Apple Music Event - June 15th

[MacRumors]

MacWorld.co.uk reports (http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=8839) that Apple Europe will present "a special music-focused event" in London on June 15, 2004.

The event is described:

"The biggest story in music is about to get even bigger," and is inviting selected members of the press to the event in London. The show starts at 11am.

Apple is rumored to launch (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/06/20040606174201.shtml) iTunes Europe on that day. Some expect that Canada (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/06/20040606164657.shtml) will also be included in the launch.

[raytube]

Excellent, about time it got here!!!!

: )

Rick

[MacsRgr8]

Gr8 news!

Too bad I'm occupied on that day by the European Championships football match between us and the Germans :D

[virividox]

DOH ill be back in manila!!! damn

[sun-ice]

on june 15th => apple music store Europe...

and next ...

xServe G5 are shipped in 4 week (according to the US apple Store) and between 7 to 10 days (according to Frensh apple Store)... :D

So G5 pb are out... and brand new G5 (hope up to dual G5 3.0GHz) can be sold to !!!

this will be a very good end of month !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

please:
new PM G5 all dual
new iMac G5
new LCD Screen
(and new PB G5 or new Newton ???)
please, please, please....

[markoibook]

Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here comes iTunes Music Store UK!!!!!!

:) :) :) :) :)

[Phillip]

does this mean new version of itunes? itunes 5.0, i mean, what a great way to announce it, you won't get much more media coverage than this...

[howard]

i'm interested to see how this will combine international music? i sure hope that US stuff can be bought by the rest of the world and more importantly to me, i can by music from the rest of the world

also, what do you think about new ipods..?? in eight days they will meet the average per update: 161

[nesbitt_a]

It'll be great to see the iTMS in the UK. I know that I won't us it though, would rather have the CDs personally.

The fact that they aren't launching this at the WWDC must mean that they are clearing the way for something else. Should be fun...

Andrew.

[----Bowie----]

Just in time for my new iPod :) :) :rolleyes: :cool: :D :D

[Veldek]

Is it 11 am London time?

[dimboo]

In what countries will the iTunes Music Store Europe will be available? The UK for sure, France and Germany. Other countries later? Hoping for Belgium from the start but not holding my breath.

[MacMarino]

Im wondering if they will offer the same songs or if they will combine all the songs available from the USA and European iTunes together :rolleyes:

Macmarino

[dekator]

If it is the 15th, it's coming none too soon. Now, with virtually everybody in Europe concerned with football (soccer, for the US) it may go without little publicity... however, if they manage to squeeze in some ads during halftime, there couldn't have been a better time... :rolleyes:

[iHack]

Gr8 news!

Too bad I'm occupied on that day by the European Championships football match between us and the Germans :D

That won't start until 20:45 CET, so you'll almost 9 hours to enjoy Euro iTMS. I hope it will be less then €1.29 per song tho. That's about $1.50 per song! Although... this would be in line with other Apple prices - this 1.5 factor seems to come up all the time... :(

Is it 11 am London time?

What else would it be? Cupertino time?

my guess: it's Steve Time!

[garybUK]

Aparantly Toshiba has ramped up the 1" 4gb drives, maybe they will release the iPod Mini to the rest of the world as well now???

[klaus]

In what countries will the iTunes Music Store Europe will be available? The UK for sure, France and Germany. Other countries later? Hoping for Belgium from the start but not holding my breath.

I'd like to know that too ;)

[eric67]

if you want to see the official invitation
it is here:
http://www.hardmac.com/niouzcontenu.php?date=2004-06-07#2241
;)

or here in another place of macrumors.com forum (gif file)
http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=872799&postcount=118

[klaus]

Aparantly Toshiba has ramped up the 1" 4gb drives, maybe they will release the iPod Mini to the rest of the world as well now???

I guess they haven't been able to ramp it up that fast, that they can jump the schedule with a month..

but I do hope so :-)

[garybUK]

I guess they haven't been able to ramp it up that fast, that they can jump the schedule with a month..

but I do hope so :-)

Creative have managed to get the muvo2 4gb player out to the rest of the world, whereas apple havn't.. the only thing it has over the ipod mini is the battery life, its like double that of the ipod...

Hopefully they will anounce the uk/european music store and a ipod mini to go with it... personally i would buy the mini for my brothers birthday, but wont use the music store, i prefer cd's even if you do pay a little more, on a decent hifi the quality is more than noticable.

[dopefiend]

Creative have managed to get the muvo2 4gb player out to the rest of the world, whereas apple havn't..

Its a bit cheaper, too.

[fixyourthinking]

The iTunes Europe real impact will be made most prominent in Germany - finally David Hasselhoff downloads!!

Actually, the great thing about the iTunes Europe launch will be - what it will bring to the US.

If I'm not mistaken Napster only transferred its US catlog which is 200K songs less than iTunes US catalog

iTunes Europe has had a delayed launch because Apple is including 300K of European music.

This will benefit Apple in that it will add to their music library significantly.

[dekator]

I'd like to know that too ;)

The easiest way to find out whether your particular European country will be part of the initial iTMSs Europe would be to check whether invitations have been sent to Mac-relevant sites, publications etc. I should think. That may not prove accurate but might be an indication.
Maybe, on the other hand, they negotiated a EU-wide/Eurozone + UK deal ?

[fixyourthinking]

Its a bit cheaper, too.

The muvo 2 doesn't have solitare and brickles

The muvo2 doesn't have tight integration with iTunes

The muvo2 is USB - the iPod is firewire AND USB - the transfer times on Macs older than 1 year vs USB 1.1 or 2.0 - is magnitude of 3X faster!!!

The muvo2 is ugly

You do get what you pay for.

[Corozive]

great news :)

i would be good if ipod updates were soon, itching to update mine

[dekator]

The iTunes Europe real impact will be made most prominent in Germany - finally David Hasselhoff downloads!!

David Hasselhoff... :eek:. So, that's it? Well, I sure hope for some real music too.

Actually the great thing about iTunes Europe lauch will be what it will bring to the US.

Ah, thank God you said it. I was at the point of forgetting that only the US matters... ;) :D

[arn]

here's a pic of the invite

[dopefiend]

here's a pic of the invite

Dang, can't read the text! :(

[Porchland]

does this mean new version of itunes? itunes 5.0, i mean, what a great way to announce it, you won't get much more media coverage than this...

That would be the logical thing to expect, but it seems awful soon after the release of 4.5. I'll be curious to see if the European version has the "same" software or if they start it off at 1.0; everybody on one version seems like the Apple thing to do.

[takao]

definatly good news...i hope they don't introduce it only in france,germany,uk only that would be bad (for me)
and of course i'm hoping for a not too bad price

[SilentPanda]

A lot of good a music event does them when they can't even get the iTunes Music Store over there... :confused:

Oh wait.... :D

[johnnyjibbs]

Yippee!!

About time!

[bdkennedy1]

New software? Garageband U.K.? It's such a big secret, I have no idea!

[mechamac]

Does anyone know if the idea is that we poor Americans will get to buy all kinds of European music that was previously hard to find, or is only a for-Europe music store? I'd love to see a "select country" pulldown in the iTunes window....let the credit card companies figure out the exchange rate.

[Porchland]

Aparantly Toshiba has ramped up the 1" 4gb drives, maybe they will release the iPod Mini to the rest of the world as well now???

I'm curious. With the 60-gig cat already out of the bag, I expect an announcement of a 60-gig iPod to come on June 15. The latest word on the mini was that production was still way behind, but Apple could announce availability while not actually making the mini available internationally for several more months.

My guess:

1.)
iPod (15GB) > iPod (20GB) > $299
iPod (20GB) > iPod (40 GB) > $399
iPod (40GB) > iPod (60 GB) > $499

2.) Nothing new on iPod mini.

3.) iTMS U.S. and iTMS will both be using iTunes 4.5, with the selection of the country in the setup process pointing users at the applicable databases. (I am assuming the rights agreements will differ from country to country.) Since iTunes 4.5 is barely two months old, it would seem to soon for 5.0.

[johnnyjibbs]

Since iTunes 4.5 is barely two months old, it would seem to soon for 5.0.
I expect they'll reserve iTunes 5 for release with iLife '05 at MWSF in January.

Regarding iPod mini, they may launch them here and say shipping in July. That would be sensible. But we'll also see the launch of the iTMS definitely.

[Knox]

Does anyone know if the idea is that we poor Americans will get to buy all kinds of European music that was previously hard to find, or is only a for-Europe music store? I'd love to see a "select country" pulldown in the iTunes window....let the credit card companies figure out the exchange rate.

Rights are done on a per-country basis in most cases, so if an artist is not currently on the iTMS the launch of the European version won't automatically change that.

Of course they might use the opportunity to add more European music onto the US iTMS, but i wouldn't count on it.

[dekator]

Does anyone know if the idea is that we poor Americans will get to buy all kinds of European music that was previously hard to find, or is only a for-Europe music store? I'd love to see a "select country" pulldown in the iTunes window....let the credit card companies figure out the exchange rate.

Hard to say. The exchange rate shouldn't be a problem at all (it works fine e.g. with PayPal). But whether the labels would allow you to buy e.g. cheaper in the US or EU... ? Within Europe, that's not a problem. So, e.g. coming from Germany I can go shopping in France if stuff is cheaper there and I'm entitled to buy according to French conditions and vice versa. Of course, you can import things from the US too, but then you'll have to pay customs...
Dowloading from some notorious Russian sites is not a problem... but then I don't know whether that's exactly legal. Any lawyers ?

[Trimix]

Just in time for my new iPod :) :) :rolleyes: :cool: :D :D
and the new G5 iMac :D
what an expensive month this will be :D :D :D

[eric67]

Hard to say. The exchange rate shouldn't be a problem at all (it works fine e.g. with PayPal). But whether the labels would allow you to buy e.g. cheaper in the US or EU... ? Within Europe, that's not a problem. So, e.g. coming from Germany I can go shopping in France if stuff is cheaper there and I'm entitled to buy according to French conditions and vice versa. Of course, you can import things from the US too, but then you'll have to pay customs...
Dowloading from some notorious Russian sites is not a problem... but then I don't know whether that's exactly legal. Any lawyers ?
I think Apple can implement an Geo Localization for the iTMS library, but the paiement can remain linnked to your local iTMS...not so much a problem...
I think the easiest way is to generate a huge big single iTMS library in which we will be able to browse via artist name/nationality which is already possible...Apple just needs to implement mirror sites in Europe to face the demand

[macridah]

Nice. This is good news for mac users and apple stock owners. :D

[Knox]

does this mean new version of itunes? itunes 5.0, i mean, what a great way to announce it, you won't get much more media coverage than this...

Technically I wouldn't have thought a new version was needed - the country-specific side of the iTMS is handled by the Apple servers rather than the client itself. Once the non-US versions are launched the servers just need to direct you to the appropriate store.

[boskie]

i'm interested to see how this will combine international music? i sure hope that US stuff can be bought by the rest of the world and more importantly to me, i can by music from the rest of the world

Firstly, Fantastic news!!

But I also hope that i'll be able to buy music from abroad, it would be quite a disapointment if you couldn't. Still looking forward to the Full Ninja Tunes back cat though... :)

[boskie]

I expect they'll reserve iTunes 5 for release with iLife '05 at MWSF in January.

Regarding iPod mini, they may launch them here and say shipping in July. That would be sensible. But we'll also see the launch of the iTMS definitely.

I've just come back from NY and Chicago and no one there has any of the iPod Minis in stock, even the respective Apple Stores. They have loads on display though and got to use one and it has dispelled any reservations I previously had of it. I really like the look and feel of it. It's so compact, light and stylish.

[Knox]

Apple just needs to implement mirror sites in Europe to face the demand

Ironically, the iTMS is already mirrored in Europe and elsewhere because it uses Akamai to distribute the content :)

[MacRy]

About bloody time too! :)

[the future]

To channel the off-topic soccer posts: there already is a EURO 2004 thread on macrumors: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=74333

[CmdrLaForge]

My guess:

1.)
iPod (15GB) > iPod (20GB) > $299
iPod (20GB) > iPod (40 GB) > $399
iPod (40GB) > iPod (60 GB) > $499

2.) Nothing new on iPod mini.



Those new iPods would make my day. But I would expect them to annouce the Mini for Europe as well, maybe not available immediatly but in July.

[freddiecable]

Now - spread the word! I'm switching friends from WMP, winamp and others to iTunes and they love it!

Next step is making them switch OS :rolleyes:

[Krizoitz]

Finally, an end to all the complaining about how Apple didn't care about Europe, etc etc etc.

[cdburrows]

presumably no webcast for this one... considering steve obviously isn't flying in just to let us lot lose? :p

now all we have to worry about is the cost :o

[SilentPanda]

Finally, an end to all the complaining about how Apple didn't care about Europe, etc etc etc.

Oh they'll find something to complain about... Europeans complain, Americans file law suits. :)

I'm kidding!

[sinisterdesign]

i'm glad to see iTMS finally make it across the pond. i often forget that you guys haven't had the pleasure of using it yet. i love the UI (of course), the celebrity playlists are interesting & now the other users playlists. my only gripe is still the sampling rate. 128 AAC is pretty good, but if there's an album that i REALLY care about, i'm still going to buy the CD just so i can rip it myself @192kb.

other than that, i really hope that we all share one HUGE library of music. i can't wait to start poking around at some europeans' playlists to see what you guys are buying (i'm really over outkast, britney, hoobastank, et all).

as for announcements, my guess is announcing the mini for europe w/ a few week ship time, no iPod updates & maybe a new version of iTMS to incorporate all of the new euro music.

[realityisterror]

there's no doubt in my mind that after iTunes europe and canada, there is no way any other music service can surpass iTunes... :D

i'm guessing marketshare will easily be up to 80-85%...

it feels so good to see apple in the lead in something,
reality

[dopefiend]

there is no way any other music service can surpass iTunes... :D

I'd knock on some wood for Apple's sake if I were you :p

[iChan]

ireland iTMS... please please please apple, i will buy 200 songs in the first month if you let me.

[iChan]

The muvo 2 doesn't have solitare and brickles

The muvo2 doesn't have tight integration with iTunes

The muvo2 is USB - the iPod is firewire AND USB - the transfer times on Macs older than 1 year vs USB 1.1 or 2.0 - is magnitude of 3X faster!!!

The muvo2 is ugly

You do get what you pay for.

i agree with all these points but there are people in this world with no sense of class who will always go after simply the cheapest product. like my cousin, who is eternally fixated on price. you gotta look past the price and focus useability, that is where the true worth of a product lies.

[iChan]

Ironically, the iTMS is already mirrored in Europe and elsewhere because it uses Akamai to distribute the content :)


the thing is though, i don't really want a mirror of the site. i want something that is customised to suit local tastes.

i want to an obscure indie band in america that has a cult following, but has never been heard in europe getting top billing on the UK Store... that would be silly.

[Maxicek]

Great News - Hopefully it will include some nice eclectic UK and european indie bands and a good selection of decent dance tracks - I would love to see all the Hed Kandi albums available. I have £50 to burn in the first week if the content is good.

[iAlan]

Japan is the world's second largest music market, any chance we will get an iTMS anytime soon? Not sure of the chances as the Japanese recording industry really are a bunch of idiots - especially when a Japanese version of a (western artist) CD is released with 1 extra track and is priced around 2500 yen and the original version without that 1 extra track is around 1800 yen. That's 700 yen (about US$7) for that one song. Sure, there is a track listing in Japanese and some liner notes may be translated, but talk about a rip off. If Apple can overcome this hurdle, iTMS-J will be a winner!

[Knox]

the thing is though, i don't really want a mirror of the site. i want something that is customised to suit local tastes.

i want to an obscure indie band in america that has a cult following, but has never been heard in europe getting top billing on the UK Store... that would be silly.

Mirroring in this sense isn't quite like that - just means that the content (the images, the actual music files etc) is distributed on servers around the world to speed access up, rather than the whole site being exactly the same for each country. When the European & other iTMS versions are launched they will also be 'mirrored' in the US*.

I would be extremely surprised if each country didn't have their own front-page and interface to the iTMS.

* Although that does make me wonder - if you have a EU credit card but live in the US, can you choose to use the European iTMS rather than the US one...

[cabostleda]

So how would someone go about scoring an invite?

[Jack White]

i would be suprised if it was one big music store. Firstly, most of the US iTunes exclusives are b-sides to Uk releases, so they wouldn't be exclusives. Also Imports has Uk stuff in it.
And new msic comes out here on Monday so New Music Tuesday would be kinda pointless.
However, i hope there is the option to still browse the US store.

[titaniumducky]

The muvo 2 doesn't have solitare and brickles

The muvo2 doesn't have tight integration with iTunes

The muvo2 is USB - the iPod is firewire AND USB - the transfer times on Macs older than 1 year vs USB 1.1 or 2.0 - is magnitude of 3X faster!!!

The muvo2 is ugly

You do get what you pay for.

I agree. However, if all you want to do is take out the Microdrive and sell it, then the muvo2 will make you an extra $50 profit.

[dekator]

the thing is though, i don't really want a mirror of the site. i want something that is customised to suit local tastes.

i want to an obscure indie band in america that has a cult following, but has never been heard in europe getting top billing on the UK Store... that would be silly.

Mmmh... not sure. While I'd definitely would want to see some European specials (and some classics like Led Zeppelin) I think it is particularly interesting to learn precisely about 'obscure indie bands' because otherwise you might never hear about them. The same is true for European music that goes unknown in the US. I guess that was partly the hope expressed by some of our American fellas...

[cabostleda]

I'm concerned music that hasn't been officially released in the UK will be excluded from sale much in the same way Play.com got their wings clipped.

[bcsmith]

So how would someone go about scoring an invite?

Easy. Just be a select member of the media. Or you could photoshop one yourself.

[Trimix]

does anybody have an idea what it means in terms of the legal wrangling that is going on with APPLE CORPS/MUSIC ? i mean coming to europe (and I love it) would make a potential claim from APPLE CORPS or whatever the heck they are called, even bigger, no ?

[cabostleda]

Easy. Just be a select member of the media. Or you could photoshop one yourself.

Well I guess being part of the media is out the question and I'm not sure I'd fool them with my Photoshop skills!

[mrsebastian]

yay!! once itunes goes worldwide, wonder if they would make it so you can order stuff from different parts of the world?

[Raid]

MacWorld.co.uk reports (http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=8839) that Apple Europe will present "a special music-focused event" in London on June 15, 2004.
...
Some expect that Canada (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/06/20040606164657.shtml) will also be included in the launch.

Well 'grats to all those across the pond! :) I know that the Canadian store is just a page 2 rumour, but with Sony, Puretracks, and Napster up and running in Canada hopefully it' just a matter of time... <tapping impatiently on desk> Dammit Apple! :mad: What do we have to do??? Sacrifice old Performas on a pegan altar!?! :eek:

[Flowbee]

I'm not going to get my hopes up, but it would be really great if we could buy music from other countries' catalogs. That would represent another huge shift in the music industry, and really help fulfill the potential of the iTMS.

As it stands now, most everything you can get from the iTMS you can also buy from Amazon. If Apple starts adding albums that are no longer in print (a recent article said they're working on it) and makes music from around the world equally accessible to everyone, it would also be a big step forward for the Internet fulfilling its potential.

But I'm not getting my hopes up... just yet.

[Windowlicker]

if something's confirmation then this is.

now it would be great if they could amaze us some way.. announce the service for the whole globe or something.....or stamping a price tag less than 1,29 on the itmseu tracks ;)

[snahabed]

While I suppose June 15 could be an iTMS Europe announcement, doesn't it make more sense that it is the iPod Mini European expansion... considering that the iPod ad graphic is used on the flyer, and considering the use of size-specific word "biggest" (oh so ironic!).

Of course, it could be both. That would be better. But I don't think everyone should 100% EXPECT iTMS on June 15.

[JGowan]

does this mean new version of itunes? itunes 5.0, i mean, what a great way to announce it, you won't get much more media coverage than this...Why does releasing software in another country warrant a increase in the software's version? When it went from 4.0 to 4.5, there were many changes to it: Lossless compression, Party Shuffle, WMA to ACC conversion, CD Sleeve printing, big changes to the Store (including publishing your playlists), access to the store from just about all your Library's data (those little arrows), etc.

Releasing iTunes in England does not justify a number bump. In my opinion.

[nuckinfutz]

Flowbee

I'm in the same boat. I'm happy to see iTunes Europe on it's way but it's direct affect on North Americans will be minimal if we do not have access to songs. It will yet another artificial segregation of music that doesn't need to exist. I'm all for control of music but if we're talking about music = art then there is no reason to deprive any markets of a decent catalog of music.

iTunes has so much potential. Artists now have a way to reach a Global markeplace. It would be a shame to see that get snuffed out by some talentless suit.

[PDubNYC]

While I suppose June 15 could be an iTMS Europe announcement, doesn't it make more sense that it is the iPod Mini European expansion... considering that the iPod ad graphic is used on the flyer, and considering the use of size-specific word "biggest" (oh so ironic!).

Of course, it could be both. That would be better. But I don't think everyone should 100% EXPECT iTMS on June 15.

no, to me that doesn't make more sense at all. I think it is almost a certainty that iTMS Europe will be launched on the 15th. Especially considering, as you point out, the bit about "The biggest story in music is about to get even bigger," meaning the iTMS. Rumor has it that the music companies are racing to get their music to Apple. And iTunes should move up to 4.6 or whatever for the new features.

Although I do think that it makes sense to intro either the mini, or the bigger drive iPod, perhaps both.

Guess we won't know for sure for another week or so.

[dekator]

While I don't expect it, I think it would be good for new iPods to support and for the iTMS to sport more formats. While the iPod is big... on the long run it may become marginalised. Certainly, Apple wants to max gains now, but how long will they keep reasonable market share being the only ones using AAC and using it *exclusively*.

[Savage Henry]

Finally, an end to all the complaining about how Apple didn't care about Europe, etc etc etc.

There will never be an end to that!!

My credit card has been empty for months awaiting this moment.
Apple, It's all your's!! Take it !! TAKE IT!!!

[Wes]

Sky news is reporting that each song is going to sell for £0.89

[Zaty]

Sky news is reporting that each song is going to sell for £0.89

This can't be for real. £0.89 is about CHF 2.02. A typical 12 track CD would then cost about CHF 24 which means that it would be cheaper to buy the CD (CDs usually cost around CHF 22). (I don't how much a CD costs in the UK, but I don't think £0.89 is a reasonable price)

EDIT: I just realised that the rumoured EUR 1.29 price is CHF 1.95, so it's not that far off, the price in Switzerland will then probably be CHF 1.99. Given that certain chains offer hot CDs for less than CHF 20, downloading an entire CD from iTMS (with all the restrection) wouldn't be economical

[petej]

OK so I know there are a few days to go before event but there seems to be a lot of activity at the Billingsgate Fish Market. Seems a bit premature if it is for the Apple event. Lighting rigs etc are being set up. Interior is being decorated. If it is for Apple then they clearly want to make sure that everything is setup and perfect.
The Old Billingsgate Fish Market is an unusual location for such an event. But it is in a great spot on the banks of the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. It was an office complex a while ago.

[SpaceMagic]

This can't be for real. £0.89 is about CHF 2.02. A typical 12 track CD would then cost about CHF 24 which means that it would be cheaper to buy the CD (CDs usually cost around CHF 22). (I don't how much a CD costs in the UK, but I don't think £0.89 is a reasonable price)

EDIT: I just realised that the rumoured EUR 1.29 price is CHF 1.95, so it's not that far off, the price in Switzerland will then probably be CHF 1.99. Given that certain chains offer hot CDs for less than CHF 20, downloading an entire CD from iTMS (with all the restrection) wouldn't be economical

Sky News said £0.89 :o Wooohooo! Cool, i'm ok with that. Um when you converted to CHF you are using the british price - you must remember the pound is still very strong so it isn't a fair conversion. You need to convert from Euros like you have done in your edit, but also I doubt they'll round up to CHF 1.99.

[iChan]

Sky News said £0.89 :o Wooohooo! Cool, i'm ok with that. Um when you converted to CHF you are using the british price - you must remember the pound is still very strong so it isn't a fair conversion. You need to convert from Euros like you have done in your edit, but also I doubt they'll round up to CHF 1.99.

when did you hear this about 89p?

[iChan]

Mmmh... not sure. While I'd definitely would want to see some European specials (and some classics like Led Zeppelin) I think it is particularly interesting to learn precisely about 'obscure indie bands' because otherwise you might never hear about them. The same is true for European music that goes unknown in the US. I guess that was partly the hope expressed by some of our American fellas...

i am not against the idea of learning about the obscure indie bands. however, i want the front page to reflect local tastes... that is all

[iChan]

Sky news is reporting that each song is going to sell for £0.89

where did you see this? (web, TV?... address?)

[johnnyjibbs]

This can't be for real. £0.89 is about CHF 2.02. A typical 12 track CD would then cost about CHF 24 which means that it would be cheaper to buy the CD (CDs usually cost around CHF 22). (I don't how much a CD costs in the UK, but I don't think £0.89 is a reasonable price)

EDIT: I just realised that the rumoured EUR 1.29 price is CHF 1.95, so it's not that far off, the price in Switzerland will then probably be CHF 1.99. Given that certain chains offer hot CDs for less than CHF 20, downloading an entire CD from iTMS (with all the restrection) wouldn't be economical
Generally, the album price will be less than the combined total of all the tracks. The general US price of $9.99 is only £6 but I bet we'll see £9.99 albums. It that case I'll stick with Play.com.

However, for individual songs 89p (GBP) or even £1.50 is good enough for me, since singles cost £3.99.

[Wes]

where did you see this? (web, TV?... address?)

TV

[TednDi]

With no basis in fact whatsoever...


Apple music and Apple computer will sign a deal to distribute the Beatles collection. Settling the dispute and providing exclusive content to itms Apple gets to use the images of the beatles in advertising in exchange for perhaps very little or nothing in the way of royalties from every itms beatle song downloaded. Apple music gets 100% royalties Apple computer gets bragging rights and a ton of new intrest in itms and new perhaps never before released content. Both sides make a ton of money and Apple computer surges far ahead of the competiton.

Apple computer has a big enough war chest to fund this deal and is/should be interested in gaining market share. Works for both parties and settles the dispute.

[asif3]

firstly, is it going to be steve presenting? if so, i have a question:

i wonder which celebrities he's gonna bring along with him. we all know he likes to show of all of his celebrity friends (dr dre, mick jaeger, sarah mclachlan et cetera) so i wonder who he's going to bring with him or ichat to.

secondly, a few posts ago, someone mentioned like lighting rigs and all stuff like that. i wonder if this is for apple's presentation - then again, i think if they wanted to really impress they could have hired the royal albert hall or something (heh, or even the millennium dome :D) - but old billingsgate market? then i realised it's in direct view of the river - perhaps apple are gonna put a big poster up like they have in california, with the ipod silhouette ad?

monument isnt too far from me in holland park so i my pop by at like 12.00 or something to see hwat the vibes are - and to see if apple has actually used a giant ad space...

oh, and lastly, does anyone know how many people have been invited? i wonder how much of a large scale event this will be? what was it like in the usa when you guys ahd your music event?

hmm..long post :-/,
asif3

[asif3]

heya,

i have a hunch. maybe the reason apple took so long and argued so much with the record companies is becuase they wanted to actually charge the europeans fairly? maybe they'll surprise us with like songs for £0.69 or something :)

[LaMerVipere]

I can always hope for 4th-Gen iPods on that day which could be launched alongside iTunes Europe! :) But I know that's totally unrealistic, darn it :p

[ingenious]

no, to me that doesn't make more sense at all. I think it is almost a certainty that iTMS Europe will be launched on the 15th. Especially considering, as you point out, the bit about "The biggest story in music is about to get even bigger," meaning the iTMS. Rumor has it that the music companies are racing to get their music to Apple. And iTunes should move up to 4.6 or whatever for the new features.

Although I do think that it makes sense to intro either the mini, or the bigger drive iPod, perhaps both.

Guess we won't know for sure for another week or so.


Mr. Jobs has confirmed that June 15 will be the iTMS European Launch.

[TednDi]

Just in time for WWDC!!

And ITMS and the sales of the ipods have been the strongest growing aspect of the corportations financials.

Steve J. would want to have some momentum going into the third quarter and the best place to start is WWDC and the launch of ITMS europe.

as of this writing Apple is trading at or above its 52 week high. $16.63-$30.97

from computerweekly.com

++++++++++++
Thursday 15 January 2004

iPod sales drive strong quarter for Apple



Apple Computer has posted revenue $2bn for its first quarter of 2004, its highest quarterly revenue in four years.

iPod sales more than tripled as Apple sold 733,000 digital music players, generating $256m in revenue. Apple's PC shipments also climbed during the quarter, to 829,000 units, bringing in revenue of $1.3bn.

Apple turned a profit for the period of $63m for the quarter, which ended 27 December.

Chief executive officer Steve Jobs hailed the quarter as an outstanding one, saying that his company began its financial year with "strong momentum", especially around Mac OS X, which is now used by nearly 40% of Apple's customers.

Merrill Lynch said it is pleased with Apple's strategy and product lineup.

"We think Apple has gotten its act together in focusing on core markets, building a mature management team and, most important, innovating again," Merrill Lynch wrote. "People will pay more for Porsches, but they have to perform."

The introduction of iTunes for Windows during the quarter contributed to the strength of iTunes and iPod revenue. iTunes users bought and downloaded 17 million songs from the service during the quarter.

In the Americas, overall revenue rose 25% from the same quarter the previous year, and grew 48% in Europe, 13% in Japan and 55% in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan.

In education, sales to higher education customers were up strongly year on year, while sales to other schools declined slightly.

For this quarter, which ends in March, Apple expects another quarter of double-digit, year-on-year growth in both revenue and earnings, with revenue growing to $1.8bn.

+++++++++++++++++++++

[Flowbee]

heya,

i have a hunch. maybe the reason apple took so long and argued so much with the record companies is becuase they wanted to actually charge the europeans fairly? maybe they'll surprise us with like songs for £0.69 or something :)

Most likely it took so long because Apple wanted to launch in several European countries at once. We shall see soon enough.

[Zaty]

Financial Times reports what has already been rumoured: iTMS will only launch in France, Germany and the UK on Tuesday. But Mr Jobs is also believed to make an annoucement when the service is expected to launch in other coutries.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1086940173997&p=1012571727304

If this is really true, I would be disappointed with Apple because I don't see a reason why they don't offer the service in all countries where it is ready to start.

[unregbaron]

Yes definitely Old Billingsgate - was walking along the river yesterday and came across several ipod posters custom made to fit within the pillars of the building - looked great.

What was interesting was that Apple are using a German company called Klartext with several trucks from their Frankfurt base - I wonder why? Was the launch moved from Germany recently? Couldn't London handle the demands of Apple?


OK so I know there are a few days to go before event but there seems to be a lot of activity at the Billingsgate Fish Market. Seems a bit premature if it is for the Apple event. Lighting rigs etc are being set up. Interior is being decorated. If it is for Apple then they clearly want to make sure that everything is setup and perfect.
The Old Billingsgate Fish Market is an unusual location for such an event. But it is in a great spot on the banks of the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. It was an office complex a while ago.

[asif3]

Yes definitely Old Billingsgate - was walking along the river yesterday and came across several ipod posters custom made to fit within the pillars of the building - looked great.

What was interesting was that Apple are using a German company called Klartext with several trucks from their Frankfurt base - I wonder why? Was the launch moved from Germany recently? Couldn't London handle the demands of Apple?


I was jsut driven past there about ten mins ago. Theres a few mercedes vans, a fair dew ipod posters and about 15 people in black tshirts standing around.

I saw a black mercedes come out just as I was driven in - maybe it was SJ? I dunno, anyway, there are gates to prevent any unauthorised vehicles.

P.S. The iPod posters can be seen clearly from accross the river too.

[Trimix]

asif3, pitch a tent, take your sleeping bag, night goggles, binoculars and keep us posted. thanks mate.

[Savage Henry]

I don't see a reason why they don't offer the service in all countries where it is ready to start.

But perhaps it's not ready to start in those countries yet?

I can't think it'll be too long .... a couple of months max?

[asif3]

asif3, pitch a tent, take your sleeping bag, night goggles, binoculars and keep us posted. thanks mate.


lol, if I had a press invite I would! I've been looking far and wide for an authentic one, but still no avail.

I've been waiting for this day for a year now, so I dont care how much those songs cost, Apple is getting my money :)

[MarkCity]

I just saw an advert for iTunes on a bus stop in Clerkenwell Road, London. It featured a picture of an iPod and said something like 'iTunes store for your Mac or PC'. Surely that's final confirmation that it's launching today. :)