CNN writes that "The great digital music giveaway is about to begin."
They expect that next year will mark promotions by companies to push their music download services.
Already known is that Pepsi and Apple will be giving away 100 million songs on specially marked Pepsi products. Napster is also getting into the game with the Miller Brewing company giving away "thousands of Napster-branded digital music players and downloads next summer".
CNN also confirms that McDonald's has been discussing marketing possibilities with "a number of online music distributors". Rumors of a McDonald's/iTunes giveaway emerged in early November. (MacRumors has continued to hear hints that the deal is in place.)
The goal of all these giveaways appears to establish and foster customer loyalty and promote sales of related products.