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Still Waiting for iTunes Music
Store Canada, Sort Of
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As poor cousins, we Canucks are used to waiting a tad longer for
some of the wonderful goods introduced south of the border. It's been
some time since the iTunes Music Store. made its appearance in the
States, and, well, we're still waiting.
Now don't get me wrong, we're all very happy to hear that our
European cousins have the chance to spend their hard earned cash at
the store - but considering our geographic proximity, you'd think
we'd be first in line for the goods.
Now I'm fairly certain that the hold up for iTMS Canada has very
little to do with Apple and pretty much everything to do with gaining
distribution rights in the Canadian market. Then again, our
relatively small size might also make our little frozen corner of the
world a less appealing place to do business.
Whatever the reason, the drought seems to be coming to an end. In
Canada,
iTunes' Next Online Target, the National Post reports that
Apple is taking a serious look at the Canadian market. With any luck,
the iTMS may make its Canadian debut fairly soon.
With iTMS Canada becoming a reality, I may have to make a decision
regarding buying music. Personally, I'm not a rabid music lover.
Because of this, I rarely buy CDs. The pay-per-tune model makes the
most sense to me.
But - and it's a big but - I have my reservations about iTMS.
While it makes perfect sense to me to pay for music, I'm a little
uncertain about what's happening to the music once it leaves the
online store.
If I buy a CD, I take it home, and the record company has nothing
more to do with the process. I use the music as I see fit.
With iTMS, Apple retains some control over the music. Once I've
made my purchase and downloaded my tunes, Apple can still tell me
what I can do with it.
Before firing off an email explaining (in occasionally colourful
language) that artists must be compensated for their work, note that
I am not saying artists shouldn't be compensated for their work.
Thanks for noting that.
As a Canadian, I already pay
a fee for recordable media. This fee is ostensibly used to
compensate artists for potential losses due to copying.
I'm wondering if the rules for the Canadian iTMS will be any
different from those in the US and European stores. Would it not make
sense to reduce the copying restrictions for Canadian users? Why tax
us twice?
Whatever the answer, I'm certain the Canadian iTMS (when it
finally appears) will be a hit.
Whether I jump on the bandwagon is another matter.
Stephen Van
Esch is the founder and president of
the
E-learning Foundry, an online training
resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual,
since he's also fluent in Windows and French.
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