Apple has released iTunes 10 with Ping, which is a music-oriented social network for following artists and friends to find out what they’re listening to.

iTunes Ping lets you post your thoughts and opinions, your favourite albums and songs, the music you’ve downloaded from iTunes and tell your friends which concerts you’re going to .

“iTunes is the number one music community in the world, with over 160 million iTunes users in 23 countries, and now we’re adding social networking with Ping,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With Ping you can follow your favourite artists and friends and join a worldwide conversation with music’s most passionate fans.”

Ping also lets you follow bands, check out photos and videos they’ve posted and read comments about other artists and albums they’re listening to.

iTunes 10 also features AirPlay wireless music playback to listen to your music on remote speakers using Apple’s AirPort Express base station.

iTunes 10 is available now as a free download, says Apple. It's not live in New Zealand yet, however.