Lots of sites linking to this Reuters article on how the European iTunes Music Store is being held up by red tape:
A maze of licensing contracts, music release dates that differ by country and incompatible billing systems have combined to sidetrack the service, which many recording executives still hope will make its European debut in the first half of 2004.
To be honest, I'm not sure it's going to be worth it when it gets here. Two reasons:
1) So many people have had to wait so long for this that they've got used to downloading over the file sharing networks. Sorry, music industry - you were so damned worried about making sure you all got your cut of the money that you missed the boat. And suing people won't help, it just makes you look more evil than you already do.
2) People know when they are being screwed. In the States, iTunes songs are $0.99 per track. That's around £0.55 in the UK, and yet I have it on (very) good authority that the price will be more like £0.99 over here - almost twice the price. Apparently this is because the UK music industry is more complex, because song writers get a big slice as well as the artists, because it's a smaller market, and so on. But if there's one thing the internet has taught me, it's that we're now in a global marketplace. If the UK can't offer a competitive price, music buyers can, should and will go elsewhere.
That's enough rant for tonight.
Posted by savs at January 25, 2004 1:44 AM