How to use iTunes Radio outside the US

BY Jason

Published 26 Sep 2013

itunes radio

iOS 7 comes with a number of new features and improvements, one of them is iTunes Radio, Apple’s free Pandora-like music streaming service. Unfortunately, the service is only be available to folks in the U.S. currently.

We’ve some good news for our international readers, the simple trick that worked in iOS 7 beta is still working in the iOS 7 public release.

As it turns out, Apple’s U.S. restriction is based on your iTunes account rather than the region you’re actually in. So even if you’re outside the U.S., but you sign in from a U.S. iTunes account, you’ll be able to use iTunes Radio.

So here’s a step-by-step guide on how to enable iTunes Radio outside the U.S:

  • Create an U.S. iTunes account. You can create an iTunes account without a credit card, check this tutorial for the instructions. It is pretty straightforward.
  • You now need to sign out from your current iTunes account and sign into the U.S. iTunes account. To do this, launch the Settings app, scroll down tap on iTunes & App Store. Then tap on the Apple ID field.

itunes-radio-trick-nonus-1

  • Tap on the Sign out option in the pop up.

itunes-radio-trick-nonus-2

  • Now enter the Apple ID and password of your U.S. iTunes Account. Once you’ve successfully entered your credentials you should see a popup that says your account is only for the U.S. store, and on tapping “Ok”, it opens the U.S. App Store.
  • Double tap on the Home button, and swipe up on the Music app preview to kill it. Please note that it is important that you have closed the app so do not skip this step.
  • Now relaunch the Music app from the Home screen. You should see the iTunes Radio launch screen, tap on Start Listening to create your own station or listen to one of the featured stations. You will also see a new Radio tab at the bottom.

itunes-radio-splash-screen

The only hassle of using this hack is that you will have to switch back and forth between your regular iTunes account and the US iTunes account.

As always, let us know how it goes.