Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Get the Right Memory / Ram for your Mac. Top Quality, Competitive Prices, Lifetime Warranty. Expert Support and Video Installation Guidies too! 4.0GB Matched Sets from $87.99, Options up to 32GB. Click here

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Apple Archive

Apple Launches iTunes Europe, but Where Are the Indie Labels?

- 2004.06.18

It's finally arrived: Europeans can now use the iTunes Music Store. After quite a delay, Apple has set up its iTunes Music Store so that people in the UK, France, and Germany can download its tracks.

Those in the UK can download a single track for 79p; full albums cost £7.99. While the British have been able to download tracks from Napster for a while now, the cost was over £1, and the files would not play on the iPod, making it useless for the many people who've already bought an iPod. Other European download sites generally charge at least 99p. (See Europeans Pay More for iTunes Downloads for another perspective on iTunes Europe pricing.)

Given that Apple is quite a bit cheaper, this sounds like the iTunes Music Store in Europe will be a bit hit. Unfortunately, users will only be able to download the music from the five major record labels - the independents are out. If this seemed like a big issue in the US, it's a huge one in the UK, since independent music accounts for about a quarter of British music sales.

Why have popular indy artists have decided to boycott the iTunes Music Store?

The licensing terms. They feel that Apple could raise its prices too easily without raising the cut the artists and labels get from it. There has also been evidence that Apple is paying the major record labels much more than it is offering the independents. Until they work out a deal, artists such as Craig David and Badly Drawn Boy won't appear on the iTunes Music Store.

The other question is how will the launch of the iTunes Music Store affect sales of the iPod in Europe? While the iPod is already very popular, selling over 100,000 units in Britain, some have said the European launch of the iTunes Music Store could increase iPod sales by 40%.

Given that the iTunes Music Store is the cheaper alternative to other services and that Apple's files can't be played on MP3 players, it is very possible that people will buy iPods in order to carry their purchased music with them.

I do have to say that it's about time Apple released the iTunes Music Store in Europe. It's been far too long since it was released in the US. [Editor's note: As an expatriate Canadian, I feel a Candian store is also long overdue.] However, it is very disappointing that Apple and the independent labels haven't been able to come to some sort of agreement, as I think the fact that there will be no independent music available (at least for the time being) will affect the amount of sales on the service.

It is in both Apple's and the consumers' interests to negotiate a deal as quickly as possible.

As for iPod sales going up by 40% with the launch of the iTunes Music Store, I'm not sure if we're going to see that happen. Yes, iPod sales will increase - by 40%, though? If independent music were available on the service, perhaps. As it stands now, I think that 20% might be a more realistic number.

The iTunes Music Store in Europe has a lot of potential. Being less expensive and easier to use than other services in Europe, I'm sure it will draw customers. There's also the fact that it's the only service to work with the iPod.

All it needs are the indy labels.

Recent Apple Archive articles

iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
More in the Apple Archive index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: iMac Core Duo, Jan. 2006 - The first Intel-based iMacs ran at 1.83-2.0 GHz, came with 17" and 20" displays.
Group of the Day: Mac Pro List is for those using a Mac Pro.
November 22 in LEM history: 99: Gradebooks - 00: Leveraging Apple design - Quadra 630 to Power Mac 5200 - 02: Laptop or desktop? - 04: SuperDuper: Quick, easy, efficient backup - Cross-platform programming for the rest of us - 05: Mac video surveillance on the cheap - Which OS is best for my vintage Mac? - No 'best browser' for the Mac - Sorry state of browsers for classic Macs - 06: Core 2 means cooler running 'Books - 2.0 GHz G4 upgrade
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.17. Used 1.83 GHz, $750; 2.16, $800; 2.33, $900; refurb 2.4, $1,299; 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,899; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.17. Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals, 11.17. "Leopard" upgrade, $80; single user license, $135; 5 users, $173; Mac Box Set, 5 users, $230; Server, 10 users, $340; unlimited, $850. Shipping included.
Best Mac mini Deals, 11.16. Used 1.42 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.66 GHz Core Solo, $419; 2.0 Core 2, $450; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $769; Server, $990.
Best iBook G4 Deals, 11.16. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $210; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz, $479; SuperDrive, $498.
Best iPod shuffle Deals, 11.16. Used 1 GB, $35; 4 GB, $65; refurb 1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 2 GB, $55, 4 GB, $75. New and refurb prices include shipping.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Apple Archive articles copyright ©2000-07 by Adam Robert Guha. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.