Four new European iTunes Music Stores open [updated]

As widely expected, Apple has launched new versions of the iTunes Music Store for citizens of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The new stores come hours after Apple quietly released iTunes 4.8, and can be accessed by clicking on the “Choose Store” link in the left navigation column of the iTunes Music Store.

Notably absent is the long-awaited Australian store, which appears to be delayed by a contract dispute with at least one record company.

Update: Apple has now sent out a press release announcing the four new stores.

Of note, the company says that more than 400 million songs have now been purchased and downloaded worldwide, and that it will launch a promotion with UBS to give every Swiss citizen a free song as part of the new “UBS Generation” and “UBS Campus” packages. “UBS is offering song cards for music downloads in all of their branches, which can be used instead of a credit card to purchase tracks from the iTunes Music Store,” Apple says.