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Apple 100,000,000 iTMS celebration

Posted by pudge on from the free-loot dept.

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!"

10 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Is that counter live? by Ianoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The counter on the front page of Apple.com seems stuck at 94,767,325 no matter how much I'm refreshing. A live updater would be more handy ;)

    But seriously, much as I dislike the RIAA, its tactics and current copyright arrangements for music and films in general, it's nice to see a company other than Microsoft having some success for a change.

  2. I am wondering if this can be timed? by PaulBu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    After the count reaches the required # of mils, observe the counter value vs. Time (maybe requires some OCR software to get the number from the GIF or whatever Apple used to prevent this type of thing), then try to make a best prediction when 10,000 mark is getting close and dump some cash in.

    Might work, huh?

    Paul B.

    P.S. Even if one does not want to actually risk their $$ on this game, a software to plot the chart would be still interesting to hack together -- by taking a derivative we will see if other people are trying to do this -- if yes, dN/dT should peak around 10,000*x

    1. Re:I am wondering if this can be timed? by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      whatever Apple used to prevent this type of thing)

      If I were them, what I'd do is have the counter lag a random amount of time between 45 minutes and an hour. Since they appear to be selling between 100 and 200 songs a minute They'd get an extra 10000 song sales or so out of the promotion, and they'd make it incredibly difficult to win through prediction.

  3. For those interested in tracking iTMS sales.. by sessha · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A couple people over at MacRumors forums have created some simple tracking devices for sales since the counter has gone up. Check out some graphs here and or download this simple app (Windows and Mac OS X in archive).

  4. According to the data from this thread: by PaulBu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=113152&cid=958 7496

    it is 470 songs/minute RIGHT NOW. Wow, not bad at all they are doing! ;-)

    (See the actual values and posting time)

    Paul B.

  5. suspicious numbers by sdedeo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The numbers seem very suspicious: that curve is decidedly linear. You would expect to see some variation, because of (for example) of the time of day. It looks like Apple picked some reasonable songs/minute value.

    What happens when the reasonable rate begins to differ from the average real rate? It would probably be a bad idea for them to give out the actual data, which would be useful for competitors.

    Anyway, either Apple is going to use the actual data, or they are going to use the fake data. I imagine they will use the fake data, because otherwise the 10^8 mile mark will come on the homepage at the wrong time. If they *do* use the fake data, you could theoretically increase the odds of winning to something like 1 in 2000 by picking the right five minute interval. If you were even smarter, you could time it to the second.

    Assuming you're the only one to read this comment, of course. I wonder what the legal implications are?

    --
    Protect your liberties. Donate to the ACLU
  6. The war is on full bore now by chia_monkey · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You gotta love this news. This comes out while Dell has their "trade in your old iPod for $100 off one of our mp3 player" deals. Sony announced their "we have a media player that isn't exactly mp3 but we plan on it killing the iPod" player. Microsoft no doubt wants to have their new device (whenever it comes out) unseat the iPod. It's a war out there, and Apple (who already holds the lead in market share of players) is upping the ante once again and rubbing everyone's nose in the fact they're about to have 100 million download. Wow...just wow. I wonder what the mp3 player and music download site scene will look like a year from now.

    --

    "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
  7. Re:Most popular albums will have tons of songs by CptChipJew · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I found an iMix with 100 songs but I don't think you can buy it in one piece. Also, I found an iMix, Songs from Alias, which had 38 songs, costing $37.62 to buy the whole thing (0.99 per track) :(

    So it looks like only the modest-sized iMix's can be purchased in a package, and you're still paying the 0.99 per song

    --
    Vonal Declosion
  8. Re:So... Huh? by falcon5768 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How To Enter. You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by: 1) downloading a song from iTunes (any Free Download Single of the Week will be deemed an ineligible entry); or 2) a free alternative means of sending an email to Apple at itunes100@apple.com via the iTunes "Tell a Friend" feature (a song download or Tell a Friend email will be deemed an "Entry(ies"). The "Tell a Friend" feature can be easily accessed at iTunes by selecting a song, and clicking the "Tell a Friend" link that is displayed for that song. One Entry will be automatically submitted for each song downloaded or Tell a Friend email sent. The Promotion begins following the downloading of the 95,000,000th iTunes song, and ends with the downloading of the 100 millionth Entry ("End Date"). Only Entries submitted in this time period will be accepted.

    --

    "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

  9. Re:So... Huh? by fscmj · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I don't think thats how it works. An entry is a song downloaded or a "tell a friend email sent" but a download is a purchased and downloaded song. From the rules is says
    How You Win. Winners will be determined by the order of the Entries received. One 20GB iPod will be awarded for each Entry sent immediately following the 99,999th song downloaded, until iTunes reaches its 100 millionth Entry. (One 20GB iPod will be given away for the 95,100,000th Entry, 95,200,000th Entry,....99,900,000th Entry).
    I read this as saying that tell a friend entries do nothing for the download count. When the download count gets to the point just prior to the win, then and only then is the term "Entry" useful.