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McDonald's Billion-Song iTunes Giveaway
camperslo writes "The New York Post online
has this story.
"Less than a month after Pepsi announced a blockbuster deal to give away 100 million downloads from Apple's iTunes music service to its customers, McDonald's is close to a announcing a much bigger deal"." No matter what you think of iTunes, this is tremendous publicity for music on demand services in general. If the public gets a taste for it, this could be the beginning of the end for the audio CD.
Internet shopping is becoming really widespread. If the public gets a taste for it, this could be the end of malls.
Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.
Do you want iFries with that?
this could be the beginning of the end for the audio CD.
...but what if you like the audio CD? what if you prefer lossless music, with coverart, booklet and printed media you can hold in your hand?
Mike
-I'd like a #2 with a Diet Coke... Supersize and 2 iTunes tracks please.
-That'll be $4.59 for the meal, and $2.00 for the music, please drive-thru.
-Sweeeet!
A spokesperson for Apple declined comment...
-T
Kazaa, LimeWire, et al. have long had the billion song download giveaway.
sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
I'm not saying this isn't going through. I'd be very happy if it did. I'm just saying that having the NY Post as the sole source of your business news piece isn't confidence inspiring.
Except for the fact that a lot of good indie labels and songs are on iTunes now as well.
Is retrieving your songs going to require signing up for the service? Which includes credit card information. Also what if then the redemption goes wrong (you entere a code wrong/etc..) and you have millions of people getting billed for songs they thought were going to be free? Giveaways like this serve to increase a user-base out of which many will never return.
Available immediately, just login to Kazaa.
The iMac will now be re-released in a larger size to be known as the Big iMac.
McDonalds has been giving away a lot of stuff lately. Right now on fries they're giving out $1 coupons (stackable!) for Best Buy. My love for electronics is going to make me fat.
I guess that's as close as Mc Donalds will get to selling an Apple.
-Ed I don't eat meat, but I'd go hunting with a paintball gun.
How's that?
I like my CDs. I like being able to take something home from the store, and having something in my hand in case my computer crashes.
It's nice that iTunes is getting publicity-- it's a great service, it really is. But I don't want the CD format to die, and I don't think most consumers do, either.
The advantage of iTunes is choice beyond the traditional ways of buying music. What makes the online music phenomenon nice is the flexibility, not simply the elimination of physical media.
McDonalds encourages culinary mediocrity so what do you expect?
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Yes except for the fact that they always manage to screw up my lunch order. Rather then giving me britney spears, knowing my luck I would get Yanni Live At The Acropolis
this could be the beginning of the end for the audio CD
I really hope not! At least with CD's I can still rip to whatever audio format I prefer, in whatever quality level I wan't. Can't do what with AAC files. (Well you could, but transcoding music can degrade the quality quite a bit)
It's also nice having something real, instead of a file that you may or may not own. Or worse, can disappear or become unplayable for who knows what reason they'd cook up.
It featured the Hamburglar stealing songs from the internet.
You can pick new-skool hits like "I'm lovin' it" and "We love to see you smile," or go back to the old days with "At McDonald's, we do it all for you," "Keep your eyes on your fries," and "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun."
Perhaps Coca-Cola will get in on the deal? "Ain't nothing but the real thing," "Coke is it!," "I'd like to teach the world to sing" and of course "Always Coca-Cola" are big hits in the beverage world.
sulli
RTFJ.
Is it just me or does that pic of Ronald just scare the hell outta U :)
Heeeeeere's Ronald!
Fahrenheit 451, he's got cameras for eyes
"Simplify, simplify, simplify!" Thoreau
-> You get to choose the song.
(reference: http://www.macnews.com/2003/10/16/applepepsi )
-> For Pepsi, it's one in 3 bottles that will have the code. They're selling 300 million bottles as part of the promotion, 100 million of them will have the codes in.
-> Cans aren't part of the promotion. Just 20-ounce and one liter.
-> McDonald's hasn't said anything about how they would be giving them away.
Britney Spears is a happy meal ...
And word on the street is that she's been "super sized."
KFG
Talk about jumping to conclusions. If they give away 'song credits' (so to speak), then they can be used on any $.99 song. So while Britney fans might go straight to her albums, presumably they'll have all of the available music. Maybe they'll follow the 'also bought' links and find something new.
On a (semi-)related note, I'm still waiting for the 6-Degrees-Of-Also-Bought. You know, people who bought A also bought B; people who bought B also bought C; people who bought C bought the Soundtrack to Flashdance with Kevin Bacon.
R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
[Yeah, yeah, I know, just moderate me down as a troll or flamebait already, I don't care, and it still doesn't change the fact that people want to see their names in print that they're willing to post things that show they're being lazy and/or ignorant]
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
MacMinute notes a statement from McDonald's regarding today's rumor about the McDonald's and iTunes giveaway.
According to McDonalds, "There are no agreements to announce, so anything else is pure speculation."
McDonald's goes on to say that they are continuing to pursue "bold new initiatives in the areas of music, sports, fashion and entertainment" and that news can be expected in the coming weeks to months.
to get hold of when they win their lawsuit against Apple for stealing their name..
"You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
Whatever journalist wrote this should be sent home without lunch!
What the hell do you mean unclear?
Here, let's take a stab; Pepsi Co. announces 1 million song giveaway via redeemable codes on their three main product bottle caps. 1 in 3 caps will have a code valued at $0.99. Hundreds of thousands of iTunes Music Store users are now poised and ready to only drink and purchase Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Sierra Mist for the duration of the promotion because there really is no reason to purchase any other product since none of them are possibly giving you back $3 worth of music per 6 pack!
McDonalds announces promotion where the purchase of any combo meal will include a peel off sticker on the french fry container with 1 code redeemable for a free song valued at $0.99 at the ITMS. Promotion to continue until 1 billion free songs are given away. Millions of iTunes Music Store customers now opt for lunch at McDonalds since it's the only fast food offering where a $4 happy meal includes a $1 song reward. There's no reason to eat at Burger King.
You can watch for these bottle caps and happy meal stickers to be auctioned off enmase on eBay about 3 hours after the first promotion starts.
Collecting iTunes Music Store free song promotion codes will become the new baseball card of the 2004 summer.
According to this article, McDonald's is denying the rumor by saying "There are no agreements to announce, so anything else is pure speculation."
In Spring, 2004, there you are. You just picked up a case of Pepsi this past weekend and are eating at Mickey D's for lunch a couple of days that week...
Now you suddenly have six or seven of the iTunes giveaways. You go, check it out and find a few songs you want off, let's say, OutKast's new album. Then you go and check Amazon or Best Buy and think "Hey! With these freebies, I can get this album for 1/2 off what I would spend at the store!"
Then you're hooked.
The iTunes store is addictive - let me tell you. I've been very controlled on there and I've bought over $60 worth of music since it was unveiled for the Mac. I know others who have spent over $500 on music from there.
So, yes, you get people to pay for music by giving them a freebie. Who doesn't do that? You get the new Gillette razor in the mail, you get samples at the super market, your dealer gives you a free nickel bag... ;)
You are so brave to admit you like Yanni. I am in awe ;)
I guess McD's was so heart broken about all those poor users deleting their music files
:o(.
They just had to step in and lend a hand. Perhaps this is a new direction for the Ronald McDonald House Charity, giving back to all the poor soles who one way or another lost their music
>I could see myself eating there more often, even though the food tastes like masking tape.
Dude, 3M is SO sueing your ass now.
Well considering that the deal between Apple and Pepsi allow you to use the credit on any song you want, I am betting that the McDonalds deal is going to be similar.
Sapere aude!
Yes, I'd rather "have" Britney than Yanni. As to whose music I'd rather listen to, I'm still thinking.....
Only Women Bleed (Sex, Sharia remix)
I seem to recall some jaded audiophiles griping about how limited digital sound was... ;)
The word is _gay_, not brave.
Good idea! However, you lose this round. Kevin Bacon was in Footloose, not Flashdance.
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
You are inventing restrictions of the giveaway with no basis in fact. You make a statement about how you "doubt they are going to be kind enough to give away just ANY free download." You then use that statement to back up your belief that "they are already entered talks with various record labels about which bands will get pushed." Why spread FUD?
The previous arrangement with Pepsi lets you download whatever you want. Apple has stated repeatedly that they want to give all labels equal exposure (as in you can't buy better placement) in the Music Store.
t'nera semordnilap
Maybe, maybe not. The last figures I saw showed that 45% of sales were toward full album purchases. iTunes is selling a lot of singles, but there are also a good deal of whole albums being sold.
Not only that but this will actually serve to push albums back into the main stream. It will no longer be profitable for a band to have 1 or 2 good songs and then poop out 9 mediocre ones to fill an album. Now if you want to sell an entire album you will make an entire album of quality songs. Those bands that concentrate on the super singles will find themselves left in the dust, since a single makes 1/10th the amount a full album does.
Sapere aude!
I'd wait for confirmation before getting all excited about this. Isn't the NY Post the paper that printed an editorial congratulating the Red Sox on beating the Yankees in the ALCS? Perhaps it's really Burger King that's giving out Hillary Rosen action figures instead...
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Yeah, How DARE he say masking tape tastes that bad?
"I'm not a procrastinator, I'm temporally challenged"
According to Dutch news, DVD sales have exceeded CD-Audio sales this year.
One popular Dutch artist is actually going to stop putting his music on CD, going DVD-only. (only returning to CD if DVD sales, against expectancy, aren't high enough)
There's several reasons for this
- DVDs cost about as much as DVD-audios here
- You get a LOT more value for money (various performances, videos, interviews, etc.)
- They think it's a little bump in the way of piracy.
The latter, as far as the music goes, is of course pointless to the educated masses.
But given the choice between
A. an 'expensive' DVD-R, spending quite a bit of time downloading the content, and optionally printing things out
or
B. the original without all the fuss, for not all *that* much money
I think B is going to be a choice for many.
The end of CD audio, at least here, started when people realized they were getting little value for money when compared to alternatives such as DVDs.
Downloading music won't kill the audio CD. There are many audiophiles out there that spend lots of $$$ on high quality sound equipment. Downloaded music quality won't (in the near future) come anywhere close to the quality of the CD.
Additionally with the new formats of digital audio media coming (like Super AudioCD) it's not likely that the size of the audio will decrease. There will ALWAYS be a market for the actual media. Look at the record itself... It's still around (mostly because of the audiophiles).
... [Insert decent Sig]
The songs I've bought off of iTMS sound far better than the ones I have ripped myself as high as 192 kbps. Says something about the quality of CD's if you ask me.
Funny, I've always prefered Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable" - JFK
As of right now, "Users who bought this album also bought"
The Neil Diamond Collection
Ultimate Manilow
Quadrophenia
iTunes users obvioulsy have much more varied tastes than one would think.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
At an average of 3 minutes per song, it would take you just over 5700 years to even listen to all of them, much less download them! ;)
bytesmythe
Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
-- Scott Meyer
"I Like Big Butts"
Supposing online shopping were to completely replace malls, there's no way those jobs would be replaced. Think of all the salespeople, managers, custodians, security, and everyone else that works at a mall.
Just considering the salespeople, consider how long it takes to help a customer find what they're looking for, ring them up, chit-chat with them, etc. How long does it take a delivery guy to deliver a package?
Also, even if delivery jobs can't be outsourced, (1) neither can jobs in malls, and (2) the people owning, running, and espeicially building online stores can be outsourced.
In short, you're on crack.
I can see the slogans now: Billions and billions served...with subpoenas.
Have you seen my stapler?
I wonder if it's less overhead for Apple to do it this way. When I buy a song with my credit card from the store directly, some small percentage of the $0.99 must be going towards credit card fees, etc. When they do it through retail vendors like McDonalds and Pepsi, they probably get a fat (overhead-free) check from those folks, who in turn absorb the overhead of collecting that cash.
Sure, there are other costs invovlved in managing that kind of program, but if Apple sets it up well, they could actually be increasing their profit by making the retail vendors pay for some of those costs.
Come on, how many times a week on Slashdot does someone want to proclaim the "beginning of the end" of some old standby technology? I remember Coke was giving away MiniDiscs sometime around 1991 or so, and it was the Beginning Of The End of the CD...
My blog can kick your blog's ass
Sure, Apple takes the hit on the bandwidth costs, but how much do you want to bet that at least half of these people buy another track besides the free ones while they are at the store? And how many more of those millions of people are going to come back once they see how easy it is to buy music?
I seriously can't believe that there isn't anyone among the management and sales force of all these major studios that realizes the stupidity of their views.
Well, either stupidty or just sheer terror at change and seeing entire layers of management and middlemen made obsolete and jobless :)
"Trying is only the first step towards failure." - Homer