Yahoo! Japan has joined forces with Apple and will now be directing users to its iTunes music store as part of the collaboration.Around four million songs are available to music lovers in Apple's online store and Yahoo! Japan will now provide a link to iTunes in its music section.
Apple claims to have sold around 2.5 billion songs, most of which are available at a cost of around 150 yen.
The development is likely to boost the search engine's site visitor numbers, as iTunes users will be able to search for musicians, tracks and albums via Yahoo!
It is also set to further sales of the iPod, the world's most popular mobile music device, of which Apple has sold over 100 million since its 2001 launch.
"I'm very happy that, thanks to the cooperation with iTunes, users of Yahoo! Japan will be able to access the iTunes store directly," said Yahoo! Japan president Masahiro Inoue.
"We will provide broader content and functions through our services that have attracted many users."
The alliance is also expected to allow Apple to continue its planned expansion into the Japanese market.
Yahoo! USA, which owns a 34 per cent stake in Yahoo! Japan, is not included in the agreement as they operate independently.
It is another indication of Yahoo!'s attempts to broaden its global offerings, following the launch of seven additional languages for its Flickr photo-sharing service.
