Couple of interesting bits to add to this...

1. only 10% of the ZA population is connected (yip , thats a fact and for the whole of subsaharan africa that figure is less than 2.5 % - i recently compiled an academic report on connectivity in Africa so my facts are current)
2. Bandwidth in ZA is expensive and generally slow and unreliable at times.
3. methods of online payments are cumbersome , kids need access to credit cards etc.
4. in ZA we are mall rats ...we like going to malls and seeing ,touching and buying things.
5. the cost in ZA between buying a CD or buying the CD music online are relatively small so ppl prefer buying the CD still.

Having said the above the musica business model will erode as will mr video's and exclusive books as we move to the digital age ....but for now its going to be ok. that lass that sold 350 000 copies of her album , i bet less than 1% of that would constitute online sales as an example.

I can't help but laugh everytime I see that an album costs R150 for the regular top 20 stuff, I wish the music I'm into was that cheap. I once saw Dream Theater's "Metropolis 2000: Scenes from a Memory" going for R345 in Musica.

Well here's hoping for the digital age to continue bringing record companies and retailers with ludicrous prices like Musica to their knees ?

Chad Adam Browne wrote: I can't help but laugh everytime I see that an album costs R150 for the regular top 20 stuff, I wish the music I'm into was that cheap. I once saw Dream Theater's "Metropolis 2000: Scenes from a Memory" going for R345 in Musica.

Well here's hoping for the digital age to continue bringing record companies and retailers with ludicrous prices like Musica to their knees ?

For metal, I haven't found anything better than amazon UK. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Metropolis-Part-2-Scenes-Memory/dp/B000021XS0/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1325851250&sr=8-10

Delivery is free if above a certain amount, just add customs fees, which aren't terrible. Even with customs costs, it's still 10 times cheaper than buying locally.

Well anything metal for that matter. You'll find that apart from the really main stream stuff metal albums are usually imports and thus far more expensive than the other stuff. On the one hand, at least some music stores are making an effort to accomodate the metal heads, but on the other its kinda pointless because its mostly rediculously expensive.

I'm still old school like that, I still like to buy the real cd with booklet, cool art etc..

Mannoroth wrote: Well anything metal for that matter. You'll find that apart from the really main stream stuff metal albums are usually imports and thus far more expensive than the other stuff. On the one hand, at least some music stores are making an effort to accomodate the metal heads, but on the other its kinda pointless because its mostly rediculously expensive.

It's like that for so many non-mainstream genres. I would far prefer to give my money to a local retailer, but so little of the music that I want is available locally. Things are looking up for me a bit since I moved closer to Hyde Park because the Look & Listen there is better than most. I have heard tell of a very good and interesting store in Killarney Mall. I need to check that one out.

I'm still old school like that, I still like to buy the real cd with booklet, cool art etc..

Well me three. I like to read the lyrics, the liner notes (some guys do them better than others), note who is playing on each track.

There's a flip side to this argument - or so I'm told. That is that kids who are only interested in currently fashionable music resent paying even R150 for a CD because it's usually 2 singles, the songs they actually want, and a pile of filler that nobody wants. The theory goes on to say that record stores and record companines are selling to completely the wrong market because they guy who comes in and asks for John Martyn or Joni Mitchell or Larry Carlton has an expectation of getting a disc's worth of good music that he will listen to repeatedly, WANTS the CD booklet, and doesn't mind spending R250.

iTunes in SA certainly does suck festering rhinoceros hemorrhoids. I have heard a few reasons why - for the music it is apparently because SA's copyright laws are not strict enough and/or they are not enforced strictly enough and for the Apps it is apparently the previous reason plus the fact that developers must pay a certain fee to register their product - not the cut they already have to give to Apple, but a separate fee to the SA government, and some of the developers are unwilling to pay this fee (not sure what this fee is). This is apparently why certain apps such as Angry Birds etc are not available on SA iTunes.

I have not had official confirmation of these excuses for SA itunes' epic suckyness but they seem credible/plausible to some degree.

Anybody heard the same reasons/excuses, or any other reasons?

While it's not a nice thought, it's possible companies such as Musica and Look & Listen would go bust as IceCreamMan already suggested, or at least face serious hardships, if SA iTunes suddenly started selling music/movies/non-sucking-apps online, that is if they (Musica & L&L et al) didn't seriously modify their business model and while SA iTunes may sometime in the near future begin selling music/ movies / apps that don't completely suck legitimately in SA, I think the powers that be are either giving the likes of Musica and L&L time to get their act together OR they are indefinitely suppressing iTunes from offering a full service in SA to protect businesses who either cannot or will not adapt to such a challenge.

But hey, I could be completely wrong.

Nokia Ovi music? R80-R100 a pop for all those import metal albums that cost R260 (yikes!) at Look & Listen. They don't have everything but they have a lot.

My Amazon order will cost me R400 with postage if I'm lucky. :-[
http://www.amazon.com/So-Many-Roads-Anthology-1964-1974/dp/B003LJNNZ6/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1326142190&sr=1-5

BMU wrote: Nokia Ovi music? R80-R100 a pop for all those import metal albums that cost R260 (yikes!) at Look & Listen. They don't have everything but they have a lot.

Yes... they are indeed available on Ovi as well as Omusic (also a ZA site) but holy friggin' smokes. You buy an album then they send you a download link for each track and then the mp3s are even tagged properly. But at least they exist.

Jack Flash Jr wrote:

BMU wrote: Nokia Ovi music? R80-R100 a pop for all those import metal albums that cost R260 (yikes!) at Look & Listen. They don't have everything but they have a lot.

Yes... they are indeed available on Ovi as well as Omusic (also a ZA site) but holy friggin' smokes. You buy an album then they send you a download link for each track and then the mp3s are even tagged properly. But at least they exist.

Their music player facilitates one click album downloading. But mysteriously stopped working for me a while ago. IE insists on confirming each separate song download, highly irritating. With Firefox it's one click per song. So that's fine by me.

Send a download link for each track...I haven't experienced that. There's download button next to each album track, click each button once (with Firefox of course) and you're done. Redownload from your account page if you had problems the first time, no problem.

It's no iTunes, especially ease of discovering new music sucks. But that's what last.fm and others are for. I'm just happy to have the option.

A while ago some albums wouldn't download and they eventually refunded me, so there is even -some- level of customer service. Took a while though. Haven't had a problem again, touch wood.

Pinch wrote: I use legalsounds.com frequently as they have most of the stuff I want at 9 USA cents per song. Bargain. Downloads are either per song or per album. Can't remember when last I bought a cd at musica. DVD's are a different matter.

...and the artists you like don't get any of that money. Legalsounds are "legal" only in the sense that there are no copyright laws in Russia where they are based so they are not breaking any local laws - Russia are not signatories of the international copyright treaties. So, "legal" in one sense, but morally reprehensible in every other way...

Thanks Alan, was to aware of that. There goes that one then...

Hi guys, which music site can one trust then. Being an artist myself I am very tense about artists getting their fare share. As Keira rightly pointed out geographical restrictions makes iTunes and amazon not an option - for the stuff I want at least. Any sites that you guys can recommend?

BMU wrote:

Jack Flash Jr wrote:

BMU wrote: Nokia Ovi music? R80-R100 a pop for all those import metal albums that cost R260 (yikes!) at Look & Listen. They don't have everything but they have a lot.

Yes... they are indeed available on Ovi as well as Omusic (also a ZA site) but holy friggin' smokes. You buy an album then they send you a download link for each track and then the mp3s are even tagged properly. But at least they exist.

Their music player facilitates one click album downloading. But mysteriously stopped working for me a while ago. IE insists on confirming each separate song download, highly irritating. With Firefox it's one click per song. So that's fine by me.

Send a download link for each track...I haven't experienced that. There's download button next to each album track, click each button once (with Firefox of course) and you're done. Redownload from your account page if you had problems the first time, no problem.

It's no iTunes, especially ease of discovering new music sucks. But that's what last.fm and others are for. I'm just happy to have the option.

A while ago some albums wouldn't download and they eventually refunded me, so there is even -some- level of customer service. Took a while though. Haven't had a problem again, touch wood.

One click buy works but I get an email with separate links for download... FF, but OS X... maybe that's the problem!

Pinch wrote: Hi guys, which music site can one trust then.

You didn't think 9c a song sounded fishy? The answer to your question is in this thread....and in the linked article.

Hi BMU, valid comment about the 9c. It is classic case of "if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is". What is worrying to me though is the amount of people that use this site not aware of the fact that the artists are getting nothing. I gues a forum like this is a good way to spread the news so thanks for the info.
I read the article and the only site being mentioned is the Nokia OVI store, which I am already using. As iTunes and Amazon is not available due to geographical restrictions my question was if there are any other reputable online stores available that forum members might be using already. The reason I ask is that the OVI store does not stock all the music I want. Is ordering the physical cd from Amazon my only option then or are there other reputable digital options available?

Check artist's web sites. Quite a few sell their own music in digital format. Downside is you don't get it all from one source.

Good tip thanks +1. Not a problem for me as I usually look for music per artist anyway.