Apple, what about Latin America?

I know it's not just Latin America who is being overlooked by Apple, but that doesn't make it any better.

I have a 30GB iPod photo, and I'm pleased with it. It does what I want it to do, nothing more.
I rip my albums to iTunes and transfer them. Plus photos. Good deal.

But sometimes, I want an album which is not sold here, or one of those iTunes-only editions. And that's when I feel the pain. There is no iTunes Music Store for Latin America.

If there actually was an iTMS here, the sales could not be compared to those in Europe, or in the United States obviously, but they'd be sales nonetheless.

I get it. Record labels. Legal stuff. I just feel they haven't even tried to open it up here. I can but wait.

Enter new iPod.

I watch TV. I watch Desperate Housewives. I watch Lost. I like music videos. I would pay $1.99 for episode, or video without giving it much thought.

Granted, the quality is not great, but it would be enough for my needs.

However, since there's no iTunes Music Store here, I can't even dream of getting the TV shows.
I know they're only available in the U.S.A. as of now, but I'm sure in a few months they'll be available in more iTMS-ready countries. But not here. Oh no.

So, let's get to the point.
Apple, get your act together and launch a music/video store in Latin America.

Comments

[Andrew]

Good call Josue. I agree (even though I don't live in Latin America). But then again, I really adore Apple's products and service.

[Josue Salazar]

Yes, i'd be fine with just the music store available here.

[Jleagle]

It shows that Apple is only interested in making money. I know how anoying it can be to have something in another country but just because you live somewhere else you cant have it!

[beto]

Yo man, I just found your blog linked on airbagindustries.com under the subtitle "Jurassic Park wants to buy music too". Yeah, that Greg guy knows how to be funny :P

Now first things first - sure, I've got an iPod too and all, but coming to think of it, why would we want a Latin American iTMS in the first place? For starters, charging 99 cents for what amounts to a bunch of data wrapped in heavy DRM BS and encoded in lame 128 kbps bitrate should be classified as one of the greatest ripoffs in history. They could sell those tunes at a quarter each and still make a big-ass profit - no warehouse expenses, no S&H, why wouldn't they?.

How Apple could get away with this in the US is beyond me. Probably because, unlike us Latinos, Americans still regain some integrity and respect of copyrights when it comes to playing/recording music (and videos, TV shows, movies, et al), so most simply choose the legal route if it is made convenient enough for them (and having it fairly priced according to their incomes), and that's what Apple just did with iTMS.

There's also the big difference in economies: Spending $1 in America is not the same thing as spending $1 in these countries. For someone with a monthly income of $3-4K a month, $1.99 to download a TV show is no big deal. Not so for someone who barely gets by on $500-600 a month, like most Latin American residents. And perhaps there lies the answer to your question.

BTW so you're here in CR? I'm living in Heredia. It's good to discover new blogs made here. Drop me a line if you want to.

[Josue Salazar]

You have a good point. Didn't think of that.

That could be one of the reasons, maybe the songs wouldn't sell here. And well, if they won't sell, then what's the point on investing in the area, if it's not profitable.

I don't have an answer for that, but still, music rightly priced would sell. And then again, some people would buy at 99 cents per song, i would, and i'm sure others would.

As a matter of fact, Apple doesn't even have to open a Latin American ITMS, they can just let us sign up for the US ITMS, right now, they don't accept my credit card, so it's not even a matter of making a spanish store, or anything like that, they can just let us use the main ITMS to buy what we need. They don't necesarily have to work on a different ITMS version, a localized one, just let us access the US music.

But then again, probably the record labels would bitch about that. Oh hell.

I guess there's no solution for us.

Now, you mention piracy in this area, of course, who'd pay for something you can download for free (illegally, no one sees it as such), or something a friend could give you. And it's not just DRM'd music, software, look at all the computers here, i'm sure at least 90% use pirated Windows, pirated Photoshop, etc.
It seriously is a problem here. No one is willing to pay for anything. People here don't tend to value software, and rights of the creators.
Here's to hoping it will change soon, and to do what we can to fix it (installfest, promote linux if they want free stuff).

Anyhow, great comment, i hadn't noticed Greg had me linked there (though for some reason i don't find his subtitle so funny, heh, "americans")..
I do live in Costa Rica, lived here all my life.

[sosa]

Hey! I get here from airbag too.

I really don't miss iTunes, because as beto says that price for music seems ridiculous for Latin American reality.

$500-$600? most of people around me earns like $250 a month, that meaning that the cheaper (and pretty useless) iPods costs the salary of month of hardwork. Forget about downloading, at least in Mexico you can buy any popular (pirated) CD for less than $20 dollars and rare ones can be finded in subcultural markets for the same price.

iTunes and all the iPod culture are about burguese commodities and capitalist thinking, Latin America is mostly an middle-to-low-class society who can't and won't pay $1 dollar for a single song. That's because apple isn't interested in us, because we are poor.

Now... why are we writing in english?

[Josue Salazar]

Hi sosa,

Apple hardware is well worth it, and anyone who's used it knows that. If you look at iPod competitors, they're all in the same price range. And if you look at the iTunes Music Store's competitors, they're well, cheaper.

There's probably no market here for music store online, hell, almost everyone uses dial up here.

But not everyone fits in that profile (low salary), there are people who earn more, and who are willing to buy songs at that price. So, as i said before, just letting us use the U.S. music store would be enough.

We're talking in english because, uh, well it started as a personal site for me to share with most of my friends, whom all don't speak spanish.

[RD]

I think this could get done if it starts in the right place in the right time and with the right factors. There are more developed countries here in LA, growing and in progress economies, countries with solid and serious governments not full of crappy issues that could offer a solid base for an iTMS. Think of Chile, Argentina or Brazil. Brazil is really big, no doubt of that, Argentina was one a big economy and Chile is today the most developed country in the area and still developing at a very fast pace, socially and economically. Right priced songs with good marketing would sell well in these places, especially with music retailers ripping everyone off all the time.

If one buck is just too expensive, it's not Apple's fault. Sure, Apple is the face of it all and gets all the blame and shit, but the real assholes pushing the price are the record labels. You know the music industry is greedy, piracy is their fault for having such high prices, they even want higher prices on the iTMS or some sort of "iPod tax", but Apple won't give there. Hell, Steve Jobs himself has called them greedy.

[made in costa rica » Blo]

[...] As i’ve previously blogged, Apple doesn’t care much for the rest of the world. [...]

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