iTunes Radio launch in Canada imminent as Apple seeks programmers

Apple’s popular, free music streaming service iTunes Radio looks set for an imminent launch in Canada. Since launching last month in tandem with iOS 7, iTunes Radio has been exclusive to the United States. However, Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue has noted that he would like the service to launch in “more than 100 countries.” Even with this plan in place, there has been no indication of when iTunes Radio would arrive internationally and exactly where…

Today, we’ve discovered that Canada could be one of Apple’s first international countries to support iTunes Radio. Apple is seeking at least two iTunes Radio programmers for Canada:

Execute the programming of iTunes Radio in Canada, merchandising new releases and other feature content across multiple radio stations; Update radio featuring daily, identifying new songs, chart gainers, and priority releases, as well as highlighting library content and showcase depth of catalogue; Work with management in Canada and Cupertino to determine local and global priorities relevant to iTunes Radio; Manage the weekly scheduling and programming process, including measuring stream counts, ensuring each station represents the most current and compelling music offering; Collaborate with other editorial programmers on cross content initiatives and promotions. Communicate regularly with the Marketing and Sales team in Canada to coordinate new release and sales based priorities.

Based on Apple seeking people to manage stations for iTunes Radio in Canada, the launch is likely imminent. Aside from Canada, Cue seemed to have indicated that the United Kingdom is another priority for the iTunes Radio rollout. Because iTunes Radio is a feature that relies on the music record labels, negotiations and licensing are required for the service to debut country-by-country. Much like with the iTunes Store, it will likely take an extensive time period for iTunes Radio to launch across the world.

More info from the job listing:

The Canadian Music Programmer will be responsible for the programming of iTunes Radio and the iTunes Music store in Canada. This particular role will report directly to the Head of Music for the Canadian iTunes store, and will be responsible for working cross-functionally across a variety of teams including Editorial, Label Relations, Marketing, Sales, Production & Engineering, and more.

The Canadian Music Programmer will be an editorial voice of iTunes Radio, and will be responsible for keeping the product current. This person must have a passion for and deep knowledge of music across numerous genres and decades, and must demonstrate the ability to objectively program content relevant to iTunes customers. This will include deciding what music to feature on all iTunes Radio stations, entering music into the content management system, and creating seasonal and relevant editorial collections. It will require this person to decipher the most relevant mix of songs in particular genres.

This position will be measured according to his/her ability to maintain and expand the credible editorial voice of iTunes in Canada via iTunes Radio, and present music offerings that generate incremental sales. This will be in collaboration with teams responsible for music worldwide, and with local programming, sales and marketing for iTunes in Canada.

Apple has not responded to a request for comment on the matter.

Update: Apple has effectively removed the aforementioned job listing by removing all references to iTunes Radio from it. The re-written listing focuses exclusively on the iTunes Store (in general) for Canada.