iTunes Music Store Japan: Wheels within wheels

Following our recent coverage of the Nikkei report of an imminent iTunes Music Store launch for Japan, we were directed to an article in The Register that effectively said the Nikkei report was a load of hot air. The Reg cites an Internet Watch report that, so they say, quotes an Apple spokesperson saying that the Nikkei report is "completely untrue".

Sounds like the Nikkei really got it wrong. Until you actually read the Internet Watch report. What the Apple spokesperson really said was that "the Nikkei did not contact Apple either in Japan or the US for an interview regarding this story. We are not in a position to comment about the article." Given how famously tight-lipped Apple is about more or less everything, that's about the only response one would expect whatever the truth actually were. If you're looking for information that casts doubt on the Nikkei story, it's rather the comments Internet Watch obtained from the record labels, which say that they are still in negotiations and haven't inked an agreement with Apple yet. However, given that corporate agreements in Japan are routinely denied at breakfast and trotted out with pomp and ceremony shortly after lunch, we'd be hesitant to write iTMS Japan off so soon. Indeed, Sony Music Entertainment, supposedly the least enthusiastic of the Japanese labels, is quoted as sounding quite positive on iTMS as a new channel through which to distribute their music.

More as we get it.

Japan iTunes August launch report 'untrue' | The Register