iTunes Radio comes to Australia

Apple's iTunes Radio service is now officially available in Australia, marking the first time the customised radio service has been available outside of the United States.

The company announced the availability of the new service on devices running iOS 7, as well as set top boxes, PCs and Macs with the latest version of iTunes.

The internet radio service, which rivals similar offerings from Spotify, Pandora, Rdio and more, rolled out in the US on September 2013 alongside the launch of iOS 7.

It allows users to create ad-supported, free radio stations based on songs and artists, as well as access stations created by Apple and guest musicians.

There's also "first listens" where albums from the likes of Eminem have made debuts and gives users the opportunity to add songs to an iTunes wishlist where they can be purchased to own.

Down Under love

Since Apple launched iTunes Radio in the United States, users have patiently waited for the international roll out.

There have been a few false starts, with the service becoming briefly available to a few iTunes users in the UK and Canada in recent weeks.

While this makes it a little surprising that Australia is the first to receive the service outside of the US, Apple said that it will launch later in 100 countries, including the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

Users can download the iTunes Radio app from the App Store, and Apple has said customers that subscribe to the iTunes Match cloud music storage service, which costs $34.99 annually, will get iTunes Radio ad-free.

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