Peter Griffin: Online music is popping up everywhere - except here

If you can believe Kiwi Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, the global sensation known as iTunes will be landing just across the Tasman any day now. Crowe let slip on radio a couple of weeks back that the world's largest online music retailer was finally coming Down-under and some Australian users even reported being able to buy songs through itunes Australia for A$1.69 ($1.80) a song.

While New Zealand's name wasn't mentioned, in the world of technology - we're very much viewed as a pimple on the bum of our Aussie neighbour - we get what they get, minus the glitzy marketing. The same website, sitting on the same server in Sydney, should be able to deliver up song downloads to us with prices displayed in New Zealand dollars.

But in the music industry, nothing is that simple. If Australian speculation is correct, a spanner seems to have been thrown in the works with one of the record labels disagreeing with Apple over the pricing for iTunes Australia.

"Appletalk's sources understand that this delay is due to Apple wanting an aggressive price that the record company concerned feels is too cheap," according to the Apple enthusiasts' website Appletalk.

It seems likely that iTunes Australia will launch in the next month or so, though there has been no indication to suggest New Zealanders will get to join in. It will be interesting to see how, in a market similar to ours, the service is received and whether music retailers' sales will drop.

What makes the lengthy wait for iTunes more frustrating is that Apple just opened it up to four more countries - Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The Swedes can even take advantage of a launch promotion in which Apple and Swiss bank UBS will give a free song to every Swede over the age of 13. Wouldn't that be nice.

Still, while we wait for iTunes, forces are mobilising in the US to steal its thunder.

RealNetworks is known for its media players, which started out life as nice alternatives to Windows Media Player but became a bit too intrusive and advertising-driven for my liking. Real also has Rhapsody, a music download service that until now hasn't been a patch on iTunes.

But desperate times call for desperate measures, which sums up Real's latest play for survival.

Real is relaunching Rhapsody with a base service that allows users to listen to 25 songs for free each month. The only catch is that ads will be displayed in your media player as the songs play. It's a model that web surfers are familiar with.

Real is also going down the subscription route with other services, a different approach to Apple's pay-as-you-go downloading model. Rhapsody Unlimited users pay US$8.33 ($11.47) a month to listen to more than a million songs on demand, effectively renting them.

That means you have to play them through Real's player on your computer - you can't transfer them to an mp3 player or burn them to disc. A US$15 service lets you transfer the songs to mp3 players, but you lose access to the songs when you cancel your subscription.

I went to the Real site to sign up, but was greeted with this message: "Rhapsody is not yet offered in your country. Please check back later, and thanks for your interest in Rhapsody."

Real can tell through my IP (internet protocol) address where I am connecting to its website from and knows New Zealand hasn't yet negotiated the necessary music licensing deals. If the progress of iTunes in getting here is anything to go by, don't bank on being able to sign up to Rhapsody any time soon.

Internet search engine Yahoo is also taking the subscription approach to music downloads with a new service, Music Unlimited.

Don't bother trying to sign up there either. Free trials are available to new customers in the United States only, Yahoo says.

But at US$6.99 a month for on-demand access to more than a million songs, it's something I'd pay for. You can transfer the songs to an mp3 player.

But here's the sticking point for Real and Yahoo - the services don't support the iPod, the world's most successful music player and Apple's trump card. Real and Yahoo support other, less popular players, from the likes of Dell and iRiver.

The irony is that by the time iTunes gets to New Zealand, it may already have seen its best days as the rival subscription model takes off.

In the meantime, the growing competition means everyone's getting choice and value for buying online music - except us.