iTunes may be on way to UAE

David George-Cosh

• Last Updated: November 19. 2009 12:29AM UAE / November 18. 2009 8:29PM GMT

Apple iTunes Music Store and electronic reading devices such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader could soon be available in the UAE. Ryan Carter / The National

The UAE is in talks with Apple, Amazon and Sony to allow residents to download music, books and films.

The negotiations with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) concern securing digital copyrights for content associated with each respective technology services. That means the Apple iTunes Music Store and electronic reading devices such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader could soon be available in the UAE.

“We are working with Amazon so they can sell the Kindle here and they can allow users in the UAE to use the [device]. The same thing with iTunes,” said Mohamed al Ghanim, the director general of the TRA. “We have contacted them. We have reached an advanced stage. I hope that soon we will have it here.”

A TRA official who asked not to be named confirmed that Sony was also involved in the discussions but declined to indicate when the reading devices and the online music store would be available, saying it was “premature” to discuss specific dates.

While there are no fundamental roadblocks stopping their introduction in the country, sorting out the digital rights for each stakeholder will take some time.

“All material, whether they are on iTunes or Kindle, is subject to copyright,” the official said.

Both the iTunes Music Store and the Amazon Kindle have largely driven the move of music and books to electronic formats. More than 6 billion songs have been downloaded since the iTunes store was launched in April 2003. More than 10 million songs and 1,000 movies are available for purchase on the site.

UAE internet users can download music through services launched by Nokia, Etisalat and Getmo, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Media Company, which owns The National, and Sony BMG, although none carries the same cache as the Apple service.

Amazon has not disclosed how many Kindles it has sold since it was launched in November 2007. Analysts estimate the online retailer will have sold as many as 2 million devices by the end of this year and has 45 per cent of the e-book market. The Sony Reader is second with 30 per cent, the technology research firm iSuppli said.

While the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader are not commercially available in the UAE, they can be bought at a number of grey-market retailers. The iTunes Music Store can be accessed by users if they provide a credit card based in a country where the service is already available.

Apple has not yet announced an iTunes Music Store in the UAE and talk of its pending availability is “speculation”, said Alan Hely, an Apple spokesman. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.

The introduction of the music store would be a “game changer” in the market, said Hussain Yoosuf, the managing director for Fairwood-BKP Music (Arabia), who works with licensing music in the Middle East market for music industry heavyweights such as Universal and EMI.

“It would be very exciting for us, from a music publishing point of view, because our goal is always to exploit the medium in as many ways as possible,” Mr Yoosuf said.

“This would allow us to help to monetise the digital business in this region in a way that hasn’t been done before.”

* with additional reporting by Keach Hagey

dgeorgecosh@thenational.ae