Apple to sell "American Idol" performances through iTunes

By AppleInsider Staff

Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Interactive Media, 19 Entertainment, FremantleMedia and Apple have announced a partnership that will bring music fans all of the contestant performances from Season Seven of television’s most popular show exclusively on the iTunes Store.

Kicking off with the "American Idol" Top 24 semifinalists this week, customers can purchase music performances for 99 cents per song, and viewers will be able to purchase the full video of Top 12 finalist performances for $1.99, starting March 11. In addition, beginning Monday, fans can pre-order performances of their favorite contestants from the iTunes Store, which will be automatically downloaded the day after the show airs.

"We’ve created a special section on the iTunes Store for ‘Idol’ fans with an incredible array of music and video performances from television’s most popular show," said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. "We think ‘American Idol’ viewers are going to love the ability to purchase and download ‘Idol’ performances from iTunes."

iTunes will also provide exclusive direct links from the free streaming performance videos on americanidol.com, the official website of the show and home to MyIdol, the Internet’s largest "American Idol" fan site. Fans will be able to simply click through to iTunes if they want to purchase their favorite performances to own and enjoy on their iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.