Maybe I caused some confusion because I skipped a short part of the original sentence, i.e., "the sort whose machines we use in U2's work", but I didn't think it would help.

Ok, I'll quote the whole passage as I have one more question:

The manager of U2, Paul McGuiness, said: The campaign started for me in early 2004. I was picking up on all this mobile technology and particularly the way in which telephone companies were likely to become distributors of music in the future. An old friend from the music business, Ralph Simon, was now chairman of the Mobile Music Forum. Ralph founded Zomba Music Publishing and Jive Records, he is a genuine music industry heavyweight, and he became my guide to this rapidly expanding area. Ringtones are really the thin end of an enormous wedge which will eventually be full spectrum sound and picture delivered through the air to mobile devices. In the past we had never worked with advertisers or sponsors. The only time we'd ever allowed U2 music to be used in a commercial way was in a movie. If we were able to attach a U2 song to a big budget motion picture advertising campaign, it was like attaching a rowboat to an aircraft carrier. The music business markets itself by infiltrating other free media. It is very skilful at promoting its wares through radio, televison and press rather than buying advertising space. I sensed there was a huge commercial opportunity with technology and commercial organizations, the sort whose machines we use in U2's work, to infiltrate their budgets and get our music on television in a dignified and honorable manner. So Ralph Simon and I spent most of 2004 talking to Vodafone, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and T.Mobile, trying to find a way in which our brands could cooperate for mutual benefit without being embarrassing. I nearly pulled this off, but in the end I couldn't sell it to the band. Even though any of these deals could have been justified, they didn't want the accusations of selling out, and so, rather disappointingly, none of the deals on the table were consummated. Meanwhile we were talking to Apple.

We already had a relationship with Apple. We were one of the first adopters of iTunes and encouraged other artists to support iTunes right at the beginning of 2002.

1. Maybe now that one sentence makes more sense?

2. As for the iTunes, I'm just curious if they were advocates of the software or the shop. Because I know that there is also a shop called iTunes. So maybe the second sentence says: We, as the first ones, thought that the idea of opening an internet store iTunes was a good idea and we encouraged other artists to support this idea.

cheers