iTunes offers new Red Hot Chili Pepper album for pre-order

Apple tries to take on online retailers with pre-orders

4 April 2006 16:28 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Apple has announced that Red Hot Chili Pepper fans will be able to order the bands latest album Stadium Arcadium exclusively on its iTunes Music Store.

Beginning today, customers can pre-order a copy of the band's new double album, “Stadium Arcadium” for £14.99 to be downloaded on May 9 when it is released, £4 more expensive than ordering it through Amazon.

As an incentive to fend off other online retailers selling the CD, fans that pre-order the double album will receive a download of the new single, “Dani California” immediately at the time of the pre-order.

On May 9, fans participating in the pre-order will also receive additional iTunes bonus content, including an exclusive audio interview with the band, a video chronicling the making of “Dani California” and a full colour digital booklet.

The band and iTunes have also teamed up with Ticketmaster for a special concert ticket pre-sale for their upcoming North American tour.

Red Hot Chili Peppers fans who pre-order the album on iTunes will also receive an email with a code that they can use at Ticketmaster.com starting May 9 to purchase concert tickets before they go on sale to the general public on May 13.

In related news, Apple has also announced that it has added the Dave Matthews Band back catalogue to its UK listing. Customers will also be able to buy any song as a single or album including songs from Dave Matthew's solo album Some Devil released last year.