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iTunes radio set to go big-time with McDonalds, Nissan, Pepsi, P&G

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

August 23, 2013 | 2 min read

Apple's iTunes Radio will be launched next month with brand partners including McDonald's, Nissan, Pepsi, and Procter & Gamble .

It's on the way!

The deals include a 12-month advertising campaign inside the streaming music service for each of the participating brands, according to an AdAge report.

The launch partners also get exclusivity within their respective industries until the end of this year, said the magazine.

From January , however, ads on iTunes Radio will become available all round. The minimum buy-in is expected to be around $1 million.

Users are expected to get an audio ad once every 15 minutes and one video ad every hour.

"The video ads will only be served to consumers at times when they are likely to be looking at their device screen, such as immediately after hitting play or choosing to skip a track," said AdAge.

Of course, consumers can opt for no ads at all. iTunes Radio will be a free, ad-supported service to the public, but Apple will be offering an ad-free option to anyone who purchases iTunes Match.

This is a cloud-based music storage feature that allows users to access their libraries on any Internet-connected Apple device.

Because iTunes Radio will not allow users to search and play a song on demand, its most immediate competitor will be Pandora.

Pandora mobile ad revenue is projected to increase 43% year over year, from $376 million this year to $539 in 2014.

A purchase button will be placed next to every song played on the service in an attempt to get users to permanently add the title to their iTunes library.

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