iTMS Denmark | Poland | Netherlands In October?

[MacRumors]

According to AppleInsider (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=595), Apple is actively attempting to finalize arrangements that will deliver the iTunes Music Store to several European countries this October. Already offered in the US, the UK, France & Germany, the localized versions of the iTMS make available Apple's large catalog of per-track music downloads, along with music videos and spoken-word content from Audible.com (http://www.audible.com). So far, Apple has yet to negotiate a deal for a Japanese or Canadian localization of the store.

MSN Music, the audio-download store from Microsoft, is expected to debut prior to the iTMS in Denmark. Apple has apparently gone on record as saying they're not intimidated by the competition.

[angelneo]

When is it coming to Asia? This sounds like great news... but it give me a feeling that iTunes might start dominating the online Music market in a bad way.

[ChrisH3677]

and Australia??

[Ja Di ksw]

first post already complaining about how its not somewhere else. C'mon people, they are trying. Its not like Apple wants to keep iTMS out of certain countries

edit: first and second posts already complaining

[saabmp3]

first post already complaining about how its not somewhere else. C'mon people, they are trying. Its not like Apple wants to keep iTMS out of certain countries

edit: first and second posts already complaining

Gotta agree, they probably spend their time working on the countries that will be the easiest/most financially beneficial to do. I would assume canada and asia would be financially beneficial, but maybe it's just too much red tape to go through and they want to get as many people on as possible. They DO want your business.

BEN

[JDOG_]

Come on man, get it to Canada already! I can't believe for a country that's so close, something like iTMS is so hard to get rolling.

Cupertino is only 772 miles away from Victoria, B.C. can't believe that. :rolleyes:

EDIT: Sorry for complaining, but it is a bit ridiculous. Good for Denmark, just make sure there's plenty of Reggae on the Amsterdam site ;)

[angelneo]

Gotta agree, they probably spend their time working on the countries that will be the easiest/most financially beneficial to do. I would assume canada and asia would be financially beneficial, but maybe it's just too much red tape to go through and they want to get as many people on as possible. They DO want your business.

BEN

Ok ok. I got to admit I post something out of the thrill of getting first post so I'm sorry and I have edited it to add some more comments.

[AliensAreFuzzy]

This is really good. iTMS in more places means more people buying music from Apple which means more people buying iPods from Apple which means more money for Apple!

[Ja Di ksw]

Come on man, get it to Canada already! I can't believe for a country that's so close, something like iTMS is so hard to get rolling.

Cupertino is only 772 miles away from Victoria, B.C. can't believe that. :rolleyes:

EDIT: Sorry for complaining, but it is a bit ridiculous. Good for Denmark, just make sure there's plenty of Reggae on the Amsterdam site ;)

Does distance matter that much for something over the internet? I would assume the legal complications are a much, much bigger factor

[bousozoku]

I'm sure the competition isn't as intimidating as the governments and recording industries and red tape are.

Good for Apple that they're making progress. Hopefully, we'll see more iPods with even better value.

[reckless_0001]

So much for iTMS in Canada in 2004.... :(

So what! if they don't think there is a market here, because it's legal to download. Alot of people will still buy from iTMS... Just my thoughts. :p

[ITR 81]

I have a feeling that the iTMS Japan will debut when the new Japanese Osaka Apple Store debuts...(probably around Nov or Dec.

[crowdaddy]

this is bull ****....we Canadians WANT iTms!! GOD DAMNIT!

[chrone]

Come on man, get it to Canada already! I can't believe for a country that's so close, something like iTMS is so hard to get rolling.

Cupertino is only 772 miles away from Victoria, B.C. can't believe that. :rolleyes:


Cupertino is even closer to Mexico, yet we don't hear from a lot of Mexicans in these fora complaining about a lack of iTMS down their way, despite a significantly higher population!

But cheer up, Canada! You'll be getting the Smart Car years before us down here in the States!

Chrone
Long-time lurker, first-time poster

[Elan0204]

iTMS in more countries is always a good thing, and I'm sure it will eventually be available in every country Macs are sold.

[SiliconAddict]

Come on man, get it to Canada already! I can't believe for a country that's so close, something like iTMS is so hard to get rolling.

Cupertino is only 772 miles away from Victoria, B.C. can't believe that. :rolleyes:


Yah. Like distance has anything to do with it. :rolleyes:

[Ugg]

The significance here is that they're launching in Poland. I can't see that there would be a huge demand there but this is their first foray into eastern Europe. Maybe it was easier to do but I would have thought the Czech Republic would have been the first choice.

As far as the Aussies and Canucks go, it's not Apple but the licensing laws in your respective countries. Don't scream at Steve, start writing your govt. representatives, they're the ones holding it up.

I'm sure licensing is what's keeping iTMS out of Japan, Korea and Singapore too. That sucks.

[Ugg]

Link (http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=65357)

Indian music companies are forming a portal, to offer their entire repertoire online as a one-stop shop, according to Universal Music president V J Lazarus. iTunes (the only platform which lets you legally download numbers for iPod) is indeed in their scheme of things. “We’ll be ready with the portal end of this year or early next year. The offering will be available to iTunes also in due course of time,” Mr Lazarus says. The commercial terms are yet to be worked out. “New technology will not take away our business,” he argues.

Don't know if he is just blowing smoke or if there is a deal in the works. If he's the head of Universal in India, I would think it would be real. Wow, a market of 1 + billion would be incredible, of course that would have to be reduced to the percentage of the population that owns a computer and has the money to spend, but still it must be in the 100 million range.

[Zaty]

I just hope it's coming to Switzerland, too

[spesh]

Can someone tell me why this has to be done in such a serial fashion? Why can't the Apple Australia people organise things over here whilst the Apple Canada people organise things (shock, horror) at the same time for Canada. :confused:

I understand that each country has local restrictions but they also have local staff.

Where is the bottleneck Stevo? Oh yeah, and get well soon mate, we need your style. :cool:

[lou tsee]

I just hope it's coming to Switzerland, too

IT IS! I just talked an Apple Representative in Switzerland and he said,
that they're working on an Oktober launch as well!
(One additional problem is the different currency we have in Switzerland)

[broken_keyboard]

I would have thought Japan would be the next one, followed by Canada and then Australia. These should be low hanging fruit. I guess the recording instrustry in those countries is being difficult?

[ChrisH3677]

first post already complaining about how its not somewhere else. C'mon people, they are trying. Its not like Apple wants to keep iTMS out of certain countries

edit: first and second posts already complaining

Unlike others here, I'm wasn't blaming Apple. I'm sure they're trying. I just said it hoping it might somehow jump off this page and onto the computer of someone with the scissors for the red tape. Australia, I feel, is a very Apple unfriendly country and it frustrates the heck out of me. We've been MS's lapdog for years and with the window open letting in the winds of change, now they're gooing and gaaing over the emperor's new clothes - oh, sorry, I mean Linux. :mad:

Sorry. Got off topic. If anyone can hear me - please clear the path for iTMS in Oz.

[Trimix]

IT IS! I just talked an Apple Representative in Switzerland and he said,
that they're working on an Oktober launch as well!
(One additional problem is the different currency we have in Switzerland)

beats the polish zloty, no ? i seem to have read somewhere that on a per capita basis there is the highest number of macs in this tiny alpine country. given the standard of living here, i reckon that apple would get most money out of here - i may be mistaken though - no hard feelings, poland, we love you :)

[BakedBeans]

It's all just part of apples plan of world domination

waa waa hhahaaa hoooo hoaaaaaaa waaaaa wowhaaa (evil laugh)

[stevehaslip]

It's all just part of apples plan of world domination

waa waa hhahaaa hoooo hoaaaaaaa waaaaa wowhaaa (evil laugh)

I was gonna say exactly the same thing! World domination! Great minds think alike! i shall join you in an evil laugh

moo waaa haaaahhhaa hoaaaaa hooaaaahhhhhh woohaaahaa

[Nikko1965]

beats the polish zloty, no ? i seem to have read somewhere that on a per capita basis there is the highest number of macs in this tiny alpine country. given the standard of living here, i reckon that apple would get most money out of here - i may be mistaken though - no hard feelings, poland, we love you :)

Maybe the Swiss issue is language. Do they present the site in German, French, Italian or even Romantsch (if they can find a Babelfish plug-in)? Who would be offended most? After a thousand years of making cuckoo clocks while the rest of Europe was on a continual killing spree it would be pretty shocking if civil war broke out over the choice of iTMS tongue.

As for Poland, they're busy reinforcing the Cupertino "z" keys.

[manu chao]

IT IS! I just talked an Apple Representative in Switzerland and he said,
that they're working on an Oktober launch as well!
(One additional problem is the different currency we have in Switzerland)

I don't thing the different currency will be a big problem, if you pay by credit card, you can easily shop at amazon.de from Switzerland, and Poland and Denmark don't use the Euro either.

A sligthly bigger problem is the fact that Switzerland is not part of the EU, that means a somewhat different legal framework, e.g. different rules on VAT and maybe import duties.

[whooleytoo]

edit: first and second posts already complaining

I wouldn't consider pleading for a company to take their money as complaining! If so, I'm sure Apple would be pretty happy with these kinds of "complaints"! ;)

[myapplseedshurt]

I guess I don't see the big deal about this. Can't people in foreign countries download from the main iTunes store? I suppose they would like a site in their native language, but places like Canada shouldn't have a problem. Maybe it has something to do with copyrights or other laws restricting such sales? Actually, I think it comes down to the only reason for business, money. currency issues and such. As you can tell, I've never left the states. I suffer from "tycobraheism" thinking the U.S is the center of the universe. :rolleyes:

[Nikko1965]

I guess I don't see the big deal about this. Can't people in foreign countries download from the main iTunes store? I suppose they would like a site in their native language, but places like Canada shouldn't have a problem. Maybe it has something to do with copyrights or other laws restricting such sales? Actually, I think it comes down to the only reason for business, money. currency issues and such. As you can tell, I've never left the states. I suffer from "tycobraheism" thinking the U.S is the center of the universe. :rolleyes:

I wish it were that simple. They day I can order Apple products from the US site (with free shipping) and save myself 20% on the Dutch prices I'll be a very happy punter and Apple will be a fraction richer. Until then I have to break out the Euro-Vaseline, bend over and take it like a man for legal reasons.

I thought the internet had no borders?

[bux]

I hope it will get to Sweden soon...

[takao]

iTMS poland ..what a surprise

for switzerland: i am pretty sure they will get it as well because of their (relative) high percentage of mac users

[MacCoaster]

Maybe the Swiss issue is language. Do they present the site in German, French, Italian or even Romantsch (if they can find a Babelfish plug-in)? Who would be offended most? After a thousand years of making cuckoo clocks while the rest of Europe was on a continual killing spree it would be pretty shocking if civil war broke out over the choice of iTMS tongue.

As for Poland, they're busy reinforcing the Cupertino "z" keys.
For that I'd think one could choose his/her language easily. For example if the Computer were set to fr_CH, it'd be in French, de_CH: German, it_CH: Italian. I've never heard of Romantsch :eek: and I'm a language geek. But hey one always learns something new each day.

[iMeowbot]

Don't know if he is just blowing smoke or if there is a deal in the works. If he's the head of Universal in India, I would think it would be real.
Apparently that's exactly what he is. http://new.umusic.com/News.aspx?NewsId=163

[Porchland]

Come on man, get it to Canada already! I can't believe for a country that's so close, something like iTMS is so hard to get rolling.

Cupertino is only 772 miles away from Victoria, B.C. can't believe that. :rolleyes:

EDIT: Sorry for complaining, but it is a bit ridiculous. Good for Denmark, just make sure there's plenty of Reggae on the Amsterdam site ;)

So close? What, do you think the lawyers negotiating the music rights take the bus? Apple is working on it. I can't imagine TPTB sat around the conference table and decided it would be cool to snub Canada.

It's about the agreements with the labels, and Apple certainly wants to be in as many places as possible as soon as possible.

[narco]

I hate complainers.

Personally, I think Apple is pulling a George W. Bush with the iTunes Music Store. Now Apple can boast about how many countries it's in, but who really cares about any of them? Next week we'll probably read about how iTMS is now available in Mongolia.

.narco

[GrannySmith_G5]

Come on itms Bhutan. How long do we possibly have to wait? Time to get your act together Apple.

[pinks]

Grrr. It's not England. It's the U.K. or Great Britain. Get it right! iTMS is available in Scotland, Wales and probably Northern Ireland as well.

I second that!! Please note that England is only one country within the UK and not the collective name for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. I'm sure it was only an oversight, but really! Did you never see Braveheart? ;)

Entertainingly, a few years ago when I was in Texas a lady in a petrol station congratulated me for having such good English for someone from Scotland :eek:

Edit: Loving the name change on the title page: power to the people! "They may take our national identity, but they'll naver take our freedom," and so on and so forth, etc! Right, enough now!

[robbieduncan]

I second that!! Please note that England is only one country within the UK and not the collective name for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. I'm sure it was only an oversight, but really! Did you never see Braveheart? ;)

Entertainingly, a few years ago when I was in Texas a lady in a petrol station congratulated me for having such good English for someone from Scotland :eek:

Ok the article post has been updated to say UK. Now we both just look stupid :D Maybe she expected that you would speek Gaelic?

[Mudbug]

Fixed the England\UK thing for you guys - sorry - that's all my bad. I even know better - just was an oversight.

[Trimix]

I hate complainers.

Personally, I think Apple is pulling a George W. Bush with the iTunes Music Store. Now Apple can boast about how many countries it's in, but who really cares about any of them? Next week we'll probably read about how iTMS is now available in Mongolia.

.narco


hey, don't count out tonga and micronesia :D

[McFreggle]

Hey, when they launched the store in France and UK, the press release mentioned a launch in the rest of Europe in October.

Denmark, Poland and the Netherlands are hardly the rest of Europe, are they?

k.

[cslewis]

Hey, when they launched the store in France and UK, the press release mentioned a launch in the rest of Europe in October.

Denmark, Poland and the Netherlands are hardly the rest of Europe, are they?

k.

They may just be highlighting what countries they think there will be the most business in.

[Trimix]

Maybe the Swiss issue is language. Do they present the site in German, French, Italian or even Romantsch (if they can find a Babelfish plug-in)? Who would be offended most? After a thousand years of making cuckoo clocks while the rest of Europe was on a continual killing spree it would be pretty shocking if civil war broke out over the choice of iTMS tongue.

As for Poland, they're busy reinforcing the Cupertino "z" keys.

excellent, niko -
we would all have to get our swiss army knives out and butcher our neighbors with the nail file. if that was not enough we would throw chocolate bars at them. that should finish them off.

naw, einstein said, all things happen ten years later in switzerland, so CH-itms in 2014. i'll go back to sleep now :D

[shabbasuraj]

hahhaha....

No iTMS for us Canadians..

sux to be us..

at least we have topless beaches (ON), Tim Hortons, and lax ganga laws....

[titaniumducky]

Link (http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=65357)



Don't know if he is just blowing smoke or if there is a deal in the works. If he's the head of Universal in India, I would think it would be real. Wow, a market of 1 + billion would be incredible, of course that would have to be reduced to the percentage of the population that owns a computer and has the money to spend, but still it must be in the 100 million range.

I can absolutely GUARANTEE you that only the ridiculously filthy rich people would even CONSIDER spending about 45 Rs. ($1) on ONE song. Couple this with the fact the "broadband" in India means 40-128 kbps, and iTMS is just NOT gonna' work.

"Middle Class" there would be considered about 60000 Rs/Year, or about $1500 a year. My guess is this is roughly equivalent to a U.S. salary of $30,000.

Add this to the fact that no one really cares if you download music off the internet there, and India has a long way to go before it becomes a good place for iTMS.

[titaniumducky]

hey, don't count out tonga and micronesia :D

Go Micronesia! I love "Zoolander." Ben Stiller is hilarious!

[animal]

Why does Belgium always comes last in Europe in regarding with APPLE. :(

[macridah]

Expanding iTunes Music Store is always good. I just want to make sure the wheels keep on moving ... I do think Asia and canada are due; they seem like big markets.

Apple said that Japan is a slow growing market, well i think iTunes Music there will solve that problem. Japan went crazy during the world wide release of the iPod mini.

[Raid]

So far, Apple has yet to negotiate a deal for a Japanese or Canadian localization of the store.

ARGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<channeling Austin Powers>Who do I have shag to get iTMS in Canada baby?</channeling Austin Powers>

Next week we'll probably read about how iTMS is now available in Mongolia.
I think I'll move to Mongolia then, it looks like they will get a iTMS quicker than Canada. :rolleyes:

:(

[Dahl]

I can absolutely GUARANTEE you that only the ridiculously filthy rich people would even CONSIDER spending about 45 Rs. ($1) on ONE song. Couple this with the fact the "broadband" in India means 40-128 kbps, and iTMS is just NOT gonna' work.

"Middle Class" there would be considered about 60000 Rs/Year, or about $1500 a year. My guess is this is roughly equivalent to a U.S. salary of $30,000.

Add this to the fact that no one really cares if you download music off the internet there, and India has a long way to go before it becomes a good place for iTMS.
I agree.

iTMS in India seems more like a PR stunt than anything else.

[FoxyKaye]

As a former Russian and Eastern European Studies major, all I can say is "iTunes in the old Eastern Bloc, oh yeah!"

I bet the producers of "The Day After" never thought this day would come. :D

[Belly-laughs]

The significance here is that they're launching in Poland. I can't see that there would be a huge demand there ...

Remember Poland has a population of 38.6M, Denmark on the other hand only has 5.4M. Although Denmark and other Western European countries are better off economically, the population (especially the young) of Poland and other Eastern European countries are adapting quickly to modern ways of living and consuming. Probably even more than the average Dane. I guess only time will tell.

[fukuhela]

Remember Poland has a population of 38.6M, Denmark on the other hand only has 5.4M. Although Denmark and other Western European countries are better off economically, the population (especially the young) of Poland and other Eastern European countries are adapting quickly to modern ways of living and consuming. Probably even more than the average Dane. I guess only time will tell.

I'm pretty sure the polish people are adapting a lot faster to 'modern ways' of living than the danish people given that the danes (as the rest of western Europe) all ready lives in 'modern ways' :p

I'm more concerned about microsoft beating Apple at getting first because they get a lot more attention than other companies. So if Micsrosoft gets here first they will run with all the attention i'm afraid.....

[obimk1]

I like that the Itms is coming to nl at last.
The freerecordshop has some nice stuff like peter pan speedrock, but I am
curious about the itms offerings..I guess we just have to ait and see..

obimk1

[whooleytoo]

Remember Poland has a population of 38.6M, Denmark on the other hand only has 5.4M. Although Denmark and other Western European countries are better off economically, the population (especially the young) of Poland and other Eastern European countries are adapting quickly to modern ways of living and consuming. Probably even more than the average Dane. I guess only time will tell.

Indeed - with Poland now in the EU, things should start improving dramatically there. Though, perhaps, not in time for the iTMS launch! ;)

[manu chao]

beats the polish zloty, no ? i seem to have read somewhere that on a per capita basis there is the highest number of macs in this tiny alpine country. given the standard of living here, i reckon that apple would get most money out of here - i may be mistaken though - no hard feelings, poland, we love you :)

To give you an impression about the market share of Apple in certain areas in Switzerland: At a joined project of several Swiss universities, offering their students selected laptop modells (three IBM modells and all of Apple's offerings) at discounted prices, they sold 2538 IBM-laptops and 3698 Power- and i-Books.

One reason why the iTMS will/would be very popular in Switzerland, are the high retail prices here. A CD at a high street store will easily cost you $25 with special offers on new releases maybe at $20. At $12.5 (=10 Euro) the price for a complete CD would quite a bargain, not even to speak from the comparison of the price of a handfull of individual songs to that of a real CD.

Naturally, this assumes that the Swiss would simply get access to a pan-European store with prices in Euro, and not get something like the British.

I would guess the ratio between a retail CD and an iTMS one would be much closer to one in Poland however, still Poland is the biggest of the former east and central European countries having joined the EU this year.

[~Shard~]

Still patiently waiting for iTMS Canada... ;)

[atezun]

Still patiently waiting for iTMS Canada... ;)

I wouldn't be suprised frankly, what with the fact that our fair use laws allow the free downloading of copyrighted songs currently.(Though, the CRIA is fighting tooth and nail to change that.)

[Ugg]

To give you an impression about the market share of Apple in certain areas in Switzerland: At a joined project of several Swiss universities, offering their students selected laptop modells (three IBM modells and all of Apple's offerings) at discounted prices, they sold 2538 IBM-laptops and 3698 Power- and i-Books.

I would guess the ratio between a retail CD and an iTMS one would be much closer to one in Poland however, still Poland is the biggest of the former east and central European countries having joined the EU this year.

Those numbers are mind-boggling! Why so much Apple support in Switzerland?

Pricing would be comparable, and I don't know what income levels are but I would think Estonia with its universal access to the Internet or the Czech Republic or perhaps even Hungary would be more advantageous markets. I'm betting though that Poland was easiest to work with unlike Canada or Oz.

[noxes]

I don't know what the problem in Canada is, We already have Napster, PureTracks, Bonfire (Futureshop), and Sony here. It can't be that big of a deal for Apple to get in here, unless they are trying to get french music for Québec. Does Napster Canada and PureTracks have a french section, I haven't looked?

-Damn You Pierre Trudeau for bilingulism ;)

[~Shard~]

I don't know what the problem in Canada is, We already have Napster, PureTracks, Bonfire (Futureshop), and Sony here. It can't be that big of a deal for Apple to get in here, unless they are trying to get french music for Québec. Does Napster Canada and PureTracks have a french section, I haven't looked?

I've wondered this too - it's not like there aren't other online music services here, so one wouldn't think it should be that difficult for Apple to launch iTMS. But what do I know... ;)

[Belly-laughs]

I'm pretty sure the polish people are adapting a lot faster to 'modern ways' of living than the danish people given that the danes (as the rest of western Europe) all ready lives in 'modern ways' :p

Modern ways of living are always changing. I couldn´t back this up, but I believe the Polish, or other Eastern citizens, after 15 years of dramatic change in every aspect of their society are more likely to continue to welcome change than the average Western citizen, pushing for new, more modern, ways of living.

[McFreggle]

Why does Belgium always comes last in Europe in regarding with APPLE. :(
Apple sales aren't exactly high here in Belgium, isn't it?

Besides... I still believe in a October-launch, also here in Belgium.
"Apple also today announced that it will launch a European Union version of the iTunes Music Store in October of this year."
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jun/15itunes.html

[dbasskin]

Damn You Pierre Trudeau for bilingulism ;)
Who are you going to damn for not being able to spell "bilingualism", though?

[kashimo]

NEWBIE HERE. I think the main reason Apple doesn't have iTMS in Japan is becasue of computers per capita and usage. Funny eh? High Tech Country...less than half of the population can use computers or owns one. Computer sales (especially macs) are on the raise but...still general usage is far below most of South East Asia, China, Korea and Taiwan. NOTE: (Many of my students (13~15) have never used the internet.) General usage has to go up before iTMS in Japan is even worth it.

[Mainyehc]

Why does Belgium always comes last in Europe in regarding with APPLE. :(

Hmmm... No, actually, I think that Portugal is definitely the country that ALWAYS comes last as far as Apple products/services are concerned. We're part of the EU since 1984 (yes, the same year the Macintosh was released) and Apple hasn't even an official presence here. There isn't such a thing as "Apple Portugal", there isn't a www.apple.com/pt domain (just a somewhat fake and always outdated www.apple.com.pt), there isn't a properly working portuguese Apple store... Which I can't fully understand!
On FNAC, for instance, Macs are sometimes displayed in a special spot, right in the middle of the store. Same goes for Corte Inglés, they have a very nice Mac section. Retailers (those who happen to sell macs ;)) aren't Mac-unfriendly at all, and consumers in general don't usually know much about macs, but they find them "cute", and definitely lust over them.
What I'm sick of is having to wait 3+ months for new Mac models to arrive here. I bought my "brand new" iMac G4 17'' 1,25 GHz the exact day it arrived in Lisbon (only TWO of them arrived, mine having a lovely dead pixel :mad: ), DECEMBER the 1st, 2003!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

[webmatthijs]

Gr8 another bunch of people who dont hav to suffer anymore.

itunes is fantastic, hope it comes to asia and australia too!

[hansen]

One more week before October.

Any good updates on rumors regarding iTMS in the rest of Europe?

I can't wait!

I hope we are talking October 1st 00:01 and not "during october"

[jarrek]

As iTMS is going to be open in Poland (thank you UE!) and I'm probably one of few iPod and generaly mac owners to be enlightened upon this subject here in Poland. Why is that? The thing is that as everywhere in Europe Apple makes a huge effort to sell iPods whereas here they just posted a few posters and that's pretty much it, oh I forgot, there was also the Hey Mama! ad but hey, aren't there any more commercials Apple made, heck, I've seen a whole lot of the on their website. Poland is a very prospective country to invest in and the iPods do tend to be sold out with a 3 week shipping delay. This is mainly caused by the fact that the 4G and mini are way less expensive than they used to be. The only thing I wonder about is what is going to be the price/song. The avarage income is very low so it can't be too expesive since it won't get the desired popularity. But then again UE citizens such as Germans would be getting Poland based credit cards (it's not so hard) and buy cheap music, just as they do with new cars. I've been using allofmp3 to download higher quality mp3's but that's nothing comparing to the variety of music the iTMS has. Apple will have a monopoly on internet music stores here so it will make a great deal. Just can't wait, counting away days to the premiere. :)

[takao]

Why is that? The thing is that as everywhere in Europe Apple makes a huge effort to sell iPods whereas here they just posted a few posters and that's pretty much it, oh I forgot, there was also the Hey Mama! ad but hey, aren't there any more commercials Apple made, heck, I've seen a whole lot of the on their website.

i can assure you that ipod ads are very rare.. i personally have seen the first ipod ad (better: the last 2 seconds) ever, just 2 hours ago when switching through the tv channels on the french tv channel 'fashion tv' (most boring tv channel ever)
and outside of 'really big towns (paris,berlin etc. there are no ads. ... no ..there are none in vienna..)

[hansen]

i can assure you that ipod ads are very rare.. i personally have seen the first ipod ad (better: the last 2 seconds) ever, just 2 hours ago when switching through the tv channels on the french tv channel 'fashion tv' (most boring tv channel ever)
and outside of 'really big towns (paris,berlin etc. there are no ads. ... no ..there are none in vienna..)

I have't seen any adds here either.

[ipodrocker]

come on apple bring the music store to ireland and the rest of europe, crush msn music asap!!!

[g4cubed]

I hate complainers.

Personally, I think Apple is pulling a George W. Bush with the iTunes Music Store. Now Apple can boast about how many countries it's in, but who really cares about any of them? Next week we'll probably read about how iTMS is now available in Mongolia.

.narco
Aren't you complaining? It seems so to me.

Also, I think the people in those countries care.

And as for Apple being like Bush, Apple isn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes as our current prez.(this is NOT a policitical ad, just MHO) And as a lot of people stated it's the the Labels and licensing that is the big sticking points. Not location or population size.

[myamid]

"As far as the Aussies and Canucks go, it's not Apple but the licensing laws in your respective countries. Don't scream at Steve, start writing your govt. representatives, they're the ones holding it up."

Although I partially agree with the above statement, I have 1 big problem with it. If the canadian licensing red-tape is so bad, how it it that Bonfire, Puretracks & Napster are already selling here... I would suppose Apple had a head start in negociations... I would also suppose that being the # online store would be a big selling point! I have a lot of trouble understanding where the trouble might be, unless of course licensing negociations never took place! Or maybe this is apple's way of protesting against the CPCC blank media levy (tax) on the iPod and other MP3 players...?

Anyways, Cheers to our polish dane and other european friends who be geting iTms goodness!

[Xilan]

hi
I'm from Poland and I hope share music will be able already in October. Also I think that if Ipod will be cheeper (now it's about 570 $) more people will buy it. I hope it will be cheeper because in Poland it's quit much.
So I wait for iTMS and chepper Ipod...