Digital radio maker Pure have upgraded their Lounge music store but despite excellent sales in Australia the company is blocking Australians from accessing over 200,000 different pieces of audio content.Version 2.0 of the Lounge delivers a mass of new content as well thousands of internet radio stations, podcasts and on-demand content from the likes of the BBC, but now Australians who are being prompted to visit the site are suddenly blocked.
According to Pioneer Australia, the UK company still has to “negotiate” music rights for the Australian market. However there is no guarantee that these will be forthcoming.
Michael Broadhurst, a spoksperson for Pioneer Australia, the distributor of the Pure brand in Australia, said: “Lounge 2.0 will be visible to Australian users from this afternoon UK time as the Lounge works on a language rather than a country filter. There will be an advert on the home page inviting people to try out the new version but there will be small print to say that the store and FlowSongs is only available to UK users for now.”
Pure claims the all important search functionality has also been improved to make finding your way through all that content much easier.
Unlike Australian owners, UK owners of Pure digital radios will be able buy tracks on the Lounge using their new FlowSong service that already allows users to tag and buy tracks.
Playlists will be able to be managed on the radio and in the portal, while tracks can also be downloaded to a multimedia player.
Social media has also been integrated in to the Lounge, allowing users to share favourite stations or on-demand content via Twitter or Facebook, alongside editorial content.
