iLounge

Ticketmaster and the iTunes Store have announced a plan to offer digital album sales directly alongside Ticketmaster.com concert tickets. The expanded offerings let users purchase tickets to an artist’s concert along with their music in a single transaction on Ticketmaster.com. Users purchasing tickets at Ticketmaster.com to live performances by participating artists will be given the option of adding a digital album to their purchase, and through the end of 2007, a special dollar-off discount will be applied to every album sold. Ticketmaster.com will provide a direct link that will take the user to the iTunes Store to download their album in full.

“The ability to connect live and recorded music, concert tickets and album sales is the future of the music business,” explained David Marcus, SVP Music, Ticketmaster. “The collaboration between Ticketmaster and iTunes makes it simple for fans to download the latest music from the artists they want to see live. We’ve now extended the music + concert tickets program we introduced with iTunes earlier this year, and we’re thrilled to now offer digital albums integrated with concert ticket sales.”

Ticketmaster and iTunes are also offering special Ticketmaster + iTunes gift card packs exclusively through Target stores in the US. The dual card packages include two $25 gift cards; one redeemable towards tickets from Ticketmaster, and one redeemable on the iTunes Store. The cards have no expiration date, and multiple cards may be used for a single purchase. Previously, iTunes and Ticketmaster teamed up to offer advance pre-sale tickets to those who pre-order certain albums through the iTunes Store.