For music lovers in Nigeria this should bring joy, as transactions on the digital music store can now be made easily with just our local currency.

iTunes was launched in Nigeria in 2012. The company opened up its services first to Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, up until this new change, carried out its transactions in African country, exclusively in dollars. In 2015, Apple launched its streaming service – Apple Music – a subscription-based service which was enabled worldwide.

Subscriptions to this service was paid for in dollars, with individual subscribers coughing as much/low as $4.99 dollars for an individual plan, and $8.99 for a family plan which accommodates up to 6 people.

But all of that is no more. Since the increase in the exchange rate, Nigeria has seen a reduction in online dollar purchases from app stores, content streaming platforms and paid ads. And obviously, iTunes is not left out of the dearth of online patronage from Nigeria.

For local businesses, the effect of the policy has been tough. Unable to pay for raw materials and imports with local currency denominated cards, they’re forced to purchase dollars at a steep price on the parallel market. Jet-setting Nigerians have also had vacation and shopping trips disrupted. But, a silver lining has emerged.

Faced with losing subscribers in Africa’s largest economy, some of the world’s biggest tech companies are beginning to charge for services in naira, Nigeria’s local currency, rather than US dollars. Over the past month, Apple subscribers have taken to social media to complain about being unable to pay for the company’s services.

In changing the transactional currency to naira for Nigerians, iTunes is seemingly towing the same line that Facebook took in October.

These are initial days, and Apple is yet to reveal their conversion rates, but everything has become cheaper in Naira. Previously a song off Beyonce’s Lemonade album should cost $0.99 ($475.2) dollars to purchase. Right now, it is sold for N100. The full album, which previously went for $9.99 (N4,795), is now sold for N900.

So with N900 you can own a Beyonce album, while J.Cole fans can smile to iTunes with N700 for his forthcoming full-length project – “4 Your Eyez Only”.

On Apple music, an individual subscription will cost you N900 as opposed to the earlier $4.99 (N2396). By doing this, Apple has become more accessible to more Nigerians, and will now compete directly with local streaming and download digital stores.

Source:
https://blarckbillboard./2016/12/08/music-on-the-itunes-store-and-apple-music-can-now-be-purchased-with-the-naira-currency/

Good.