Apple appears busy at leveraging the popularity of the iTunes Music Store to expand its reach further.
As previously reported, Apple has been bundling music videos with certain album sales and may plan to expand to sell individual music videos separately. Most recently offered is the Bonus Video Version of a 50 Cent album.
Also new is a partnership with Ticketmaster for pre-ticket sales. Depeche Mode's album Playing The Angel (also bundled with a video) is offered as a pre-order from the iTunes Music Store. Pre-ordering the album enters you into Ticketmaster's pre-sale for the 2005-2006 North American Depeche Mode tour. This entry does not guarantee a ticket sale, but does offer some interesting new potential income streams for Apple.
Meanwhile, the first Video Podcasts appear to be making their appearance in the iTunes Music Store. It's long been known that Apple's interface/intrastructure would allow for distribution of video podcasts, but the first actual Video podcasts are now becoming available. Choices are rather limited at the moment, but Video appears to be a direction that Apple is actively pursuing. (City Magazine TV Video Podcast). Apple also recently filed for trademark protection on the term "iPodcast".
