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January 25, 2007

itunes_store

Turning Japanese? Not if iTunes has its way.

Posted Jan. 25, ’07, 8:40 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

ituneslockdown.jpgThere was a time when I jammed to Japanese music with the best of them, an affinity which had grown from my exposure to anime in late high school and college. Aside from the numerous anime theme songs that crowd my iTunes library, you’ll also find tracks from The Pillows and The Seatbelts.

But that’s just a taste of Japanese music. Paul Collins over at Slate describes the treasure trove of tunes unearthed simply by changing the country in your iTunes Store to Japan:

Japan’s bands are by turns bracingly experimental and jubilantly retro, a land where our own greatest music returns with an alienated majesty. How else can one describe the King Brothers’ “100%,” a song that could make the Black Crowes eat Humble Pie? Or Syrup16g’s Elvis Costello-esque “I Hate Music”? Or “Johnny Depp” by Triceratops, an amp-crunching reanimation of Physical Graffiti-era Zep? And you’d swear that the Pillows’ “Degeneration” was a hidden track on Matthew Sweet’s Altered Beast.
Apparently, it’s gotten to the point where a cottage industry has sprung up, involving reselling Japanese iTunes gift cards to those in less fortunate parts of the world. And, of course, Japan’s not alone: there are bands all over the world who are ghettoized in their own country’s iTunes Store.

As much as I like the idea of iTunes, there’s something kind of pathetic about it reproducing the border lines of real life. Shouldn’t the wonders of technology open up the free exchange of ideas, conversation, and, yes, music between the countries of the world? There are, after all, no CDs to import, no oceans to cross: the country model is an artificial limitation based on the way music sales worked before the Internet, just as DRM is an artificial limitation based on the way music sales worked before CD burners and MP3s. It’s time to move into the future, not hold onto the past.


2 Comments

Fletcher said:

I see this a lot with British bands. A telltale sign is that an artist has their name linked in iTunes, but no songs available. I used to shop at several record stores which had great import sections. It is disappointing that iTunes is not able to give me the same selection despite its vast library.

January 25, 2007 9:55 AM
Andrew Robulack said:

I so agree with you, Dan! I've long bemoaned how the iTunes Canada site rams Canuck pop down my throat, forcing me to dig to find anyting not by Sarah Maclachlan, the Barenaked Ladies or the Tragically Hip. So much great music from other parts of the world are inaccessible due to these artificial iTunes constraints. Break down the walls!

January 25, 2007 10:49 AM

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