The Daily Swarm

We know all too well about the music biz, but is the pizza business that bad, where they need to offer free music?

In an effort to boost Internet sales, Pizza Hut is offering a side of 75 free eMusic downloads with any order placed online.

As the pizza category struggles, Pizza Hut is looking hard to find new ways to compel customers in the digital world. The nation’s largest pizza chain also offers a Facebook application where consumers can order food from within their profiles. Its “Total Mobile Access” allows users to text their orders as well as place them via the mobile Web. The chain also to allows gift cards to be purchased, exchanged or redeemed entirely online.

Pizza Hut, which recently surpassed $1 billion in online sales, will offer consumers 50 songs of their choice from eMusic’s library of four million tracks and another 25 from a select Pizza Hut playlist through Dec. 27. A 14-day free trial of eMusic includes an offer for 30 downloads a month for $11.99. However, consumers do not need to order the service in order to keep their free music.

“They are looking to get sales any way they can,” said Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a food-service consultancy in Chicago. Online sales “are something they are promoting and trying to make happen. How successful it will be is another issue, because the telephone works well enough.”