Apple's new radio service, iTunes Radio, will be rolling out for all users in the fall. When it does, it will feature advertisements from company's and brands such as McDonald's, Pepsi, Nissan and Procter & Gamble according to reports from The Telegraph.
Deals made with these brands range from "the high single-digit millions of dollars to tens of millions of dollars" according to sources cited by AdAge, a site devoted to news from the advertising industry. When users listen to their music via iTunes radio, they'll hear audio advertisements roughly once every 15 minutes or so. In addition, video ads will play about every hour. The video advertisements will attempt to play at times when listeners are most likely looking at the screen, such as changing songs or just after hitting play.
Apple will run these ads across all of its devices and platforms, including iPhones, iPads, iPods and all computers loaded with the iTunes media player. According to reports, the ads cost will be determined by the size of the screen it is displayed on. Currently, Apple TV ads are the most expensive and iPhone ads are the least.
For the moment, all the current partners will have exclusivity within their respective industries until 2013. Slots are expected to open up to other advertisers at the start of the New Year. Reported minimum buy-ins are in the $1 million range.
If users don't want to be bothered by any ads, they can opt out by purchasing iTunes Match, a cloud-based storage feature that allows people to access their iTunes library through any device.
iTunes Radio will be a personal radio service similar to Pandora, which recently reached 71.2 million listeners in July and can now boast profits revenues as high as $427.1 million. Users will not be able to stream any songs on demand like Spotify.
