“Apple Computer Inc. said on Monday its new iTunes online music store in Japan sold over 1 million songs in its first four days, a strong start for the download service in the world’s second-largest music market,” Reuters reports. “Until Apple’s entry, Japan’s undisputed leader in online downloads was Mora, backed by Sony Corp.. Other services included those run by Yahoo Japan Corp., Excite Japan Co. Ltd. and Oricon Inc.”

“‘We’ve known that about (400,000 to 500,000 songs) per month is what all the other online music stores in Japan have been doing. The majority of that being Mora,’ Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of applications, told Reuters in a phone interview. ‘So the fact that we’ve already done two times that in the first four days is something that we are very, very pleased with.’”

Reuters reports., “Apple launched iTunes in Japan with songs from 15 Japanese recording companies including Avex Group Holdings Inc. and Columbia Music Entertainment Inc., as well as content from overseas labels. But Apple still hasn’t reached agreements with Japan’s largest recording firm, Sony Music Entertainment, Victor Entertainment Inc. and Warner Music Japan. Garnering the support of Sony is seen as key because of its stable of star Japanese artists including Ken Hirai and Puffy. ‘In all of our launches, we start off with a certain number of labels and then we aggressively move to expand that and we will certainly continue to do that in Japan,’ Cue said. ‘Obviously we are hoping Sony joins the music store soon.’”

Full article here.
Sony will come around soon. They’ll have to suck it up and sign on the dotted line.

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