Perhaps this changes everything about the way we purchase legal music in India! Almost six months after extending its iTunes Store to 12 Asian markets, Apple has finally launched the service in the Indian market. Users in India will now be able to buy and download local and international music and music videos, and rent or purchase films (HD films included) from the store. Interestingly, Apple has also extended its iTunes Match service in India, allowing users to re-download previously downloaded music (even music purchased & downloaded from sources other than iTunes) from iTunes, and store it in the cloud at a price of Rs 1200 per year (compared to the US Store price of $25 per year). Note that the iTunes Store is different from the Apps Store, which is also available in India. Previously, the Indian iTunes Store only featured some free books and podcasts. Note that Applle has still not rolled out paid e-books to the Indian market. Update: One of our readers, Ronak Hindocha, asked if iTunes Gift Cards are also available in India. We checked and discovered that users can buy virtual gift cards (e-mail only) for denominations of Rs 1,000, Rs 1,500, Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000. The same gift cards can also be printed and gifted in physical form. Update: Apple has issued a press release confirming the launch of the iTunes Store in Russia, Turkey, India, South Africa and 52 additional countries. Content & Pricing Although, Apple has not announced the names of record labels and…
