Apple readies Australian iTunes music store (again)

The company has organized a press briefing for October 25th where it may finally unveil the store , Appletalk.com.au reported on its website earlier this week.

Top executives from Apple's iTunes and iPod divisions are expected to travel from the United States to speak at the briefing, which is being held in Sydney, Australia.

Speaking with CNet Australia, an Apple spokesperson confirmed the company had scheduled a "special" media briefing with two of its most senior United States-based executives on Tuesday the 25th.

Alongside the iTunes announcement, Apple is expected to present some original Australian video content recorded specifically for a small screen. The company is said to have approached music video producers to shoot and produce content for playback on the new fifth-generation video iPods.

If and when Apple's iTunes music and video download service finally makes its way to the Australian market, it will mark an end to a long struggle between Apple and the country's recording industry. In May, it was reported that an unsigned agreement with one major record company halted the launch of the store, which was originally expected to debut in April.

In late spring — when iTunes Australia was in the final stages of testing — some Mac users managed to gain access to a work-in-progress version of the store. At that time, the average price of a song was listed at $1.69 Australian. Album prices varied from $11.35 to $16.99.

Australia is one of the few remaining countries in which Apple operates but does not host an iTunes music store.