News: iTunes Store launches locally

Not only has the iPhone 5 been given a fixed release date, but South Africa also received some iTunes love as Apple has finally launched the full music section of the iTunes Store locally, as well as in Russia, Turkey and India.

SA users will now have access to more than 20 million songs from their local iTunes account, rather than having to rely on a US based login and vouchers purchased in US dollars, and will be able to choose from the full gamut of music that many other countries have enjoyed.

In a statement, the company elaborated that the iTunes Store features local artists in the respective countries, including Elka in Russia, Sezen Aksu in Turkey, AR Rahman in India, and Zahara in South Africa.

This is in addition to the array of international artists, the likes of the The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Coldplay, and world-renowned classical musicians including Lang Lang, Yo Yo Ma and Yuja Wang, from which users will be able to purchase singles and albums.

Singles on the store cost between R7 and R9, while full albums are between R70 and R90, although some album specials cost in the region of R40. Naturally, making purchases on the store does require a valid credit card with a local billing address.

Match this!

Along with full access to the myriad of artists, local users will also be able to take advantage of iTunes Match from today. This enables one to store their music library in the iCloud for access at any time and from any iOS device, irrespective of whether or not their music has been purchased on iTunes Store.

iTunes in the Cloud meanwhile, allows music aficionados to download their previously purchased iTunes music to all their iOS devices at no additional cost, while new music purchases can be downloaded automatically to all their devices.

Apparently, the movie store – which will feature downloadable movies from studios such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures - will only be made available next year.

To the point

Unfortunately, the full version of the games section of the store is not available on the local iTunes account; however, the availability of the music section is certainly a step in the right direction. And, while we are looking forward to seeing iTunes movies receive a similar treatment, we are holding thumbs that the prices for buying or hiring movies online via iTunes will be as reasonable.

iTunes Store launches locally

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