Apple To Integrate iTunes Into Bebo

Apple has announced a deal that will see the its popular iTunes service embedded into Bebo.

According to FT.com, Bebo’s 8.8m users in the UK and Ireland will be able to buy music directly from the profile of any musician who has a Bebo profile and whose music is available on iTunes.

The deal is a first for Apple. Bebo is a market leader in social networking in the United Kingdom despite not taking off to the same extent elsewhere.

It may not seem like major news, but to put it in perspective it’s on half hour leading story rotation on BBC World as I write this. It may also be indicative of a new direction for Apple; the wildly popular Facebook F8 is delivering benefits to many music related sites. To date Apple has remained silent in regards to its position on embracing the growing trend of social networking site integration.