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iTunes Store Available in Australia Very Soon

Posted by timothy on from the wendell-white-kicks-apple-butt dept.

tintub writes "New Zealander Russell Crowe has probably infuriated Apple by revealing the launch date of the iTunes store in Australia. Apparently it will be open as early as tomorrow (Thursday), selling tracks for AU$1.80 each. Personally I think this is too much, but I'm glad it's finally available in Australia. Now, when's Amazon coming?"

8 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. It's just sad... by 0x461FAB0BD7D2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    that even though we have something that is truly global such as the internet and the web, we still find citizens of the web denying access to services based on real-world geographical location?

    Doesn't that defeat the all-encompassing nature of the web?

    1. Re:It's just sad... by CleverNickedName · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Doesn't that defeat the all-encompassing nature of the web?

      Unfortunately the all-encompassing nature of the web defeats the geographic nature of markets and governments. Neither are going to change anytime soon.

      --


      Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
    2. Re:It's just sad... by Sunspire · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even when your country is added to the iTunes approved list, all the content is localized. I have zero interest in the stuff on my local iTunes, it's the same poppy crap I can listen for free on the radio.

      I want to listen to what's new on the Brazilian scene, download the newest releases from Japan, listen to UK indie etc. Sell to me dammit! I've got a credit card and a 10 second attention span. I hope someone will take iTunes to the next level and truly offer a global service. I realize this isn't Apples fault, but it still sucks.

      Everything that can be digitized should be. Imagine being able to call up any song or movie ever produced. That way the media companies would be putting their vast archives to work for them instead of rotting away in some vault. Bulgarian jingles from the 60's are worth something to someone on the Internet right now. When there's see a "watch now" button on IMDB, no matter how obscure the movie, the world will have changed.

      --
      It's like deja vu all over again.
  2. What for ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why paying A$1.8 per song when you can buy a
    whole unprotected CD at www.allofmp3.com for
    the same amount ?

    And legally as well :
    http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/26/108283147 555 6.html

  3. Price by Puremajik · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I agree with the fact $1.80 is too expensive.

    I would be much more inclined to purchase tracks if they were $1.00 or at least $1.10 or $1.20.

    A lot of traditional distribution costs don't apply and I think they are not really passing on these savings as they should.

    If you really could get cheap fast track downloads with high bitrate in a flexible format you would cut out a lot of piracy.

  4. iTunes is the only site where iPod users can legal by Idimmu+Xul · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the article:

    iTunes is the only site where iPod users can legally download songs.

    Is this really the only site where iPod users can legally download songs? It's a shame that the mass media can get away with spouting complete falacies such as this :(

    There are many sites to get free, legal, mp3s from:

    In This Defiance band
    Online Tonight
    John Peel sessions
    --
    The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
  5. Re:Dear Apple by nmg196 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > As long as you don't sell MP3 / Ogg files in 320kb - / very high quality however

    Most people listen to MP3 files though headphones or in a car. The quality of the sound though headphones is so bad that it doesn't really matter if it's only 128K - you're never going to tell the difference anyway. Especially if you don't upgrade from the crappy white headphones that came with your iPod.

  6. Price blah blah by danielacroft · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why the hell does everyone think that taking the US rate and doing a currency conversion is a valid comparison in price? Do you morons think that the Australian (or other countries) record labels have the same cost structure? They're negotiating the price with the record labels people, not picking a number out of a hat and deciding that it's fine.

    --
    Something intruiging...