iTunes Help

February 10, 2009 9:55 PM

How can I download a song from another country store at the iTunes store?

I am in the US and really want an artist that is ONLY in the UK iTunes store I know that I signed the user aggrement that says I will only get stuff from the US store but I really want this artist. Is there any way to get her CD (Sharleen Spiteri if it helps) without paying $20 to amazon. It would be $10 or less if I could get it on iTunes. I don't have a UK billing address or credit card and using an Apple if that helps and just want the music without paying an arm and a leg.

posted by CollegeNelson to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Jlist is still selling Japanese iTMS gift cards so I assume this mechanism would also work for the UK.

Search ebay.com or ebay.co.uk for a GBP-denominated itunes gift uk.
posted by troy at 12:24 AM on February 11

Is it Melody? I was going to offer to get it from the UK Amazon MP3 store for £7.59, which I gather is about $11, and forward the files to you.

However, for $12.62 you can get a new copy of the CD on Amazon Marketplace, which would probably work out cheaper after taking currency conversion into account.
posted by Mike1024 at 12:51 AM on February 11

Be careful with gift cards. I purchased a $20 gift card while in Australia thinking it would allow me access to the TV shows that are not in the NZ iTunes store. The NZ iTunes store won't let me redeem the card, and I can't access the Australian store because I don't have an Australian credit card.

Maybe the UK and USA stores work differently, I don't know.
posted by AndrewStephens at 12:59 AM on February 11

Many times I've purchased CDs not available in the US on Amazon.co.uk, it's totally simple and they'll happily ship to your US address. Since you're not buying it in the UK, they'll even subtract VAT, which is like 17.5 percent of the price you see listed. With a weak Pound, even with international shipping, it doesn't end up being much more expensive than just buying a CD on regular Amazon.com.
posted by Fuzzy Dunlop at 2:45 AM on February 11

previously.
posted by cwhitfcd at 2:56 AM on February 11

I can't access the Australian store because I don't have an Australian credit card.

You don't have to have any credit card for the iTunes Store (what if you're 14?). Have you just tried putting in an Australian billing address and no credit card info?
posted by oaf at 6:19 AM on February 11

I can't access the Australian store because I don't have an Australian credit card.

You don't have to have any credit card for the iTunes Store (what if you're 14?). Have you just tried putting in an Australian billing address and no credit card info?

The Jlist link troy gives above says, among other things:

"When signing up for an iTunes account with a pre-paid card, some customers have reported that iTMS won't let you proceed without entering a credit card. In order to bypass this, hit the "Home" button and begin the Redeem process again, and you'll see the "None" button the second time through."

That said, personally I'd use amazon marketplace to buy from a seller who actually wants to sell me things, in preference to trying to bypass the restrictions iTunes deliberately put in place to stop me buying from them.
posted by Mike1024 at 6:52 AM on February 11

Try checking the band's website/google them to see if they sell through other services. Sometimes, they work with a smaller online store that offers the song at a higher bitrate and without DRM.

Also, some people suggest paying via credit card to the UK iTunes store. It'd work, but sometimes a bank will tack on a conversion fee, and sometimes they're very high. Read over your credit card's rates before you try in case it's expensive.

If you do get a UK card, I suggest you set up a new account, download the song (which will now not have DRM) and import it in your regular account. This should keep down the confusion in the future, especially if you have DRMed tracks that need to phone home to keep working.
posted by mccarty.tim at 9:16 PM on February 11