Apple delivers iTunes Radio to Australia, second place after the USA

Australians with an iOS device now have another radio replacement solution available to them, with Apple launching iTunes Radio to our country, the second place to launch after America.

In June last year at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, the company launched a music service designed to take on some of the music services already in existence, including Spotify and Pandora. This service, iTunes Radio, would be closer to Pandora, delivering a radio-like service based on genres and artists that would let you buy the tracks later on.

A little over six months later, Australia is receiving access to the service, only the second place in the world to get this, with support rolled out to iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, as well as Apple TV, and iTunes on the Mac and PC.

We’re actually quite impressed to see Australia as the second place in the world to get the service, as it suggests Australia is relatively high up when Apple is considering releases, though it’s also likely the service came to Australia before other countries due to easier licensing agreements, which is what we’ve heard was one of the reasons Pandora came to Australia before other nations, as well.

It’s worth noting that unlike other platforms, iTunes Radio does require an iOS device, and while you can run Pandora (as an example) across multiple mobile operating systems, iTunes Radio requires an Apple device outside of iTunes.

For those keen to see it, the service is free, but does come with ads every three or four songs, unless of course you have a subscription to iTunes Match, which switches you to an ad-free service.