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Celeb News: Rihanna album forces Aussie Parliament to take action
Member Since: 5/7/2012
Posts: 8,404
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Rihanna album forces Aussie Parliament to take action
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Rihanna’s album “Unapologetic” is 49 percent more expensive to buy from iTunes in Australia than the U.S., prompting the nation’s parliament to summon Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) and other technology companies to explain how they set prices.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) (ADBE) also were called by Australian lawmakers on threat of contempt proceedings to appear at a hearing today in Canberra. The companies previously declined to appear before the committee, Chairman Nick Champion said in an October speech.
Software and hardware products in Australia sell for a median 50 percent more than their U.S. equivalents, according to a 2012 survey of 186 songs, games, programs and computers by Choice, a not-for-profit consumer advocacy group. Companies could face restrictions on their ability to set prices in Australia under measures being considered by lawmakers.
“There’s been price discrimination against Australian consumers,” said Matthew Rimmer, a professor at Australian National University in Canberra, who specializes in copyright law. “If the distribution is digital, why are the prices so much higher?”
Rihanna’s album costs A$22.99 ($23.98) in the Australian iTunes store, compared with the $15.99 that fans in the U.S. pay. Bruno Mars’s “Unorthodox Jukebox,” in the Top 10 of both nation’s charts, costs 42 percent more.
“We would love to see lower prices for content in the Australian store,” Tony King, managing director of Apple’s Australia unit, said at the committee hearing in the capital Canberra today. “We would urge the committee to talk to those folks who own the content.”
The biggest difference in prices for music and films was due to the wholesale price set by music labels and film and television studios, he said.
Customers “will vote with their wallets” and buy alternative products if prices are too high, Pip Marlow, managing director of Microsoft’s Australia division, told the committee.
Different packaging distinguished products sold in Australia from those sold elsewhere, Adobe’s Australian managing director Paul Robson said.
“I’d consider a box that has different writing on it to be materially different,” he said.
Different Costs
Sales taxes, different labor and rental costs, marketing spending and the decisions of third-party resellers can all cause Australian prices to be higher, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said in its filing to the committee. Even download sites incur costs for maintenance and support, the company said.
The strength of the Australian dollar has increased the contrast between local and international prices for software, music and entertainment.
The currency, which didn’t climb above parity with the U.S. dollar from 1982 through 2009, has risen more than 50 percent over the past four years and hasn’t been worth less than a dollar in eight months.
The Windows Vista Home Premium software package cost A$455 in mid-2008, 75 percent more than the $240 U.S. price at the prevailing exchange rate, Choice said in its submission. The updated Windows 7 Home Premium package cost A$299 four years later, still 47 percent more than the $199 charged to U.S. users.
Consumers expect prices to be more stable than they would be if they tracked every shift in the foreign exchange market, San Jose, California-based Adobe said in a submission to the inquiry last year.
Purchase Location
The government should ban geo-blocking, which allows websites to identify the location of shoppers and restrict the pricing available to them, according to Choice. That would force downloads targeted at the local market to compete with those available overseas.
“If a legitimate product is available in an overseas market, people should be able to access it,” said Matthew Levey, Choice’s head of campaigns. The current system is “a form of protectionism imposed by private businesses,” he said.
Adobe’s Creative Suite 6 Master Collection would cost $2,599 to download in the U.S., compared with A$4,344 in Australia.
The committee hasn’t yet decided on what, if any, measures need to be taken, and it wasn’t appropriate to comment again on the merits of the case before this week’s hearing, Paul Neville, deputy chairman of the committee, said by phone yesterday.
“The public has had enough of this pricing,” Neville told parliament in an October speech.
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...es-apple-music
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Member Since: 4/30/2012
Posts: 16,573
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TL;DR
But Rihanna, her impact. 
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Member Since: 12/7/2011
Posts: 21,578
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ddddddddddd
Rihanna's IMPACT.
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Member Since: 8/11/2012
Posts: 4,692
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Causing a revolution with her music, only the queen!
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Member Since: 6/28/2010
Posts: 7,399
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Rihanna her global impact.
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Member Since: 5/18/2012
Posts: 20,576
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It was not Rihanna that ushered this. It was common knowledge awhile ago. Then again I read this on another site.
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 7,918
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Tbh I couldn't care less if it's 49c extra. I live in Australia and I still bought the album without caring about the little difference in price.
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Member Since: 5/14/2007
Posts: 25,912
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You guys are ridiculous. Stop acting like she caused this. Get a life.
Anyway, I would never pay nearly 25 bucks for an album.
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Member Since: 4/30/2012
Posts: 16,573
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Quote:
Originally posted by TayLord
Tbh I couldn't care less if it's 49c extra. I live in Australia and I still bought the album without caring about the little difference in price.
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Cents =/= Percents
But you betta stan!
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Member Since: 9/12/2007
Posts: 1,008
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Member Since: 12/7/2011
Posts: 21,578
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Quote:
Originally posted by .:Allen:.
You guys are ridiculous. Stop acting like she caused this. Get a life.
Anyway, I would never pay nearly 25 bucks for an album.
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Gurl get a damn sense of humor 
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Banned
Member Since: 12/5/2011
Posts: 14,156
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 9,153
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Whoever wrote that is def a Rihanna stan kii
It was actually the price of Phone's and Computers that caused the outrage, not Unapologetic. However, albums and films were used as arguments as well. Unapologetic, 21 and Bruno's album being the main three.
One album costing more wasn't going to change a law.
Please tell me people aren't so gullible. 
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Member Since: 4/30/2012
Posts: 16,573
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Quote:
Originally posted by .:Allen:.
You guys are ridiculous. Stop acting like she caused this. Get a life.
Anyway, I would never pay nearly 25 bucks for an album.
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At you telling anyone to get a life when just today you came into the DWT thread to try & bash Rihanna. 
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Member Since: 11/17/2011
Posts: 52,363
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Bruno Mars with his honorary mention
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Member Since: 4/23/2012
Posts: 16,691
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Rih is so GLOBAL
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 7,918
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Omg  at me reading 49 cents. Oh well, I still bought the album. No wonder it didn't perform that well here. Only barely scraping top 10
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Banned
Member Since: 12/5/2011
Posts: 14,156
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Quote:
Originally posted by .:Allen:.
You guys are ridiculous. Stop acting like she caused this. Get a life.
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But you love to troll every Rihanna thread.
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Member Since: 1/2/2012
Posts: 22,450
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Quote:
Originally posted by .:Allen:.
Anyway, I would never pay nearly 25 bucks for an album.
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.
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Member Since: 9/3/2011
Posts: 22,014
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I don't understand, doesn't iTunes charge around the same as albums retail in stores? I just checked a few Australian stores and it's $22.99 AUD for the deluxe; same price as Australian iTunes. What's the big deal? 
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