Big news, since last night iTunes music store were launched in 12 more countries in Europe:

 

"Late yesterday, we reported that Apple appeared set to launch iTunes Music Store offerings in ten new countries, all from the European Union, "at any time". Reports are now flowing in from users in those countries that the music offerings have been gradually going live over the past few hours and are now essentially fully functional.

 

Contrary to the earlier report from Polish media, all twelve European Countries that had been without iTunes Music Store access now appear to be offering music content to customers. The list of countries includes Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. "

 

Full story: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/28/itunes...pean-countries/

 

I have already bought 2 songs from the Hungarian store, one was Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris - We Found Love which will be released only in November in the UK :P

Oh good news, I wish we can get itunes someday :(

Wow, I'll be very interested to see what songs start to dominate the top 100 in these countries!

Great stuff! I'm hoping it will mean Eastern European music becomes easier to find in the UK, and also maybe it will lead to a global sotore someday, it's ridiculous that there are still buying restrictions by country...

Great stuff! I'm hoping it will mean Eastern European music becomes easier to find in the UK, and also maybe it will lead to a global sotore someday, it's ridiculous that there are still buying restrictions by country...

 

I agree, but I guess different countries have their own ways and methods of chart fixing locally so a global store probably isn't ever going to happen... :(

I guess not, but what if it was an option? Say that there was a Global Store and Local Stores for each country. The Global Store sales wouldn't count towards the chart (though they would count towards sales totals), but Local Store sales would. Just a thought :)

I guess not, but what if it was an option? Say that there was a Global Store and Local Stores for each country. The Global Store sales wouldn't count towards the chart (though they would count towards sales totals), but Local Store sales would. Just a thought :)

 

I can't see them ever going for that, that would require iTunes having to pull out and separate local sales data from the Global Store to send to the relevant chart companies, and it could be a bit of a headache to determine exactly where the sales had come from when land borders come into account. Plus if everyone started buying from the Global Store and ignoring the Local Store (which would probably happen, lets face it :lol:) then the weekly chart would end up very skewed and unrepresentative if they didn't count towards the chart.

I will wait patiently for South Korea to get music on their iTunes..

:o Wow. So fast!

0,99 Euro per song? - Really? It's going to flop over here, imo.

Edited September 29, 201113 yr by Luke_cz

I think iTunes should just open an international store where regardless of which country you're in, you can download a song. Surely they would be able to distinguish the difference between someone buying 'We Found Love' in USA and someone buying the same track in the UK.

 

It'd also be an excellent of encouraging more sales for new singles. Yes, OA/OS means songs might not get the peak the record company wanted (especially if said act is British :kink: ) but just imagone if Rihanna's new single was released this week in the UK, it could potentially be topping UK iTunes (surely 'Iris' isn't heading for 100k sales?).

 

It's sad that other countries in Europe can now buy 'We Found Love' legally on iTunes whilst if people - who are aware of the song - in the UK want to buy the track, they'd have to resort to illegal downloading sites.

It's sad that other countries in Europe can now buy 'We Found Love' legally on iTunes whilst if people - who are aware of the song - in the UK want to buy the track, they'd have to resort to illegal downloading sites.

 

I like the idea of an international store but I honestly don't see it coming anytime soon. Acts have different record companies distributing the music in different countries.... or perhaps an act has the same record company but it chooses a different release strategy in each country. As far as I know, the fault of release delays on the UK iTunes lies squarely with the record companies. It's a calculated risk... potentially forfeiting sales now to release the song at the peak of popularity to facilitate a high chart debut. In the UK more than any other country I know of, the weekly chart is a huge way to promote a song because the charts are very popular with the public. The strategy was taken a few times in the US in the last few years (I wanna say 'Right Round' was delayed) but today record companies are more likely to rush release (e.g. Lady Gaga's singles).

 

Having said that, I'm very skeptical that it would actually work (i.e., We Found Love will sell better overall when released in November than if it were released now)... but one example could be Gaga's latest album. Rushed single releases may have meant lower charting in the UK, which may have lowered expectations/excitement/promotion/buzz, potentially lowering sales. Just a thought.

^ Yes, Right Round was delayed, and it holds the record for the highest ever first week sales in the US.

 

I can't think of any other held back songs though, but there's been a few cases where a song leaks onto the Internet, and radio stations start playing it early. But even then it's never usually for more than 1 or 2 weeks.

 

What's My Name? for example, leaked a few weeks before its release, so charted for 2 weeks on airlpay alone (it was a non-Drake version that leaked though). Then when it was released for download it "climbed" to #1. Then the week after it dropped to #7.

 

Now this is where the attitude of British people is twisted. When a song drops 1-7 in the UK, it becomes a bit of a laughing stock tbh.

 

HOWEVER, What's My Name?, after that massive drop in its "first week", then went on to spend 14 weeks in the top 10!! 14 weeks, after a 1-7 drop! This just can't happen in this country where everybody is obsessed with mocking songs that drop quickly down the chart (the way Christina Aguilera was treated last year with her album is Exhibit A).

 

While we're on Christina, Moves Like Jagger was a similar think. It was released over 3 months ago now, and went straight at #1 on release week on iTunes! Then 2 weeks later it dropped out of the top 50. I find it hilarious how people here think a #1 spending 3 weeks in the top 10 is bad.

 

Not sure if this country is ready for on air, on sale. If people can't cope with a #1 dropping 5 places in a week, how are they going to cope with it dropping 20 places?

 

Then, as we all know, over 2 months later, Moves Like Jagger climbed back from out of the top 50 back to #1 on iTunes. This would just never, ever, ever happen in the UK. But, quite frankly, that sort of thing isn't rare in the US. Probably because people there don't really care about the charts, so nobody cared that Moves Like Jagger fell from #1 to #50 in less than 2 weeks. They just got on with their lives, and the song managed to get back to #1 2 months later. In the UK radio stations and MTV would've all stopped playing it after the free-fall, and it would've never recovered.

All the new 12 countries' charts are available on livepopbars already.

Edited September 30, 201113 yr by Luke_cz

I will wait patiently for South Korea to get music on their iTunes..

 

Totally didn't realise that they weren't :o All k-pop acts are on iTunes :D By the way we have to get The Boys into the Multichart next week. SNSD HWAITING :wub:

Totally didn't realise that they weren't :o All k-pop acts are on iTunes :D By the way we have to get The Boys into the Multichart next week. SNSD HWAITING :wub:

 

Yes yes we MUST :cheer: as a proud Sone :wub:

 

Most of k-pop acts are on iTunes but some aren't :cry:

Big news, since last night iTunes music store were launched in 12 more countries in Europe:

Wow, great news, will check it at home. But 0,99 EUR (why is there no local currency?) for a song is quite high for the EE market, me thinks :D In countries where nobody wants to pay for music/movies/etc. these kind of stores will flop very soon! :( They should give songs for 1-2 cents, and albums for max 1 EUR to promote the store...

Still no Russia, how pathetic. iTunes company just doesn't realise the power of our potential demand for legal music. Just launch it, promote it, make the proper official chart, and it'll be on fire! It's 140 million people, mates!

^ Yes, Right Round was delayed, and it holds the record for the highest ever first week sales in the US.

 

I can't think of any other held back songs though, but there's been a few cases where a song leaks onto the Internet, and radio stations start playing it early. But even then it's never usually for more than 1 or 2 weeks.

 

What's My Name? for example, leaked a few weeks before its release, so charted for 2 weeks on airlpay alone (it was a non-Drake version that leaked though). Then when it was released for download it "climbed" to #1. Then the week after it dropped to #7.

 

Now this is where the attitude of British people is twisted. When a song drops 1-7 in the UK, it becomes a bit of a laughing stock tbh.

 

HOWEVER, What's My Name?, after that massive drop in its "first week", then went on to spend 14 weeks in the top 10!! 14 weeks, after a 1-7 drop! This just can't happen in this country where everybody is obsessed with mocking songs that drop quickly down the chart (the way Christina Aguilera was treated last year with her album is Exhibit A).

 

While we're on Christina, Moves Like Jagger was a similar think. It was released over 3 months ago now, and went straight at #1 on release week on iTunes! Then 2 weeks later it dropped out of the top 50. I find it hilarious how people here think a #1 spending 3 weeks in the top 10 is bad.

 

Not sure if this country is ready for on air, on sale. If people can't cope with a #1 dropping 5 places in a week, how are they going to cope with it dropping 20 places?

 

Then, as we all know, over 2 months later, Moves Like Jagger climbed back from out of the top 50 back to #1 on iTunes. This would just never, ever, ever happen in the UK. But, quite frankly, that sort of thing isn't rare in the US. Probably because people there don't really care about the charts, so nobody cared that Moves Like Jagger fell from #1 to #50 in less than 2 weeks. They just got on with their lives, and the song managed to get back to #1 2 months later. In the UK radio stations and MTV would've all stopped playing it after the free-fall, and it would've never recovered.

 

Lack of airplay was partly due to the drop... when airplay increased the song increased on the chart too. But I disagree with UK radio stations removing songs from their playlist as soon as it falls on iTunes. There should be some rule where it has to remain on the playlist for 4 weeks or something to see if it picks up given a chance rather than just left to flop.

Lack of airplay was partly due to the drop... when airplay increased the song increased on the chart too. But I disagree with UK radio stations removing songs from their playlist as soon as it falls on iTunes. There should be some rule where it has to remain on the playlist for 4 weeks or something to see if it picks up given a chance rather than just left to flop.

 

Yeah, that would certainly help if people want on air, on sale to be successful here.

 

The main problem with that is that the playlists of all the radio stations work completely differently (for example, some radio stations can playlist a song, but then they never actually play it, oddly enough, I've seen Heart FM do that before), but they could still work something out. At least with the biggest stations.

Still no Russia, how pathetic. iTunes company just doesn't realise the power of our potential demand for legal music. Just launch it, promote it, make the proper official chart, and it'll be on fire! It's 140 million people, mates!

 

Selena Gomez's "Love You Like A Love Song" is #1 on the official Russian legal download chart.