Bebo agrees supply deal with iTunes

Apple has signed an agreement to provide iTunes songs directly through social network Bebo.

The 8 million members of the News Corp-owned website will now be able to buy tracks without leaving the website or using the Apple software.

A new Free Single Saturday promotion will give users one free song by a new artist every week. It is thought the website's bosses were keen to provide more entertainment content.

Media analysts Teresa Weiss said it was unclear what the deal meant for Bebo's profits.

She explained: “We know iTunes makes money by selling the music directly to people online and giving a share back to the record companies, and they’re not left with a huge profit margin.

“They’ve done this deal to distribute via Bebo, but we don’t know whether Bebo has got any of those pickings or not.

"It’s quite difficult if you look at music to add advertising as a part of a download process, because if you’re buying a quality track, the last thing you want is a pre-roll ad before you start listening to what you want.”