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London (pte028/25.06.2003/14:24) - Licensing disputes between record companies and musicians have further delayed the European launch of Apple's iTune Music Store, as reported by British daily the Independent http://www.independent.co.uk .
Eight weeks ago, Apple Computer http://www.apple.com successfully opened its first online music store, in which it has since sold five million titles at 0.99 dollars a piece. The computer firm had hoped to extend the success of its US project to the rest of the world.
In Europe, the complicated licensing situation however appears to be creating a hurdle for Apple's scheme. As musicians can have different licensing agreements with their labels in each European country, and with some labels none at all, Apple is finding it difficult to work out a unified legal and pricing framework.
Pascal Cagni, vice-president of Apple's European Operations, says the European legal system for music downloads is much more complicated than in the US, and the American "one-price-for-all" system is therefore not applicable to Europe.
While no date has been set for the opening, Cagni has said it would definitely not take place in September as some had presumed and would most likely be delayed until 2004.
Meanwhile, the British company On Demand Distribution (OD2) has signed contracts with five major music labels. According to the Independent, OD2 could nevertheless not come close to selling as many titles as Apple, and the number of downloads sold legally through OD2 and Apple still pales in comparison to the millions of songs being transferred illegally.
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