Apple still has a lot of growing to do in Russia, but the good news is that the iTunes Store may finally be launching there in the coming months. The iTunes Store has not made its way to Russia after all these years mainly due to the country’s pervasive culture of copyright infringement. As part of the company’s continued rollout to new international markets, Apple is reportedly in talks with the Russian music industry to allow iTunes digital downloads. Not only that, but the price of a song on the Russian iTunes Store may be less than the traditional $0.99/track rate found in the U.S.
Russian paper Vedomosti reports that Apple is ironing out licensing deals with the music industry and planning for a launch in Q4 of 2012 or Q1 of 2013. The release of the iTunes Store will “depend on the success of negotiations with Russian record companies and rights holders.”
Apple is heavily focusing on making its products available in new markets around the world. For instance, the iTunes Store is also reportedly about to make its debut in South Africa. Due to the crazy licensing deals in different countries, the iTunes Store just recently went live in much of Latin America, including Brazil.
Source: Vedomosti
Via: paidContent