Apple 100,000,000 iTMS celebration

beef curtains writes "From Apple's iTunes Music Store Countdown page: 'When the number of songs downloaded from Apple's iTunes Music Store crosses 95 million, Apple will begin the countdown to 100 million songs by giving away 50 special 20GB iPods -- one to the purchaser of each 100,000th song downloaded between 95 million and 100 million songs. In addition, the person who downloads the 100 millionth song will receive a 17-inch PowerBook, a 40GB iPod, a gift certificate for 10,000 iTunes songs to create the ultimate music library for the iPod, and the opportunity to create a Celebrity Playlist to be published on the iTunes Music Store.' Check out the countdown on Apple's front page, and get ready to drop stupid amounts of cash on iTMS over the weekend. I'll see you in the ramen noodle aisle after the count passes 100 million!"

Comments

So... Huh?

[Apiakun]

In order to download a track from iTunes you have to purchase it. However, this page states that "No purchase necessary". I'm sure the legal department said they have to throw that in, but how else are you going to win without purchasing anything? Pepsi bottle caps? Gift certificate downloads? The average person is going to have to buy something.

Re:So... Huh?

[mstra]

The iTMS has a free song to download every week. So I suppose if you downloaded that and it was the winner...you'd win.

Re:So... Huh?

[Blondie-Wan]

I know one shows up on the home page of iTunes, I don't know where the other one comes from.

The other one is called the "Discovery Download," and can be found on the front page of one of the Genre sections (Alternative, Blues, Classical, Country, Dance, etc.) each week; apparently the idea is to give people a song from a genre they might not otherwise try, and help them discover something they might like (and just maybe, might buy). The "discovery" part of it may also refer to one's "discovery" of it in the store, since it's not listed on the front page or anything but is semi-hidden in the store; one has to hunt for it, though since it's on one of the Genre front pages, it's not exactly hard to find (particularly since that one user maintains that iMix listing of all the freebies to date).

promotion not news

[solferino]

So slashdot sinks to reporting company give-away promotions.

Re:promotion not news

[Anonymous Coward]

> So slashdot sinks to reporting company give-away promotions.

On apple.slashdot.org, everything Apple does is news.

Re:I am wondering if this can be timed?

[Blondie-Wan]

The counter isn't actually updating live - it seems like every 30 minutes or so.

It's more like every five minutes, actually.

seems like a stupid prize...

[shaitand]

After all the customers of the itunes music store generally ALREADY have ipods :)

Re:"my iTunes"

[egomaniac]

I'm not sure why but I found this quite sad. It's as if, to her, the artists and even the music itself has lost any uniqueness or individuality. The songs are just a collection of different products on "my iTunes".

In addition to the store, the term iTunes also refers to the software (very similar to, say, MusicMatch) that runs on your system and functions as a music player.

I'm pretty sure that she didn't mean "I'm listening to music that I have purchased through iTunes". She just meant that she was listening to the iTunes player on her desktop.

Re:I am wondering if this can be timed?

[ratsnapple tea]

If you were Apple, why would you care? Someone's going to win no matter what. And there'll be a spike in sales no matter what.

Re:Most popular albums will have tons of songs

[Blondie-Wan]

Buying that album should indeed increase the odds of winning, given all those... er... cuts on it, but then what? When Apple announces the lucky winner, do you really want to be publicly known for having bought that??