Why is iTunes not available in South Africa?
by Andrew on 04/12/06 at 12:32 pm
22 comments
iTunes is great. Unless you’re into illegal MP3’s, I don’t know of a better way to buy music these days.
However, it’s not available in South Africa. By "not available" I mean that when you register with iTunes they require a non-South African credit card, or a PayPal account with a non-South African address.
I know there are ways for me to get hold of an international credit card, or a PayPal account with a UK address, but my question is rather WHY iTunes is not available here. My guess is that it hasn’t been properly negotatiated with the music distributors who have the rights to the SA market, but I’m not sure. In that case, if I was to use a "fake" off-shore credit card I would still be bringing digital music into the country illegally, and I may as well be copying MP3’s off the net!
I would like to know if anyone has any information (preferrably with references) as to why this is the case? Is it our banking laws? Is it because of fraud? Is it the music industry here? Does Apple not care about our market? Pick ‘n Pay and Musica have both made miserable efforts at offering digital music downloads, so the market is still open for another player unless Apple makes a plan quickly!
Andrew Smith is the pedantic systems guy behind Live Alchemy, a SA e-commerce company. Andrew writes for Ideate in an attempt to make the world a more efficient place. View more articles by Andrew.
Fred
Dec 4th, 2006
Isn’t something to do with SARS not being able to tax it?
(Not that I would care, since I buy them from an iTunes account set up by an English resident, who has a UK credit card account – perfectly legally as my lawyer has advised me…
Haw haw. )
Andrew
Dec 4th, 2006
I doubt it would be SARS. There are a million other digital services that are available online. SARS would have to ban international credit card use altogether.
JBagley
Dec 4th, 2006
It has to with digital rights and royalties. When you buy music in SA, a portion of it goes to the South African companies running the music scene here.
So the real reason then I would think would be that Apple have bigger fish to fry before they dive into the SA market and try and get all the royalties payments etc setup.
BTW, I absolutely cannot use the Musica site as I am running IE7 and Firefox, and neither of them work! Hows that for a poor excuse of a website.
Andrew
Dec 4th, 2006
I decided to make another attempt at contacting Apple. Here was my question to them:
—————
I live in South Africa which means I can’t use iTunes with my standard Credit Card or PayPal account.
If I have a PayPal account with a UK billing address am I allowed to purchase songs with iTunes? I would like to know whether the conditions are “people living in South Africa are not allowed to use iTunes at all”, or “people living in South Africa are allowed to use iTunes if they have a foreign credit card or PayPal account with a foreign billing address”.
————–
And here was their response:
————–
Dear Abdrew,[sic]
I understand you are a resident of South Africa and would like to know if you can use your UK address to purchase from the UK iTunes Store.
Thank you for your interest in the iTunes Store. You may browse any country’s iTunes Store, preview audio and video clips, and even download podcasts. However, residents of any country not currently supported with an iTunes Store may not purchase from the ITunes Store at this time.
Items in any particular country’s iTunes Store are available only for distribution to customers who reside in that country and who use a credit card, debit card, iTunes gift certificate, or iTunes gift card issued in that country.
For example, the iTunes Store for the United States can sell only to U.S. residents using credit cards, debit cards, gift certificates, or gift cards issued in the United States.
Although I cannot comment on future expansion plans of the iTunes Store, please rest assured that Apple is committed to bringing the iTunes Store to people around the world.
For a list of countries in which the iTunes Store is available, please select “Choose Country” from the menu at the bottom of the iTunes Store homepage.
Thank you for your patience and have a wonderful holiday season.
————–
Not much room to wriggle out of that one unfortunately!
Fred
Dec 5th, 2006
So, what if the UK resident asks the SA resident to choose songs on his behalf? This is especially the case if the UK resident’s taste in music is so clearly inferior to the SA resident’s. The SA resident can then select the songs that are downloaded, but the UK resident technically still owns the songs once they are downloaded.
(Haw haw… )
Andrew
Dec 5th, 2006
Perhaps there’s a business opportunity in that. Call it “Babysit a Pom’s music collection”.
Fred
Dec 5th, 2006
UK Mike says: ‘Luckily even when I move out there I am still classed as a UK resident so I can still download. My inferior choices will still need support from someone with greater music knowledge.’
Karin
Dec 5th, 2006
Fred, tell Mike not to worry, I’ll educate him in better music knowledge (Dutch taste, even better
)
But I also think Andrew might have a great idea!
Mark
Dec 5th, 2006
Great question lads, I’ve been pondering on that for a while.
I only realised how cool iTunes actually was when i arrived here in the UK. I actually buy music now!
Why? Because it is so easy, relatively affordable, and gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing you actually own it.
Come on iTunes, get with the program and serve the South Africans!
Johan
Dec 7th, 2006
How about if you have a credit card issued in the UK, but the billing address for the credit card is in South Africa???
Karin
Dec 7th, 2006
Works at Paypall (don’t know if that’s true for SA, but works on Dutch Paypall account with billing addres in UK)
Alan Levin
Jan 8th, 2007
JBagley is correct. The local Apple guys (the Core Group) were interested in getting this working but as pointed out the rights and royalities are a local issue. Unfortunately the local record companies just don’t get it and resist anything that needs work, or (as they think) is going to eat into their revenue.
Richard
Jan 23rd, 2007
I have just gone through the tedious process of seeting up a paypal account with a direct debit from a UK bank account, but surprise surprise Itunes does not offer paypal as a payment option in the uk store?
Any ideas?
Andrew
Jan 24th, 2007
That is odd. I know that each iTunes country basically runs independently because they have their own agreements with record companies. Not sure why UK wouldn’t accept Paypal though.
Barry
Feb 2nd, 2007
Does anyone know who the record companies here are who are holding this back. I currently dont buy any music, purely becuase of the fact that it is a mission too. If itunes were around I would be converted to a fully paid member of the music community.
Do the record companies not realise this?
Peanut
Jun 9th, 2009
Dare i say it but iTunes doesnt care about ZA.
Karel kraai
Jul 22nd, 2009
Another point you’re not considering is that most 1st world countries have “free” internet – we do not. Sure they pay a small monthly fee to have a broadband connection but they can download as much as they want day and night.
This means they can buy or “rent” TV episodes, movies, music etc. at a competitive price – cheaper than they could buy or rent it otherwise. And you can pick just the song you want and not have to buy the CD just for that one song.
We on the other hand treat bandwidth as a precious commodity – when its actually no less than day light robbery… While an american can “rent” movies online we will pay a few hundred rands extra for the bandwidth to “rent” that same movie. If you have any common sense you’ll buy your music in a shop and rent your movies from the local video store, even if it were possible to purchase or rent these items online. Unless decade old laws governing radio transmissions and communications are updated it would be illegal to provide free wireless internet in this country.
I think this is possible if the provider has some kind of a license to broadcast a signal but then those costs are going to trickle down to you and me and we will once again be paying a great deal more than our overseas brethren, although I imagine much less than we do now.
Things have surely improved and with outside pressure to stay competitive and new technologies we may live to see the day where phone bills and paying for bandwidth is a thing of the past. Or you could skip that and just move to a 1st world country – it would be like taking a 10 year leap into the future.
vincent
Aug 9th, 2009
Use this http://www.thepiratebay.org the hell with royalties
Nongg
Dec 30th, 2009
To save all this hassles why dont you people just buy US iTunes gift cards online. I have purchased several from this store and they are legit. The service is quick and prices are reasonable. They will send you the codes via email which you can immediately redeem. Its so easy to get the latest in US music, movies, TV series, apps etc. Just follow the FAQs in the link.
http://iTunes-GiftCards.com/FAQ
Debbie
Mar 30th, 2010
Maybe South Africans will be able to use it now if we have access to PayPal accounts?
Would be nice to know if that is the case. Anyone know?
Niel
Mar 31st, 2010
Hi,
I was just wondering about the same thing as Debbie… doesn’t the new FNB PayPal thing change things?
Niel
Gary
May 13th, 2010
Now u can find out a good store that can be available in SOUTH AFRICA!!!
They proved me that they can deliver away from USA..
i bought my itunes gift card from http://itunesgiftscards.com
and they are legit in delivering itunes giftcards after 2 hours of delivery