• by Karl Greenberg , November 10, 2008

Pizza Hut is offering free music downloads to consumers who order online. The deal that the casual-dining chain inked with New York-based eMusic dangles 75 free MP3 tunes simply for ordering at pizzahut.com.

Customers who place an order at pizzahut.com during the promotional period--which runs through Dec. 27--get a link to a microsite where they can download the songs, comprising 25 songs from a Pizza Hut playlist, plus any 50 songs from eMusic's four-million-song catalog as part of a 14-day free trial of eMusic.

EMusic says it is the largest service to sell music in the popular MP3 format, and that it has sold more than 200 million downloads since 2003.

If consumers don't cancel the trial subscription, they get an automatic 30 downloads a month for $11.99; if they cancel the deal, they still get to keep the free tracks.

A company representative says Pizza Hut will support with box-toppers and an online campaign that comprises e-mail blasts, and banner ads.

"This is a first for Pizza Hut," he says. "Music has always been an integral part of our marketing, but this is the first time we've partnered with an online retailer like eMusic to make an exclusive offer available." He adds that it is also the first time eMusic has been able to offer 75 free downloads.

The deal is the latest in a series of digital programs that Pizza Hut has launched, mostly for ordering online. Last month, Pizza Hut launched eGift Cards--virtual "cards" that can be purchased, shared and redeemed entirely online. pP> The company's VP/Marketing, Bob Kraut, said that Pizza Hut gift-card sales would hit one million this holiday season. Consumers must go to Pizzahut.com/giftcards to select one of 22 themes for the animated card, an amount to give, a personalized message and the recipient's information. Recipients then get personalized, animated e-mails to confirm that they have been given a Pizza Hut eGift Card.

The company also has a program called "Interface," which enables customers to order pizza from their own Facebook profiles, and Total Mobile Access for ordering Pizza Hut fare via text message or mobile Web. Customers can also place pizza orders via a Pizza Hut desktop app.

Pizza Hut has 6,200 pizza restaurants in the U.S. and over 4,000 restaurants in 100 other countries.