The same day they rolled out a new PC-compatible version of the iTunes Music Store and reportedly closed a major deal with Pepsi, Apple Computers also revealed a new alliance with America Online. Under the deal, AOL will provide, instant, one-click registration to the iTunes Music Store for more than 25 million US AOL members beginning later this quarter. AOL will also integrate links to iTunes artists, albums and songs on AOL Music. As AOL members read album reviews, news stories, and live concert reviews, they’ll have the option to link directly to the specific iTunes Music Store page to preview and buy music from the selected artist.
Apple big whig Steve Jobs said, “Apple and AOL are making it easy for AOL’s 25 million U.S. members to legally buy music online. With just one click, AOL members will be able to legally preview, purchase and download music from the iTunes Music Store’s catalog of more than 400,000 songs.”
This new alliance, along with the Pepsi deal has the potential to change the way music is purchased (legally) forever. The iTunes Music Store has already been proven to work, as Apple users immediately embraced it and have collectively downloaded more than 13 million songs in just six months, accounting for 70% of all legal music downloads in that time. As PC users represent more than 90% of all computer users nationwide, Apple is poised for total domination of the online music marketplace.
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