YouTube collaborates with iTunes and Amazon.com that offers the YouTube community direct access to buy and download music, games, and other products with a few clicks of a mouse. This is a first step to building a broader eCommerce platform for content partners and users on YouTube.
The YouTube eCommerce Platform will be rolled out on a larger scale over the coming months to allow partners across all industries including music, film, TV, and publishing to generate additional revenue from their content beyond the advertising we serve against their videos. Just as YouTube users can share, favorite, comment on, and respond to videos with a single click, now users can click-to-buy products -- like songs, books and movies -- related to the content they're watching on the site.
Non-obtrusive retail links to buy songs from iTunes and Amazon.com will appear on the watch pages of authorized video content from companies such as EMI Music. YouTube users watching music videos from their favorite artists will be able to click on buttons that link to the corresponding pages on iTunes and Amazon MP3 where they can buy and download that music. Those partners who use YouTube's content identification and management system can also enable retail links on claimed videos that they choose to leave up on the site.
The YouTube eCommerce Platform is currently available in the United States. Over the coming months, the platform will be expanded internationally.
The iTunes Store is the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of 8.5 million songs, over 30,000 TV episodes and over 2,500 films including 600 in stunning high definition video. With Apple's legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.
Amazon MP3 is Amazon.com's digital music store that offers over 6 million DRM-free MP3 songs from all four major music labels and thousands of independent labels that can be played on virtually any hardware device and managed with any music software.