka stealing) music on principal - I know I do. I buy all my music on CD really, I've no interest in scrounging around for torrents etc. To use 'allofmp3' is just as wrong on that same principal because your money isn't going near the artist - likely just into some Russian mafia crooks war chest to

          • You should feel lucky that you can buy all your music on CD, however - around 70 tracks are currently unavailable to me on CD, so electronic is all that is left.

            Now - because the allofmp3 money is going to the artist (as much as buying a CD is) .... I feel that getting a quality MP3 from them (legally) is acceptable given that the only other option is NO MONEY going to the artist.

            So the point is - that given the choice of giving the artist ZERO DOLLARS (Bittorrent) and giving them 2c (AllofMP3) ... one is o
            • Artists aren't seeing penny one from allofmp3. not even the 2 cents of wich you speak. Its basically piracy, but because Russia is ... well Russia the laws only cover physical copying.

              http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4328269.stm [bbc.co.uk]

              Just pirate it if your not going to support the artist. That way your supporting criminals as well
              • Well - in that case the artists are no worse off with allofmp3 than with the current arrangement of not being able to buy it at all.

                At least I'm not breaking the law now.

                So - back to my original point.... if and when the music companies stop playing silly buggers and let me buy the music I want to buy, then I'll just have to deal with allofmp3.

                PS : In Australia I can buy music/movie etc from any country that can legally sell it (i.e. as if I was in that country).

                PPS: You need to investigate further about wh
              • By the way, most artists see $0.00 from the record companies as well - so if getting money to the artist is the issue I'd much prefer to pay the russian mafia than the US mafia.
              • Doesn't the RIAA/record labels take in .95 cents for every .05 cents that the artists get? Best way to support the artists is to go to their concerts.

  • Now this hust begs the question of where is iTunes South Africa and what is causing the holdup? Although, there isn't even an official Apple South Africa, just one guy that has the distrabution rights who makes an obscene profit. There is just no understanding Apple.

  • New Zealand? (Score:4)

    by LadyLucky ( 546115 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @04:51AM (#13851356) Homepage
    Apple NZ seems to just be a branch of Apple Australia. I wonder if this means we will be getting iTunes Music Store in NZ some time soon!

    • Probably not (Score:4, Informative)

      by AnEmbodiedMind ( 612071 ) on Saturday October 22, 2005 @10:39AM (#13852282)
      The thing holding up iTunes rolling out in each country is not Apple's presence in that country, but the existence of independent music publishing groups in each country.

      This means that Apple has to reach agreements with the groups in each and every country before they can roll out the iTunes store in each of those country.

      While NZ and Australia share the same song rights group (APRA - The Australasian Performing Right Association), this is different to publishing rights which is governed by other groups.

  • Karma to burn here.. shame on Apple, should have launched this 18 months ago when I actually gave a shit.

  • At last - something legal to put on an iPod (Score:4, Informative)

    by Namarrgon ( 105036 ) on Sunday October 23, 2005 @05:40AM (#13856834) Homepage
    This will probably mark the first moment any iPod user in Australia can stop breaking the law.

    Last I checked, it is still illegal here to make a copy of the music on a CD you own, for any reason at all - personal uses of any type included, even for an MP3 player. We have no fair-use provision in our copyright laws, nor (AFAIK) are we getting any as a result of the Free Trade deal with the USA (though copyright terms are being drastically lengthened to match the US). We own the media, but have no "license to the music".

    There are already a few [cnet.com.au] online music stores in Australia, but to my knowledge they only sell songs in WMA format, not much good for iPod owners. iTMS will be the first useful site.

    I can imagine that all of our iPods would be desperately looking forward to playing something other than crappy bootlegged highschool bands, home-recorded birdsong & the occasional scroungings [cnet.com] from Creative Commons [creativecommons.org].

    • Last I checked, it is still illegal here to make a copy of the music on a CD you own, for any reason at all

      So if you burn your freshly-purchased iTMS tracks to a CD in Australia (as permitted/suggested by Apple), are you breaking Australian law?
      • I would imagine that, if iTMS explicitly allows you to burn your purchased tracks to CD, there's probably something in the site's legal notes that you have permission from the copyright holder to make that particular copy, which would be fine. It's certainly implied, IMHO.

        This is presuming that the forthcoming Australian version of iTMS actually does grant you that right...

  • wow that s a good news... Australia has a good market for that.. === http://www.thewebbrains.com/ [thewebbrains.com]
  • this is a bit of a relief, australian podcasts can now get registered on iTunes.

    Hasn't been much fun watching iTunes take off as the leading podcatcher with no australian listings.
  • Well - it IS here people. Go to iTunes music store and open up the list of international sites - AUSTRALIA heads the list! So far it looks like Aus$1.69 per track but haven't had a good look yet. Videos are up to $3.39. Albums $16.99. Pixar also $3.39. NO TV episodes yet. AT LAST!

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