iTunes Radio courting advertisers for U.K. launch

According to an executive at the British office of OMD, the global ad agency, Apple is prepping the agency on iAds in iTunes Radio, presumably for a soon-to-be U.K. launch of the Internet radio service. Hannah Allen of OMD tweeted a visit from an Apple advertising exec:

“Great to see @paulwright66 back at @OMD_UK to take us through Apple’s iAd and iTunes Radio – can’t wait for that to hit UK!” –Hannah Allen, head of marketing, OMD U.K.

iAd is Apple’s advertising platform, and Paul Wright runs it in Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa.

iTunes Radio currently operates in the U.S. and Australia, mirroring Pandora’s territorial footprint. In many countries, launching a music service requires accommodating different licensing regulations, and/or negotiating with music rights-holders for that region. Opening new markets is an important way of building audiences, and part of the competition between Pandora and iTunes Radio is widely perceived to include the race to international markets.

Apple has not released audience metrics for iTunes Radio since last October, when the company revealed that 11-million people had tried the streaming service. Pandora posts monthly user statistics, and claims about 75-million “active users.”

We recently reported that Apple might be considering a subscription music service, which would pit it against Spotify, Rhapsody, and other on-demand platforms in addition to Pandora on the non-interactive side of the fence.