iTunes Music Store Launches in 56 New Countries, Movies Arrive in Four

[MacRumors]

Earlier today, we noted that the iTunes Music Store had gone live in Russia and Turkey, but now that changes have propagated throughout iTunes and we've had time to collect reports, it now appears that Apple is selling music through the iTunes Store in 56 new countries. The additions nearly double the number of countries in which the iTunes Music Store operates.

The new countries include:

- Europe: Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine

- Africa, the Middle East and India: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, India, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Zimbabwe

- Asia Pacific: Fiji, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

- Latin America and the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago

Beyond music, four of the new countries have also seen Apple roll out access to movies: India, Indonesia, Russia, and Turkey.

Update 9:08 PM: Apple has published a press release confirming that it has launched the iTunes Store in 56 new countries.

Article Link: iTunes Music Store Launches in 56 New Countries, Movies Arrive in Four

[macbookairman99]

I wonder if iTunes is any snappier for them

[Asclepio]

is the african store cheaper?

[justperry]

It many of these countries people can't even afford a normal mobile phone let alone an iPhone.

[iPhoneApple]

So happy to see Apple expand music stores. Now if they can bring iBooks and Videos to all of these countries.

[LaDirection]

"Kazakhstan,"

Great success!

[slimbek]

I can't imagine not having had access to iTunes Stores for so long.

[irDigital0l]

Damn...the Apple train ain't slowing down at all.

[verniesgarden]

i saw "Listen" and thought they were doing a subscription based system called "iTunes Listen" and got excited.

[apernett]

And that's great. Believe me. But Apple, when are you gonna roll out iTunes Gift Cards in my country? ¬¬

[coolfactor]

Astoundingly huge step forward for the iTunes Store.

[MOKHAN]

Please come to Canada

[coolfactor]

Originally Posted by apernett

And that's great. Believe me. But Apple, when are you gonna roll out iTunes Gift Cards in my country? ¬¬

And hey Apple, when are you going to roll out PayPal support in my country???

----------

Originally Posted by MOKHAN

Please come to Canada

Huh? lol Canada's store launched with the cheapest music back in the day at 99¢ with no taxes. That has changed.

[reallynotnick]

As a US resident, it baffles me how long it has taken to roll out to some of these countries. I mean we have had the iTunes Music Store for over 9 years over here! Licensing just must be a real pain.

[pgiguere1]

Originally Posted by justperry

It many of these countries people can't even afford a normal mobile phone let alone an iPhone.

You don't need an iPhone to buy music on iTunes.

BTW iTunes has been the largest music retailer in the US for over 4 years now, and now sells more music than all US CD retailers combined. Those people may want to ditch CDs without resorting to piracy too.

[Saladinos]

iTunes making a bollywood push?

[kriebe]

When did Russia and Turkey become European? They are definitely on the continental side of Asia. You could say they are part of Eurasia, but definitely not Europe.

[charlituna]

Originally Posted by iPhoneApple

So happy to see Apple expand music stores. Now if they can bring iBooks and Videos to all of these countries.

Give them time.

Hopefully this is the start of a bigger roll out of global releases, especially for video. If the studios would go with releasing globally after first release they might see a drop in casual torrent use. Especially if quality go up and pricing comes down. No TV show is worth $4.99 an episode and there are very few that can't be done in at least 720 if not 1080.

[pgiguere1]

Originally Posted by kriebe

When did Russia and Turkey become European? They are definitely on the continental side of Asia. You could say they are part of Eurasia, but definitely not Europe.

They're technically on both continents.

[MartiNZ]

I find myself amazed that there were that many more countries to go!

Now can we get TV shows in NZ please?

[justperry]

Originally Posted by pgiguere1

You don't need an iPhone to buy music on iTunes.

BTW iTunes has been the largest music retailer in the US for over 4 years now, and now sells more music than all US CD retailers combined. Those people may want to ditch CDs without resorting to piracy too.

But You need an Apple device or not, genuine question?

[pgiguere1]

Originally Posted by justperry

But You need an Apple device or not, genuine question?

No, if you don't have an iDevice you can simply use the iTunes software on PC or Mac. If it only worked for Apple hardware owners I doubt it would be the #1 music retailer worldwide.

[adder7712]

Originally Posted by justperry

But You need an Apple device or not, genuine question?

I had iTunes before I ever owned an iPod (my first one was the 1st gen Nano).

So you don't need an iDevice (iPod, iPad, iPhone etc.) to use iTunes.

[kriebe]

I get that they are physically on both continents. That's why I'm ok with it being Eurasian. But when 90% of a country is in Asia and it's considered a European country, that seems pretty odd to me.

And thanks for the maps... Google is hard.

[justperry]

Originally Posted by pgiguere1

No, if you don't have an iDevice you can simply use the iTunes software on PC or Mac. If it only worked for Apple hardware owners I doubt it would be the #1 music retailer worldwide.

Ah yeah, stupid of me, itunes windows