Apple’s new iTunes Music Store Australia “offers more than 1 million songs from major and independent record labels as well as about 1000 music videos,” Julian Lee and David Higgins report for The Sydney Morning Herald. “Only one major record label – Sony BMG – has withheld its music catalog from the Apple store. That means acts such as Pete Murray, Alex Lloyd, Franz Ferdinand, Rogue Traders and Australian Idol artists Anthony Callea and Shannon Noll will not be available.”
Lee and Higgins report, “The global head of Apple iTunes, Eddie Cue, said in Sydney today that the advent of iTunes would spell the end of the CD in the not too distant future… Mr Cue declined to comment on Sony BMG’s decision to boycott iTunes. ‘But we know their artists want to get on it because we talk to them about it,’ he said.”
“While some Australian record companies might believe that internet music downloads pose a threat to their control over the industry, it may in fact prove to be their saviour by tapping into younger audiences and offering a viable alternative to music piracy, say internet analysts,” Lee and Higgins report. “‘There have already been surveys done showing that people who download music actually buy more CDs than those who don’t,’ said Robin Simpson, a research director at Gartner Australia. ‘There are an awful lot of frustrated ipod users in Australia that have been waiting for an iTunes store. If I was an Australian artist signed up with Sony BMG I would be jumping up and down to get my music onto iTunes, so I don’t think it will take long for the company to cave in,’ he added.”
Full article here.
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Related articles:
Coles Myer to carry Apple iTunes Music Store Cards in Australia – October 24, 2005
Apple launches iTunes Music Store Australia – October 24, 2005
Report: If Apple launches iTunes Music Store Australia tomorrow, Sony BMG won’t be included – October 24, 2005
Japan music labels look to impose ‘iPod Tax’ while Sony, Warner still not signing with Apple iTunes – October 10, 2005
Why aren’t Sony, BMG, Warner, Victor making their artists’ music available on Apple’s iTunes Japan? – October 06, 2005
Sony and Warner holding out on Apple iTunes Music Store Australia – September 08, 2005
Musicians stage mutiny against Sony, defiantly offer music via Apple’s iTunes Music Store – August 10, 2005
Record company causes Apple to hit ‘pause’ on Australian iTunes Music Store – May 05, 2005
I can be first anytime I want to.
>we talk to them about it<
Yeah, I’ll bet they do. heh. I tremble with delicious anticipation.
Yehesss, yeh-heh-hehessssss. Cave in, Sony. Cavvvvvvve in.
It’s what you’re good at.
I’ve seen elephants in quicksand who were on firmer ground.
Sony blows.
The BK King rules.
Hey Sony, read my lips…. (mouths “f*ck you”)
Sony’s trying to save face and not look like they’re getting owned…
It isn’t working, Sony…
Some PR idiot thinks this is going to slow Apple down… yeah, whatever…
How do you mouth an asterisk?
Google News appears to be running it’s own boycott of the iTMS Australia press coverage. As of this posting at least, Google News has no viewable listing of the Australian iTMS in it’s Sci/Tech headlines on neither the Amercan website nor the Australian website. Not on the Google News front pages and not in the Sci/Tech sub-categories, either.
What Google News does have in those locations however, are numerous headlines regarding lawsuits against Apple.
I publicly accuse Google News of censorship.
Now it’s back again on the front page. Damn … I sure don’t trust those Google spooks, sometimes.
Like a addict at a party, it won’t be long before Sony can’t resist the money calling its name. Soon they will line up to sell their wares in order to get a money fix.
Yeah you – Biggity
MW : truth
Sony is only hurting itself.
On a related topic: So did they solve the legal problem in Australia? Don’t recall exactly what it was… something like it was actually illegal to rip CD’s and store them on a computer or mobile device?
I presume either the law has been changed, or downloads from iTMS are in a different category and thus avoid running afoul of this law?
Google’s getting stale. Try yahoo,excite,altavista,webcrawler etc etc etc… You’d be surprised in the difference of the results you get sometimes.
Nah Rainy Day, we just love breaking the law. It’s fun. Mind you they have taken our guns away which is a bitch.
No they havent and we have the same issue in NZ regarding “digital format shifting” of purchased music on CDs- bottom line is that it is still ILLEGAL under current outdated laws.
The poli’s are all too old to be interested, and like all good represetnative governments the world over, can’t be bothered changing an anachronistic old law to keep their grandchildren out of jail.
I can just here it now when comes the inititial outcry when someone is inevitably charged: “We can’t interfere with the legal system, that would be inappropriate. We have to let the law run its full course”
They’ll get their multi-million dollar pensions when they retire from doing sweet F.A., that’s all that matters!!
Dear Brad T et alia,
How many times have I written this information (five times now). Look Brad I despise our federal government. They beat up on the weak and hte powerless and then wrap the flag around themselves. However, on this issue federal Attorney General Phillip Ruddock is on record as saying that the law will change for registered download services like ITMS.
This issue came up before the last election and he knows about mp3 players and the like. It’s just that the issue is not a major one and there are more important matters to address (like dealing with mentally disabled Australians being deported or detained and the new anti-terrorism laws).
ARIA has no trouble with ipods or ITMS and they are on record as saying so. This is such a brouhaha and I just wish people would read the posts on this web site, or read the damn papers. Now have a cuppa, a Bex and and good lie down.
P.S. My music industry mates tell me that a deal in Enzed is not far away, so hang in you kiwis.
“Et alia” (and others) is actually the neuter gender of the phrase. “et alii” would be used when refering to a group of men, “et aliae” for women. Some stylists say that “et alii” may be used for groups of men and women (if the group is larger than six), but to avoid confusion, the concensus when using this Latin phrase in an english sentence is to use the abbreviation “et al.”
Sorry, I’m up too early…
Dear et al,
OK I stand corrected, now go back to sleep.
I love Sony’s TV, DVD players and such, but NOBODY makes the good stuff like Apple.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Synergy is a two-edged sword. There was a time I wouldn’t have considered buying anything but a SONY this or that, as evidenced by a plethora of SONY products littering my house. Thanks to SONY BMG, that goodwill is gone. Nice going guys. My hardware budget is a significant multiple of my music budget.
Take a look at www. sonymusic.com.au. It’s obvious that they’ve borrowed some of the iTMS look. Pathetic.
Sony is officially off my list of brands to consider when i spend 3K to buy my new big TV.
That’s it! I’m going to email Jerry Springer, or whateverhisnameis.