Apple refunds iTunes Match purchases for international users after premature 'launch'

Although options to sign up for iTunes Match started appearing in several international markets yesterday, many suspected that the launch was premature since iTunes Match wasn't showing up on the main page of respective countries' iTunes Stores. It turns out the "launch" was indeed premature, as iTunes Match remains unavailable outside of the United States and Brazil.

Users who signed up for iTunes Match in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, and other markets where the service was prematurely unveiled will be offered refunds for the signup fee, according to iPodNN. International users who signed up for the service were justly concerned that since iTunes Match is a yearly subscription, an unknown portion of their first year's subscription would be essentially invalid; the refunds Apple is offering address this concern.

It's unclear why iTunes Match was kind of but not really launched internationally, but it does at least confirm that Apple is working on expanding the service to markets beyond those where it's currently available. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how long it will be before iTunes Match officially launches internationally, but here's hoping it's sooner rather than later.