iTunes Music Store UK is empty

So after much anticipation, the iTunes Music Store finally launched here in the UK. But don’t get your hopes up for finding anything you actually want to buy.

I tried to publish an iMix comprising 20 favourite tracks from CDs I purchased last year. Of these 20, only one track was available to buy. I tried again with a similar list from 2002. Of 19 tracks, only three were available for purchase.

This means you cannot buy music by artists including Radiohead, Blur, Belle & Sebastian, Super Furry Animals, Johnny Cash, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Supergrass, Foo Fighters, Underworld and the White Stripes. And those are just the ones from my lists that everyone’s definitely heard of.

Apparently it’s all down to a deal falling through between Apple and the Association of Independent Music as reported in MacWorld. They need to sort it out soon or everyone over here will just give up on the iTunes store.