Apple has announced an iTunes affiliate program which will allow websites to get revenue from sales of music, audio books and public radio programs at the iTunes Music store through links on their site.
Amazon and other companies have used affiliate programs effectively. With the devotion of Mac and iPod users, this will probably help boost online audio sales.
Microsoft is expected to officially announce their own music store on Thursday. They've already put the beta of their store online.
Microsoft says they currently have 500,000 songs and will soon have over a million. Music from AC/DC, White Stripes, Radiohead, and Dave Matthews will be available within the next few weeks (I wonder what caused the delay).
A quick look demonstrates it is no iTunes music store. It is a website which doesn't allow the control of presentation that Apple has with iTunes. It also doesn't have the content Apple has (it claims there are celebrity recommendations similar to Apple's but I can't find any).
You need a machine with at least Windows 98 which means I can't try downloading any music (I have a powerbook and an old machine with Windows 95).
Article comments