iTunes Music Store
Posted: Tue Nov 9, 2004 9:36 am

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Rumour has it that within the next year iTMS will be here in New Zealand (although I suspect it will be via Australia).

How many people here would use such a service? Bearing in mind that there is Amplifier already setup in New Zealand which caters for the New Zealand market.

Amplifier is a good idea but I'm not sure of the quality of the tracks. I mean it seems like they're recorded at 128Kbps MP3 (judging by the file sizes) but this is a mediocre format. In comparison the iTunes music is recorded as 128Kbps MP4 which is the equivalent of a 192Kbps MP3 but with the file size of a 128Kbps MP3.

Personally I would be seriously keen on the iTMS service as it opens us up to music that we don't get here, especially the European stuff.

The flip-side being that New Zealand music would also be able to be spread further across the world thus making a great big melting pot of music that we all have access to.

Yes it does tie you into the iPod but let's face it, the iPod is the best music player around in terms of size, features, and usability.

Of course you don't need to have an iPod, you can create CDs/MP3 CDs using iTunes so you can listen to them on anything.

So what are your thoughts on such a service coming to NZ?

RE: iTunes Music Store
Posted: Thu Dec 8, 2005 12:40 pm

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About time.

There was a rumor about 3 months ago on a Apple rumor site with a screen grab of the entrance page for NZ. So its in the works.

iTunes would be the best music store for nz. Basically cause its run by apple. Apple = iTunes, iTunes Music Store, iPod, Quicktime etc

So they controll
- Quality (quicktime - to which belong all the most recent and best STANDARDS, codecs etc. iTunes Music Store actually has ACC files - better compression and quality than mp3. Videos on iTunes are mp4 with H264 compression - DVD's are going to use that compression soon cause its so superior)
- The jukebox software - iTunes (easily the best one out)
- The music store - Internationally the largest
- The player - ipod

Basically they controll it all - hence its seemless - it all integrates - its all by apple.

Amplifier is shit - shit previews, quality is average, no universal standards here ...

The other thing (maybe its something that is preventing its arrival now)
Is that you can now dowload tv episodes etc
LOST season 2, Desperate housewives season 2

In the mean time - podcasts and video casts and previews are free.
There is a great podcast by LOOP - a kiwi one - Loopkast

RE: iTunes Music Store
Posted: Thu Dec 8, 2005 6:07 pm

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apparently you can still use the AU music store from NZ anyway, you just need an AU mailing address to signup..

RE: iTunes Music Store
Posted: Thu Dec 8, 2005 6:15 pm

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just as you would be able to use a us account if you had a us mailing address ..

RE: iTunes Music Store
Posted: Thu Dec 8, 2005 8:50 pm

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From what I understand APRA have been in negotiations with Itunes for quite some time and the fact that is has come to Aussie is a good heads up that it is on its way here.
With regards to amplifier you'd find that the downloads are no lower than 256 kbps but the maximum it'll allow you to listen to is a 128 kbps version. I know some bands who have their songs up there in 310 kbps for that matter.

RE: iTunes Music Store
Posted: Thu Dec 8, 2005 9:22 pm

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I see no one has mentioned www.digirama.co.nz yet - these guys have been running for quite some time now.

With iTunes, basically it's expensive to set something on this scale up, and they have to see a return on the investment they make. Obviously other markets are larger, so they want to focus all their efforts on them first.

RE: iTunes Music Store
Posted: Fri Dec 9, 2005 2:38 pm

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Which is good for us because they get to iron out all their bugs on everyone else first


www.oosband.com

This message was edited by OOS_band on Fri Dec 9, 2005 2:38 pm.

RE: iTunes Music Store
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:57 pm

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theres still something to be said however of buying actual cd's of music.
Having it in mp3, or mp4 format is quick but theres always that sense of real ownership you get with a glossy CD.

However i do agree with using the internet to help market cd's because thats ultimatley going to expose them to more markets.

Thankfully in New Zealand we can have both, there are many sites that provide us with info on CD's. One site thats just been put up is www.ferrit.co.nz ive book marked this baby because its like a price spy for music. It compares prices from other stores so i can still get my music cheap and over the net.

Allowing me the ease of use of the internet and that warm fuzzy feeling of a new cd

RE: iTunes Music Store
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:28 pm

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