Canada gets the shaft again as Amazon Cloud music player launches in the U.S.
There sure are a lot of cool audio and video sites on the Internet. It’s too bad that Canadians can’t access most of them.
Canadians have gotten pretty used to being on the outside looking in when it comes to online music and video services. While American users can fire up everything from Hulu to Rhapsody and watch movies and TV shows and stream music to their hearts’ content, Canadians have only a small handful of options available to choose from.
For a perfect example of Canada’s second-class status, you need only look as far as mega-retailer Amazon. The e-commerce giant recently launched an interesting new cloud storage and music streaming service which integrates with the Amazon MP3 store. It could be an iTunes alternative here in Canada, but sadly Amazon has left us in the lurch once again.
Those of you who have been keeping tabs no doubt remember that Amazon promised to make Amazon MP3 available to Canadians years ago. In fact, it was January 2008 when Amazon first announced its intentions to go international. Fast forward to today, and while Canadians have other options like Puretracks and 7digital, Amazon has yet to deliver the goods — despite the fact that the U.S. site has been operating smoothly for almost three full years now.
The company’s recently-released Cloud Drive is one more reminder that we’re still not considered first-class Internet citizens like our neighbors to the south. While Canadians can indeed create a free 5GB storage locker and upload songs, you can’t stream your music via Amazon’s Cloud Player apps or from the Cloud Drive Web interface. So what’s the holdup? Is Amazon simply not stepping up to the plate, or is it really so difficult to negotiate media-related deals in Canada that companies simply don’t feel it’s worth the hassle for a comparatively small audience?
Say what you will about Netflix offering a limited catalog of movies and TV shows in Canada, but at least it’s available and we’re now seeing expanded content offerings. In fact, Netflix recently completed a major distribution deal to bring Paramount releases to its Canadian catalog. If Netflix thinks Canada is a viable market and deserves quality online media services, why aren’t other major players willing to do the same? We don’t even need an answer — but some additional options sure would be nice.
Let Canada have the cloud! Amazon got a jump on Apple but that really means nothing. Who ever makes the cloud easiest to use will win. I have a feeling Apple will create the best cloud experience for Apple products. and they will make it for Canada.
It’s so ironic because Canadians lead the world in Internet usage (almost by two times the global average), yet we still seem to get the short end of the stick. I agree Lee.
Not true at all Bruno, USA has a much larger internet usage by about 10 times. How can you post something so incorrect?
Bruno was referring to this report: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/canadians-spend-more-time-online-than-any-other-country/article1850700/
It’s about time spent, not total number of users.
Well of course Canadians would spend more time online than the rest of the world. What else can we do when it’s -30 outside. Common sense
Before we think of getting Amazon Cloud in Canada, how about we first actually get a normal Amazon comparable to the USA or UK. The one in Canada is a pathetic joke, it shouldn’t even be in operation. You can’t even buy clothes or shoes!
Let alone that, the US or UK Amazon doesn’t even allow these things to be shipped to Canada. It’s the most ridiculous shopping website for Canadians in existence. I refuse to even visit the website out of spite.
Lastly, Canadians really need to get their heads wrapped around the idea that Canada is an invisible country to most around the world. We’re just seen as an extension of the USA, but the problem with that is we aren’t, so we’re not getting these products that companies actually think we’re getting already. It’s slowly changing with US retailers wanting to open shop in Canada because they realise Americans aren’t buying their products like the mostly recession-proof savvy Canadian shopper.
Amazon, you’re too late for me, you can get lost!
Try buying a Kindle (why is it not offered on amazon.ca or at Best Buy in Canada), you can pay for expedited delivery – two days max in the US up to 7 weeks delivery for Canada, you have to buy the kindle books from the US amazon site (not available at this time in Canada), you can’t get certain books if you live in Canada (i.e Room). The new android app store is not available in Canada at this time etc. etc. etc. I have tried to get an explanation for this to no avail. Perhaps SYNC could do us all a favour and find out why they treat us so poorly. They don’t mind taking our money though? Unfortunately they have nice products, so we downtrodden Canadians should quit being wimps and start a campaign to let them know that we do recognise that they are treating us badly.
Amazon Cloud Player: For U.S. Customers Only
It appears that you are attempting to use Amazon Cloud Player from outside the U.S. This service is intended for U.S. customers only.
Amazon sucks.
They just used their new service as a way to get me to register to their lame site.
I’ll stick to ebay, nevermind amazon.
I was able to stream Amazon files to a PC with VLC player.
I only did one file at a time though.
FYI
Don’t worry, it’s not just Canadians, it’s “everywhere not US”.
I can understand it when it comes to _selling_ music. The scheming and dealing with dozens of labels for each and every country must be hell. But for the cloud player? I don’t get it. It’s not a sales platform. It doesn’t let you do anything but play files you yourself have uploaded (or purchased directly from Amazon via a _different_ service). It’s not subject to negotiations with external parties to offer as a service. It’s nobody’s business but Amazon’s.
I also get it when it comes to the availability of Kindle books. They have to abide by the rules of the rights holders (why the rights holders are being idiots and limiting availability is beyond me, but it’s not Amazon’s fault that the rights holders prefer people pirate their ebooks instead of buying them).
But the cloud player? It makes no sense whatsoever to limit availability geographically. If the music industry is behind this limitation, Amazon must have gonads the size of fleas.
I am a newbie to Canada (1.5 years) and whilst I love my new home I am repeatedly annoyed by seeing Canadians screwed at every opportunity. The problem is that most of it is completely avoidable.
It seems to me (as an outsider) that the biggest problems are monopolistic behaviour and protectionism by the big Canadian corporations. I am not an anti-corporate person (quite the opposite in fact), so this is not your typical anti-corporate rant.
You only need to look at Canadian cellphone contracts (in the UK a cellphone contract is rarely more than one year), the disparity in the price of books between the US and Canada (despite the loonie being at or near parity), the recent debate over internet usage billing (stifling innovative services like Netflix) or the 2002 court case bought by the Canadian booksellers association and Indigo against Amazon (to prevent their business model entering Canada) to see that Protectionism only seeks to limit Canadian competitiveness in the world.
Canada has a potential market of 34 million, the UK 62 million, the US 308 million. Surprise, surprise: business will go to the countries with bigger markets and those which don’t make life too hard for the companies to sell there.
Canada is a wonderful country , one with awesomely fantastic diversity and opportunity. Unfortunately protectionism is now painting us into a corner.
Rant over!
Really sucks just bought a Android Tablet and can’t download apps!
Well that was stupid of you to buy. You should do research first before buying.
Glenn, thanks for making sure the Internet continues to be a place inhabited by unhelpful and mean-spirited people!
Or maybe we’d rather be entertained by something more intelligent than the dumbed-down American garbage, or be informed by news services that aren’t so heavily-filtered as to effectively become nothing but propaganda?