iTunes Expands
Yesterday Apple iTunes made it possible for artists to release into a further 12 new territories not covered by the stores before. In total iTunes music is now available in 35 different countries (not 29 as reported by some other companies). As an artist, if you have given worldwide rights then your music and videos will automatically be available, but if you have chosen which territories your distributor can sell in then it’s not automatic that your music will appear. To take advantage of the new territories, you will need to tell your delivery partner / music distributor that you want to sell in these new countries.
Some people think that because they have their music on iTunes they are now selling themselves around the world. The reality is that your not, but you are selling in all the countries with the highest consumption of music.
So far the following countries have an iTunes music store: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America.
You may think it seems silly that iTunes is not available in every country, but the reality is that Apple has to obtain agreement with their suppliers to sell in each country and so if permission is not granted by all or the majority, then I can understand why the company holds back until it is able to offer a full catalogue to your potential customers.