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michael31986

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
4,578
704
is there a way around this.sometimes i really want songs,but they are only available in for ex. 2 big ones for me. UK and portugal
 

ma2ha3

macrumors regular
Mar 13, 2007
237
0
is there a way around this.sometimes i really want songs,but they are only available in for ex. 2 big ones for me. UK and portugal

yeah that is a good question, i want to buy some japanese songs, but why not possible?
what wrong with my credit card money, compare to the japs.
 

wbeasley

macrumors 65816
Nov 23, 2007
1,126
1,317
global economy? :)

it's crazy... we live in a world where you can pretty much order anything over the internet and have it delivered to your home.

If you want to buy from Amazon, you can get CDs delivered so why shouldn't we get anything we like from iTunes?

If I was to visit a country and use my foreign credit card they couldn't care less.

It's about time some of the media companies opened their eyes and realised if they hamper you buying it, people will find other (free) ways to get what they want.

Can you spell "b-i-t-t-o-r-r-e-n-t"?

It's not Apple's fault. They are hamstrung by fools with a proven track record of not understanding how people shop/download these days.

I get tired of seeing things for half the price we pay in Australia. I figure Europeans feel the same way. The sooner we all start buying direct from the US the sooner their economy will bounce back... "welcome to the US of A mega discount online store"...

LOL
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
is there a way around this.sometimes i really want songs,but they are only available in for ex. 2 big ones for me. UK and portugal

It has all to do with copyrights and contracts. If Apple wants to sell a song to people in the UK, for example, they need the permission of the UK branch of some record company, and that branch wants money for every song Apple sells. If a UK citizen bought a song from the store in Portugal, the UK branch of the record company wouldn't get any money, but the Portugal branch would. Therefore Apple doesn't have permission to sell songs from their portugal store to the UK, or the other way round.

That's one side. Apple has signed contracts that don't allow it to sell to someone in a different country. On the other hand, no store in the EC can legally refuse to sell to anyone in the EC. So the best Apple can do is keep the prices the same everywhere in the EC, to keep the number of complaints down.
 

skottichan

macrumors 65816
Oct 23, 2007
1,083
1,264
Columbus, OH
Go to the bottom of the iTMS page, select what nation you want to be able to buy from. Click Sign In, create a new account (you will have to use a different email address than your main). Buy music.


It's that easy.
 

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
Go to the bottom of the iTMS page, select what nation you want to be able to buy from. Click Sign In, create a new account (you will have to use a different email address than your main). Buy music.


It's that easy.

Don't they use your credit card to check your 'nationality'?
 

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
iTunes gift card, FTW.

Ah, so they don't ask for a credit card when you create the account? (I created my iTunes/MobileMe/.Mac/iTools account almost 10 years ago, don't remember..)

Are iTunes gift cards 'universal'? Or are they only valid for a given store?
 

Wotan31

macrumors 6502
Jun 5, 2008
491
0
It has all to do with copyrights and contracts. If Apple wants to sell a song to people in the UK, for example, they need the permission of the UK branch of some record company, and that branch wants money for every song Apple sells. If a UK citizen bought a song from the store in Portugal, the UK branch of the record company wouldn't get any money, but the Portugal branch would. Therefore Apple doesn't have permission to sell songs from their portugal store to the UK, or the other way round.

That's one side. Apple has signed contracts that don't allow it to sell to someone in a different country. On the other hand, no store in the EC can legally refuse to sell to anyone in the EC. So the best Apple can do is keep the prices the same everywhere in the EC, to keep the number of complaints down.
Exactly. It's all record company contracts and deals. Itunes is great for managing a music collection, but the iTunes store just sux as far as selection goes. Best way to get content is to buy your own CD's and import them.

Plenty of internet web sites that sell import albums on CD. Smaller ones like cdbaby.com and larger ones like amazon.com. That's the only way to go is CD. No DRM. No contracts. Nobody can track how you use it or who you share it with. Plus better sound quality than MP3 or AAC. CD's for ever!!!!
 

skottichan

macrumors 65816
Oct 23, 2007
1,083
1,264
Columbus, OH
Ah, so they don't ask for a credit card when you create the account? (I created my iTunes/MobileMe/.Mac/iTools account almost 10 years ago, don't remember..)

Are iTunes gift cards 'universal'? Or are they only valid for a given store?

They ask for either a credit/debit card or a gift card, and I just checked, my US debit card works in the Japanese iTMS.


As far as I know, you have to get the nation's iTunes gift card for where you want to buy from.
 

ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,485
1,571
East Coast
They ask for either a credit/debit card or a gift card, and I just checked, my US debit card works in the Japanese iTMS.

I would be very careful with using a US debit card in this manner. Not because if ID theft or anything, but just thinking about the exchange rates. Your bank may actually be giving you a very unfavorable exchange rate ... although it may not matter too much depending on your shopping habits.

Any chance you can confirm what the exchange rate you're getting?

ft
 

yellow

Moderator emeritus
Oct 21, 2003
16,018
6
Portland, OR
I'd like to note, attempting to circumvent the US Store for US purchases outside the US (or similar scenarios) is a violation of the iTunes Terms & Conditions (and therefore subject to our Rules). Here's the one for the US store: http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html#SALES

Noting that, I will leave this thread open and help that it stays a discussion of the Whys, not the Hows (to circumvent it).

;)

My opinion is that hopefully eventually this will be worked out on a global contractual scale and the divisions will be removed. However, there's a lot of variables in this equation and I don't have my hopes up for this happening anytime soon. As others have noted, exchange rates and VAT applications can be a killer to the whole process, not to mention a boon/bust for the Apple corp in varying countries.
 

sbking

macrumors member
Feb 27, 2009
98
0
This is so annoying, I want to buy just one song from the Japanese iTunes Store but I can't, and buying a whole gift card just for one song is a waste, so I'm screwed :(
 

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
Apple separates it by country simply because of trade laws; by selling crossborders, the media would be subject to trade tariffs, etc.
 

kunal123

macrumors member
May 4, 2009
76
0
Dehradun,India
Well guys this has been fascinating but tell me how is apple going to get any money from 'cause I live in India and am not allowed to browse the available songs or even download the free songs. Same for movies. I can only use the app store.
 

weckart

macrumors 603
Nov 7, 2004
5,834
3,511
It has all to do with copyrights and contracts. If Apple wants to sell a song to people in the UK, for example, they need the permission of the UK branch of some record company, and that branch wants money for every song Apple sells. If a UK citizen bought a song from the store in Portugal, the UK branch of the record company wouldn't get any money, but the Portugal branch would. Therefore Apple doesn't have permission to sell songs from their portugal store to the UK, or the other way round.

More to the point, artists may be signed to different record labels in different countries. If it were branches of the same record company Apple had to deal with, then Apple could easily collate the source of the purchases and pass the information back to the record companies to carry out their internal transfer pricing. However, someone might be signed to Universal in one country and EMI in another etc. Sometimes this leads to some artists' records being available in a number of iTunes stores and not in others depending upon the contracts signed between Apple and the record companies.
 
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