The alliance will see dominant music downloader iTunes promoted on Coca-Cola websites and giveaways of free tracks in Coke products, at least in the UK and Germany.

But it may be that Apple winds up being the one that needs some burnishing as the year draws on. The company is under fire from consumer watchdogs in Nordic markets in what are seen as the opening shots in a wider European war alleging that iTunes is anti-competitive.

The Norwegian Consumer Council wants Apple to allow iTunes downloads to play on any MP3 player, including those on mobile phones, a change that would serve as a fillip to neighbouring handset manufacturers, Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia. Currently tracks downloaded from iTunes can only be played on Apple's iPod. Consumer authorities allege the practice is anti-competitive.

Torgeir Waterhouse, senior adviser to the Norwegian Consumer Council, last week told the Financial Times: "Our position is that this is a tool to lock consumers into their products." Apple rejects the claims.

Ireland's National Consumer Agency said last week it had yet to receive any complaints about iTunes. In an interview last month with the Sunday Tribune, trade minister Micheal Martin rejected the suggestion that Apple's practices were anti-competitive.