Australian iTunes Store is Live

October 25, 2005 at 4:26 am | In Mac, Music, PC, Podcasts | Leave a Comment

Today’s official announcement by Apple finally made the reality of an Aussie iTunes Store after many months of frustration for Australian iPod owners.

The main details are that the standard iTunes DRM will be incorporated with all songs. Songs will cost $1.69 and albums will be $16.99 (with some slight variations), Pixar shorts/music videos will cost $3.39, Coles Myer will be stocking $20, $50 and $100 iTunes Music cards and Sony/BMG artists and TV are not yet available.

It also appears Apple resellers are not able to sell the iTunes Music cards till at least February 2006 which is a decision made between Apple and Coles but I am sure a lot of Apple resellers are disappointed with that.  There is already a bit of tension between these two recently and this may add to that tension.

Browsing the AppleTalk Australia forums it appears that some albums aren’t able to be bought but individual songs are for the same album.  This seems odd and possibly a bug but unsure at the moment.

I will probably sign up for an account when I get home but am unsure if I will download any music from the store as yet.  I mostly listen to podcasts nowadays but to have an account will be handy nonetheless. 

I will report my own experiences with the store later and let you all know what I think.

Aussie iTMS coming soon?

October 20, 2005 at 3:23 am | In Music, Technology | 2 Comments

As reported on the Apple Talk Australia website yesterday it appears that Apple Australia is holding a media event on 25 October in Sydney but being Apple they didn’t reveal the reason for the event.  The worldwide head of the iTMS and the worldwide head of the iPod Marketing will be appearing fuelling speculation that they will announce the Australian Itunes Store.

 In todays Daily Telegraph Kathy Mccabe reported “After waiting more than 12 months, hundreds of thousands of iPod owners will be able to access paid downloads from October 31.
An Apple media conference next Tuesday is expected to confirm the Australian store’s launch and how much we will pay per song or album. Speculation has the cost per song being between 99c and $1.69.”

It will be interesting if anything has been has been planned regarding TV as it has been in the USA but being Australia I would doubt it very much. 

This could also see another jump in podcasting as a lot of people may have been using other programs or Australian download music sites to download music and haven’t picked up on podcasting as yet.  Hopefully it will promote Australian podcasters also which would be great news. 

 

Why Are Some People So Obsessed

December 11, 2004 at 1:30 am | In Music | 3 Comments

I am sure some of you heard of the concert shooting that occured a few nights ago. For those that don’t “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott who was the former lead guitar player for the power metal band Pantera was shot on stage whilst performing with his new band Damageplan.

A crazed Pantera fan got on stage and said Dimebag was to blame for the breakup of Pantera and that it had ruined his life. He then proceeded to shoot Abbott 5 times and also injured drummer and fellow ex-Pantera member Vinnie Paul.

A security guard tried to tackle the gunman but was also killed in the process. The gunman continued firing and killed 2 other people in the crowd.

I am sure you will have the media and other groups come out and say that this is what heavy metal does to people and it’s devil’s music and satanic. The point is that this person obviously had some kind of mental instability that the breakup of a band that he enjoyed drove him to kill former members. In my younger days of long hair and lots of head-banging Pantera would have been in my Top 3 favourite bands but if they breakup they breakup. Life happens and people and bands move on. This gunman let his passion for a band to control his life and that is a sign that there was something wrong with him that lead to this.

I have seen a few obsessive people but to say that the breakup of a band ruined your life is going too far. if your that obsessed about anyhting see counselling, don’t take it out on the members of the band you claimed to love.

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