iTunes Music Store Japan in 2004

Here's a pretty good translation:

American PC corporation Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs on November 27th said he has definite plans for America's popular online music store service to start in Japan in 2004. Although Japan has only a few internet distributors, it still ranks second in the software marketplace in the world, next to the US. Japan is aiming to undertake the foreign capital system to expand its place in the online market.

Apple is in the middle of negotiations with Japanese record labels in order to start the service.

At the end of April of this year, Apple began its online service in America all at once with a bang. With no monthly fee, people can easily buy 1 song for 99 cents each (about 108 yen), leading to sales that were so strong that in one week it had sold a record 1 million songs. More than 17 million songs have been sold since. In the first week of October, about 7 online companies have shared the online market.

In Japan, Sony Group's Label Gate company is developing a managed site to include each and every record the company distributes. Download figures for the month are projected to be on the small scale of approximately 70,000 songs. The US software company Roxio will also be in Japan within one year when the new Napster service will be announced. Japan's music industry is watching how the US is in a hurry to stimulate the market by undertaking new services.


Also Japan related:

MacMinute and MacNN are both reporting (from CNN) that Osaka will be getting a new store next year.

http://money.cnn.com/2003/11/27/technology/apple.reut/index.htm

Boy, it's too bad they didn't say this last year. I'm in Osaka now and I would love to see an Apple store here!

Economists will be happy on news like this, as the Kansai region (which includes Osaka and Kyoto) has been one of the hardest hit through Japan's sluggish economy.

woo! Japab!

Does this mean that the Japanese music store will be released before the European or Canadian? That would be too bad...

Why not Canada? Why not Canada?

Let's hope this means that other countries/regions will get it soon, too. The timing of the Japan announcement is no doubt due to the opening of the Ginza store.

What announcements will tomorrow bring for those of us in North America?

Come on iTMS canada come on. I'm kind of skeptical though since ive never really heard steve make much reference to it and i supose he'll consider it a big deal. but man oh man i need to get off of limewire its so awful i could vomit but congrats to Japan, the faster iTMS cand spread internationaly the better chance it has of competing with all the other online music buying plcaes in those locations and well into the future.

It opens in less then 15 minutes:)
Lets hope iTMS for Japan will be quickly follower by Europe and Canada!

ok this is great news! the announcment of the the first international iTMS and the opening of the first Apple store out side of the US! the is amazing! now lets hope that Apple will open more stores and more iTMS in other places like throughout Europe an Apple Store London maybe on Regent or Oxford st. one in Paris right on the Champs! one in Rome near the Spanish steps or would Milan be a better place? how about a few in the Mid east? places like Dubai are good for an Apple store lots of tourists all year round!

I have a question, iTMS Japan would have Japanese music right? would that music be available in iTMS US?? this would bring more exposure to music that people wouldn't have ever had a chance to hear.

Thank You
MaT

Originally posted by Freakk123
Does this mean that the Japanese music store will be released before the European or Canadian? That would be too bad...

Well, say whatever you want, but Japan is the second largest market for music CD after the US, so I consider it to be only natural.

Good news, but...

how is this a rumor? it's been known for months