Sony Gives In, Adds Its Music To iTunes In Japan

After 8 long years, Sony has finally given in, offering music from its Japanese artists on iTunes in Japan. This comes after the company's addition of Western artists to the iTunes store earlier this year. Sony has been experiencing low earnings and is a rival to Apple, which no doubt makes this a bit like salt in the company's ever-growing wound.

The music is already available, and includes Japanese artists like Ikimonogakari and Toshinobu Kubota, which were previously offered via Recochoku. The music is not DRM'd, which means users can freely swap it amongst all of their devices. The tracks can be downloaded for about $3 each, or $25 for an album. The audio is rated at 256kbps.

This comes after Sony picked up Recochoku, a distributor it used to makes its tracks available to Japanese customers. Perhaps not surprisingly, Sony hasn't issued any statement or announcement in regards to this change in stance. One must commend the company – ever stubborn and staunchly opposed to using its rival for sales – for holding out as long as it did.

Some analysts believe this move is part of Sony's overall efforts to gain traction after experiencing its recent losses. Per its last quarter earnings report, the company brought in $20 billion in earnings, a drop of $158 million. Last month, we reported on Sony's plans to lay off about 2,000 of its workers by the end of this year.

[via TNW]