If you're outside the US, don't get too excited about iTunes iCloud music services like re-downloading and iTunes Match streaming, because you'll likely have to wait until 2012 if not later before it comes to your region. According to The Telegraph, Apple's iTunes in the Cloud music storage service will not be coming to UK users until the first quarter of 2012 at the very earliest. A spokesman for the Performing Right Society (PRS), which is responsible for ensuring songwriters and music publishers are paid for their work told The Telegraph the bad news.
Negotiations with Apple about ensuring rights in the UK had started but were at a “very early stage”. The licensing team at the PRS have started talks with Apple, but are a long way off from any deals being signed…It is very much the early stages of the negotiations and is similar to the launch of iTunes – which began in the US and took a while to roll out to other countries.
The Telegraph also confirmed the details with a major record label executive who told it that talks had started between the major labels and Apple. Again however the term “early stages” was used and it wasn't expected to be completed until 2012.
The story will likely be the same in other countries. One look at how widely supported iTunes TV Show rentals, movies, and other services are around the world shows just how fragmented and complicated media licenses remands. Added to that, media executives in other countries might take a wait-and-see attitude with iCloud, watching US performance, before they even negotiate with Apple.
Any of our international readers really surprised by this?
via The Telegraph
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