Tomorrow in Online we're covering online music, in the wake of the Rolling Stones' (legit) online debut, and the launch of OD2's a la carte subscription services across Europe. During the research, I had a few interesting chats with music industry folks on both sides of the Atlantic about Apple's iTunes music store. When, I was keen to know, would it be opening up here? Apple themselves say negotiations continue, with a few hints suggesting the tortuous rights negotiations in Europe (they vary from country to country) make things difficult.
That's not in doubt - but what is interesting is that Apple may also be stalling a little, too. They need to get a PC version of the shop out in the US as soon as possible. After the success of the iTunes music store for Macs, there are at least four companies vying to beat them to a Windows version, so resources are being concentrated there. Expect a launch before Christmas.
It now looks like Apple will certainly miss the rumoured September launch date for the European shop - next spring looks far more likely, to the frustration of users and - I can confirm - record company executives. For once, they're not the ones holding things up.
