Free Weekly iTunes

[MacRumors]

Amidst the many new features of iTunes 4.5 (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/04/20040428091303.shtml), Apple has also started offering a new free song to be given away every week.

The iTunes Music Store features a new free single every week. On Tuesday of course. So if you want to keep current with all the new releases and newly added exclusives be sure to sign up for the free New Music Tuesdays email bulletin. It's a great reminder to download the free single every week.

This promotion should be beneficial both to the featured musical artists and Apple -- as it will draw more customers to the iTunes music store as well as provide more exposure to the featured artists.

[stoid]

Sorry international types, you still need an account to download the free song. :(

Soon, it's coming soon! ;)

[DTphonehome]

Hey, can't beat free. I bet THIS gets them to 100 mil real quick.

[macnews]

one free song - by Justin Timberlake a week, yea haw!

[Wonder Boy]

i cant help but question how many of these free songs ill download. my taste is very particular.

[stoid]

Hey, can't beat free. I bet THIS gets them to 100 mil real quick.

I don't think that Apple can count these as purchased songs since they are not making any profit from this. At least with the Pepsi giveaway they got reimbursed from the songs. Indirectly though, if it attracts more customers and more downloads, then it will help reach that 100 mil goal.


Announced this WWDC: 1 in 3 purchased iTunes songs, and you get a free 20 oz Pepsi!

[Dippo]

I'll probably download the free songs just because they are free :)

Maybe this should be a poll question...?

[sharky2313]

this is a great idea and a good way to get genres. albums, or artists more exposure. what's the harm in trying a song for free? It's like the free samples at Costco. You know you try stuff that you would normally never buy. ;)

[SilentPanda]

I will be downloading every single free song that is available. Why not? You might, just might want that song at some point. Even if just for background music to a video you make, even just using that song as a joke. You can always rate it as trash and use it later if you like. But it only takes up your bandwidth for a bit (providing you're not on a modem and if you are I guess you can use your discretion) and it takes up some harddrive space (which of course you can offload to a CD if it's a problem.

It's free! Be happy!

[narco]

I doubt they'll offer anything good for the free selection. Maybe the least popular download from that particular artist.

:confused: narco

[SilentPanda]

Oh! And don't forget... those caps have to be redeemed by the 30th of this month so if you've been stashing them away... go at it! You can only redeem 20 a day.

[wordmunger]

I've already downloaded the first free song, "My Hero" by the Foo-Fighters. Not exactly my style, but not a bad song. It could be worse, I think--and hey, it's free!

[slipper]

and where do i sign up for this? i dont see anything in the store where i could sign up.

[Stella]

I think its an excellent idea.. will get people to use iTMS who have not so far... even if its just to download the free music weekly - get them browsing the store etc etc.

Shame its available only for the minority of the world - err, I mean, the US only ;-)

I'm sure other countries will get this freebie option as iTMS becomes available.



Amidst the many new features of iTunes 4.5 (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/04/20040428091303.shtml), Apple has also started offering a new free song to be given away every week.



This promotion should be beneficial both to the featured musical artists and Apple -- as it will draw more customers to the iTunes music store as well as provide more exposure to the featured artists.

[dombi]

and where do i sign up for this? i dont see anything in the store where i could sign up.

ONce you open up the iTunes Music Store (within iTunes), you should see a link in the middle (with the Foo Fighters in the background) saying free Downloads.

If you have a valid iTunes account you can download that one song for free.

[iMeowbot]

and where do i sign up for this? i dont see anything in the store where i could sign up.

If you are signed up to use the store in general, you get access to the freebie tracks. This week the link is in the center if the iTMS main page, between the Pepsi and iTunes 4.5 ad panels. Just click on that, and the track will be highlighted and its button will read "get Song" instead of "buy song.", and the price is listed as "Free."

You do need to agree to the updated terms before you'll be allowed to download it.

[zedwards]

Just got this:

Lets celebrate a great year with a week of Free Downloads!
Wed: Foo Fighters
Thurs: Avril Lavigne
Fri: Courtney love
Sat: Annie Lennox
Sun: Janes Addiction
Mon: Counting Crows
Tues: Rene Fleming
Wed: Nelly Furtado

[baby duck monge]

Just got this:

Lets celebrate a great year with a week of Free Downloads!
Wed: Foo Fighters
Thurs: Avril Lavigne
Fri: Courtney love
Sat: Annie Lennox
Sun: Janes Addiction
Mon: Counting Crows
Tues: Rene Fleming
Wed: Nelly Furtado

interesting combination. i like the idea that all the free songs are not going to be just the same thing over and over again. it seems like a great idea to get people excited about the store and visiting every week! i would certainly be downloading today's selection if i did not already have the album.

can't wait to see what the counting crows song will be! i hope it's one of the itunes exclusive tracks!! (probably won't be, but it doesn't hurt to hope)

[njmac]

I will be downloading all the free songs, but I can't even get into the iTunes music store now. I guess the servers are really busy right now..?

[chibianh]

I wonder if Apple has to pay the labels for these songs that they're giving away for free. If so, how are they affording this if say 100,000 people downloads each free song? That's $0.66x100,000 = $66,000 x 8 = $528,000. And that's just the first 8 days. Would they put that much money into doing this as a weekly thing afterwards?

[Doctor Q]

Apple certainly knows how to get my attention. My favorite group is Foo Fighters.

[Kid Red]

So 2 idiots don't like free songs and voted this a negative story? Wow. I really would love to see that voting negative/positive crap removed from the front page.

Can't seem to access ITMS, guess everyone wants their free song, well, except for those 2 idiots :)

[gopher]

Still no Classical music free songs. What's worse is many albums still are "partial" which means if you want an entire album, you have to go out and buy the disk.

[apinaud]

i do not agree....
this is for the labels a free publicity, you give me the songs for free, I give it to my subscribers, there is a big chance if they like the song get another one of the same one, or get used to apple music store and buy more songs....
i think is a great deal


I wonder if Apple has to pay the labels for these songs that they're giving away for free. If so, how are they affording this if say 100,000 people downloads each free song? That's $0.66x100,000 = $66,000 x 8 = $528,000. And that's just the first 8 days. Would they put that much money into doing this as a weekly thing afterwards?

[bertagert]

This will defintely pull more people into using itunes. I wonder who's paying for these songs as well. If its Apple, I can see this as a huge advertising expense. Someone go get the facts and report back.

[MacFan25]

I think this is a great move by Apple. It could get a few people who are reluctant to stop using P2P networks, to come and try out iTunes, with the extra incentive.

[Thom_Edwards]

So 2 idiots don't like free songs and voted this a negative story? Wow. I really would love to see that voting negative/positive crap removed from the front page.

Can't seem to access ITMS, guess everyone wants their free song, well, except for those 2 idiots :)

the two people were probably the ceo's from napster and real....

[ipacmm]

cool, free music

[Morgo]

Totally unable to access the Foo Fighters Free song. It was a good idea to attract people into the store, however potential new buyers may be put off if they are using this free song as a gauge of the store's reliability.

[zedwards]

Totally unable to access the Foo Fighters Free song. It was a good idea to attract people into the store, however potential new buyers may be put off if they are using this free song as a gauge of the store's reliability.

Can you even access the iTMS at all? I haven't for the past 30 min.

[Doctor Q]

When exactly will a free download stop being available, e.g., midnight Pacific time at the end of each Tuesday?

[Blackheart]

Yeah, so i haven't even been able to get ON iTMS it just gives me an error to check my network connection =(

[Sir_Giggles]

Yeah, so i haven't even been able to get ON iTMS it just gives me an error to check my network connection =(

Its all those people clicking on the arrows beside the songs in their library!

I get an error (500). Must mean I am a Canadian and this is Apple's indirect way of telling me to bugger off.

[Jerry Spoon]

When exactly will a free download stop being available, e.g., midnight Pacific time at the end of each Tuesday?

Who knows, but I'm not going to wait to download it at the last minute to try and find out. :rolleyes:

[Armsreach]

Still no Classical music free songs. What's worse is many albums still are "partial" which means if you want an entire album, you have to go out and buy the disk.

Uhm, excuse me, the last time I checked, Renee Fleming was an Opera singer. Since when is Opera NOT classical.

[Morgo]

Can you even access the iTMS at all? I haven't for the past 30 min.

No problem accessing iTMS, only in clicking the link for the free song. Im able to browse the artists pages, preview songs, watch the music and film videos without any problems or noticeable bandwidth reduction.

[anastasis]

And why would someone vote negative on this??

Negative voter: "I hate free music, I will vote negative"

[beatle888]

So 2 idiots don't like free songs and voted this a negative story? Wow. I really would love to see that voting negative/positive crap removed from the front page.

Can't seem to access ITMS, guess everyone wants their free song, well, except for those 2 idiots :)


just dont pay attention to it. seems to work for me.

[Capt Underpants]

I have always thought that the limit of computers an iTMS purchased song could play on was 3, but when I went to download the free song, the new iTunes agreement said 5. Has Apple changed this, or have I been wrong all along?

[jeremy.king]

I have always thought that the limit of computers an iTMS purchased song could play on was 3, but when I went to download the free song, the new iTunes agreement said 5. Has Apple changed this, or have I been wrong all along?

They just changed this today. See all the new changes on the front page of Macrumors.

[cringer]

And why would someone vote negative on this??
Because everyone is not from the US?

[Chopper]

Totally unable to access the Foo Fighters Free song. It was a good idea to attract people into the store, however potential new buyers may be put off if they are using this free song as a gauge of the store's reliability.

Have you gotten the 4.5 version of iTunes yet? I opened iTunes this morning & saw the new stuff, including the link to the free song from the Foo Fighters. When I clicked on it, I don't think anything happened. After I installed 4.5 & clicked on the picture, it took me to their CD.

So it might be something about 4.5. Or it was something about the user's state of mind at 8:00 in the morning...

[DavPeanut]

Where does one go to sign up for the free New Music Tuesdays email bulletin? I maybe MacRumors can just set up a link on the homepage to the song of the week. If not, someone tell me where to sign up PLEASE!

[johnnowak]

The latest Apple promotion: Free garbage!

[macguymike]

The latest Apple promotion: Free garbage!


The key word there being FREE. :rolleyes:

[Stike]

The latest Apple promotion: Free garbage!
Nope, Garbage are not on the freebie list... yet :p

[Craiger77]

No one seems to have pointed this out, but there is either two overlapping promotions going on here or something is wrong. All the news reports stated that there will be a new song every week on Tuesday, but on iTunes you see that is says a free song every day this week. Notice that it says the next free song is available 4/29. So, it seems like we are getting a week of free songs THEN we will get a free song every Tuesday after that. Not to bad a deal. And I also got two free songs from Ben & Jerry for pledging my wife and I to vote. Not a bad week for free things :)

[ZildjianKX]

No one seems to have pointed this out, but there is either two overlapping promotions going on here or something is wrong. All the news reports stated that there will be a new song every week on Tuesday, but on iTunes you see that is says a free song every day this week. Notice that it says the next free song is available 4/29. So, it seems like we are getting a week of free songs THEN we will get a free song every Tuesday after that. Not to bad a deal. And I also got two free songs from Ben & Jerry for pledging my wife and I to vote. Not a bad week for free things :)

That was confusing me too, I was thinking maybe someone was mixing up the promotion and labeling it as two seperate promotions.

I just got an E-mail from the iTunes Music Store with the subject saying "Free Downloads"... but the E-mail doesn't metion it anything about the free downloads, lol.

[DidotCicero]

Man, is this another USA & Canada only thing? When I try to download this free song iTunes crashes time after time.

(I updated iTunes & Quicktime, so this should be ok)

[dukemeiser]

Oh! And don't forget... those caps have to be redeemed by the 30th of this month so if you've been stashing them away... go at it! You can only redeem 20 a day.

No, you can only redeem 10 a day. I'm assuming Apple will be paying for the free songs we download? So if 10,000 free songs get downloaded, Apple will pay for them? Or are the greedy labels actually supporting the promo?

[Blue Moon]

I think this is a wonderful idea but I hope they don't choose such obvious artists in the future. It would be really great if they selected songs from new and upcoming artists such as The Real Tuesday Weld, because its these guys who really NEED the exposure and its less likely that us music buffs will have the album on our computer already.

[mms]

I think it's a great idea for the artists to get publicity. Worked for me, too. I listened to this Foo Fighters and liked it, so I'm off to get more of their songs.

And BTW, does such a newsletter from Apple exist? There's no link on the site as far as I can see.

[mms]

NVM, I found the link. It's on apple.com/itunes/download. When you download from the site, it asks for your email addresses and asks you to subscribe to the newsletters. Before, there was only Apple eNews and the Quicktime, but there is now a third one, the free music newsletter.

Does anybody know of any other place to subscribe (for those people who downloaded from Software Update?

[halse]

Amazon has had free downloads of songs for quite sometime (two years?) it is a good way to get folks to listen to things they might never try otherwise (remember to option click to download):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/468646/ref=m_mh_mn_dd/102-0655976-2514546

[Doctor Q]

Where does one go to sign up for the free New Music Tuesdays email bulletin? I maybe MacRumors can just set up a link on the homepage to the song of the week. If not, someone tell me where to sign up PLEASE!http://www.apple.com/itunes/subscribe/ or http://enews.apple.com/subscribe

[DavPeanut]

http://www.apple.com/itunes/subscribe/ or http://enews.apple.com/subscribe

Thanks.

Apple may decide to put links to the free songs on either their frontpage or on the frontpage of the iTunes store, so that those who don't want the email can still see the free songs to decide wether or not to download it.

[xtremdav45]

It's like the free samples at Costco. You know you try stuff that you would normally never buy. ;)

Or in the case of me, you take the free stuff and dont buy what you have to pay for :)

[bredlo]

Because one free song is so unlikely to hit a broad enough taste to please everyone...

how about - every 50th song you download is free?? Cool, huh? I don't think it's that unrealistic cost-wise for Apple to consider.

It goes a step further than just getting people to visit more often... it would actually drive people to download more often, an album at a time if they want to get to that 50th song quickly.

And, it's a much better incentive for the 95% of people who don't care for Foo Fighters, because you're getting a song YOU CHOOSE for free, not one chosen for you.

Whadda ya think? :)

[autrefois]

Thank you, Apple! I wouldn't have downloaded Foo Fighters on my own, but after getting this song, I'm going to listen to previews of their other songs and possibly download the CD. Other artists from this week sound good to me, too. Free samples are always nice! :)

And I told my sister about this and she really liked the idea, so she'll probably be going to the iTunes store more often now...

[sorryiwasdreami]

one free song - by Justin Timberlake a week, yea haw!

There are actually some quality artists listed there: Foo Fighters, Janes Adiction, Courtney Love.

The thing is, the music store must be getting hit HARD right now due to the free singles; I keep getting an error when downloading. I hope it clears out soon, as I've only got 9 minutes left before the Foo Fighters' single is no longer offered. (I think.)

[sorryiwasdreami]

Uhm, excuse me, the last time I checked, Renee Fleming was an Opera singer. Since when is Opera NOT classical.

Opera and Classical are two seperate and very different genres; think Mozart vs. Luciano Pavarotti.

However to some degree, I agree that certain opera pieces can be lumped together with classical, such as Turandot's Nessun Dorma.

[itsa]

Would not even come close to downloading any of them.

[crazytom]

Hmmm. Downloaded and installed iTunes 4.5 and the iPod update. Everything seemed to work fine until I came back and re-docked my iPod...it immediately crashed the finder. Joy! :mad:

I tried force quitting the finder...no go. Had to do a hard reboot. :mad:

Edit: My system wouldn't reboot with the iPod in its dock. I had to disconnect it so the splash screen would get past "Waiting for local disks" :mad:

[autrefois]

Would not even come close to downloading any of them.

good; that means there'll be a little less traffic for everyone else who wants to. :D

Maybe in future weeks, they'll have more variety and there'll be something you like.

I also had some trouble connecting to the store and downloading the song, but it's always hard to tell if it's my worthless ISP or a problem with whatever site I'm trying to visit.

[mward333]

Except for the Pepsi giveaway, is this the first time that Apple is giving away free songs from the iTMS? I can't remember any other promotions like this, but I'm just curious.

[bertagert]

Hmmm. Downloaded and installed iTunes 4.5 and the iPod update. Everything seemed to work fine until I came back and re-docked my iPod...it immediately crashed the finder. Joy!

I heard downloading and installing quicktime 6.5.1 fixes this. This is through the grapevine so you'll have to check it out to see.

[TimDaddy]

Hmm... I just downloaded the "free" Avril Lavigne song and it reduced my song credit by one. Anyone else had this happen?

[Mercury]

Sigh... I think I missed it. I was in class all day, and now that I'm trying to download the Foo Fighters song, even though it still says it's free, it says I cannot download it as it is "being updated." Curses, I really like that song.

Edit: Also, the "free" Avril song is still listed at 99 cents. That's why you paid for it. :\ FF is still listed at 0, but won't let me download. Sigh...

[TimDaddy]

Edit: Also, the "free" Avril song is still listed at 99 cents. That's why you paid for it. :\ FF is still listed at 0, but won't let me download. Sigh...

Ahhh... damn it. I just figured that it showed the regular price so you'd know that Apple is "giving" you a dollar! When I tried to get the Foo Fighters song earlier, I was never even able to connect. Oh well, the Avril song was still free, paid for by a Pepsi lid from the workplace recycle bin.

[Mercury]

Avril's free, now.

[lem0nayde]

Like or hate the particular free songs that are being given away each week, this is a BRILLIANT move by Apple, along with many other of the additions to iTunes 4.5.

I think artists, particularly small label artists will be screaming for a chance to be the free single download of the week. This is fantastic, direct-to-consumer publicity for the artist and it builds a relationship between Apple and it's consumers to keep them coming back.

The addition of movie trailers, music videos, and especially iMixes is also pure brilliance. These kinds of connections that Apple has, and the trust they are garnering with the movie and music industry are not being replicated ANYWHERE else. This makes iTunes THE app to have for downloading music. Not to mention paving the way for consumer brand trust in the "digital lifestyle" market. Can't wait to see what follows the iPod.

I'm sure noone pays for the free songs, it's just a contract signed between the artist and Apple for a one day giveaway. After all, a digital song doesn't really cost anything in and of itself - advertisement, however costs a fortune andd the artist is getting a free day of top-shelf advertisement for nothing.

Joe

[billyboy]

Good marketing strategy and a good product to back it up, iTunes is the way to go - just like Steve Jobs has been telling naysayers all along.

[sethwerkheiser]

I downloaded the iTunes 4.5 update last night on Dial-Up... that only took about 2 hours. Heh. Then before I went to bed I cued up the free Foo Fighters song. This morning I went to play it and iTunes said it wasn't authorized to play on this particular computer.. I think I just hit "OK" and it went away and played fine. Hmmm...

The new iTMS seems to work fine on my Compaq Presario 5000 w/ WinXP. Why am I using my awful Compaq? Cuz my iBook is getting it's Logic Board replaced :(

[wdlove]

I wasn't able to get the free song yesterday. I went to the iTMS and clicked on the free song, but it took me to the pay area. Does anynone know how the porgram works?

[wPod]

score. . . i just hope they dont have bad songs every week, otherwise this could be good for only the sheep of the music industry.

[Azmordean]

I'm not sure if anyone noticed this, but there is a new free song up (Avril Lavigne) today. I think this may be a free song a day, not a week.

[Doctor Q]

I was able to download the Foo Fighters song yesterday evening. Sometime between 9pm and midnight Pacific time, the photo on the main iTMS page changed to Avril Lavigne, but clicking it still took you to the Foo Fighters song.

I waited until after midnight to see if the free song actually changed, but it was still Foo Fighters at 12:15 Pacific time.

This morning, it was indeed Avril Lavigne. So I can't tell what time the switch actually happens. It would be nice to know.

(Speaking of clocks, the deadline for Pepsi iTunes redemptions is tomorrow night at midnight Eastern time, not Pacific time.)

[TimDaddy]

Avril's free, now.
Yes, I see, and it is clearly stated as free. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle! :o

[Applexilef]

Does anyone one what the future songs will be ? I am asking for the ones after the "free song every day for a week". I'm pretty happy with the free song a week business, do you think if everyone gets the free song every week it will make the song be very popular outside of Apple and Itunes? Now that would be a success story.

[Mercury]

I was watching it-it happened a few minutes before I posted that it was free now. The icon switched a few hours before, and a bit after that, took you to the not quite free Avril song. I missed the Foo Fighters, and they're my favorite. :\

[iJon]

i don't know if anyone mentioned it, didnt feel like browsing through all the pages. after this week, it will be 1 free song each week .

iJon

[Maclicious]

I presume downloading the free song requires an update to iTunes 4.5? Or, am I just not taking enough time to figure out how to download the free song once I hit the 'free song' link?

[rdowns]

I presume downloading the free song requires an update to iTunes 4.5? Or, am I just not taking enough time to figure out how to download the free song once I hit the 'free song' link?

Not sure if 4.5 is required for free download. When you get to the list of songs for the artist, the free song will say free in the price field rather than $0.99.

[griz]

I wonder how many people who are downloading are current iTMS users. It would be interesting if Apple would report the number of people signing up and then immediately downloading the free song. This would say how many people they managed to lead in. I'm guessing this number will be low. Current users can 1-click and grab it without any effort. I have 3 so far. Keep em coming Apple.

[wdlove]

I presume downloading the free song requires an update to iTunes 4.5? Or, am I just not taking enough time to figure out how to download the free song once I hit the 'free song' link?

It does indicate at the bottom of the free song link that iTunes 4.5 is required. So now I realize why I was unable to download the Foo Fighters Song.

[griz]

That's crazy that they require you to move to 4.5. Buying music doesn't require you to be on 4.5, why should any other download. It's simply a ploy to get you to upgrade or download the latest version.

[S.Snake]

That's crazy that they require you to move to 4.5. Buying music doesn't require you to be on 4.5, why should any other download. It's simply a ploy to get you to upgrade or download the latest version.

You think?

[iJon]

That's crazy that they require you to move to 4.5. Buying music doesn't require you to be on 4.5, why should any other download. It's simply a ploy to get you to upgrade or download the latest version.
yes its a ploy and part of apple's master plan to take over the world. do you like using old software?

iJon

[wdlove]

The requirement is OK with me. I have now downloaded and installed iTunes 4.5 and QuickTime 6.5.1. Then it was very easy to get my free song, "Hold on To Me" by Courtney Love. Does anyone know when the free song will be available each week? :cool:

[Doctor Q]

Does anyone know when the free song will be available each week?Every day, Wed April 28 thru Wed May 5, then every Tuesday thereafter, i.e., Tue May 11, Tue May 18, Tue May 25, etc.

[TimDaddy]

They are giving you something for free. If they say you must first submit a photo of yourself wearing a clown nose, then do it or don't take the freebie.

[itsa]

The freebies SUCK!

These are the ones I want for Free! :0)

[nuckinfutz]

That's crazy that they require you to move to 4.5. Buying music doesn't require you to be on 4.5, why should any other download. It's simply a ploy to get you to upgrade or download the latest version.


Ummmm a ploy to get you to upgrade to 4.5 which costs a whopping 0 dollars. Well for one iTunes 4.5 defeats the current fairplay strippers so that's one good reason right there. Although I can't see the conspiracy or "craziness" as you put it. Why wouldn't someone want to upgrade. iTunes is improved in plenty of ways. Sounds like your setting up a straw man.

[Mason]

I'm a huge Gabriel & Dresden fan and it was neat to see their remix featured as the free song of the day. G&D do some amazing remixes. Though their best stuff is not the mainstream stuff that has been released on iTMS, it's nice just to see some of their stuff on there. iTMS has a decent electronica section, but I'd really like it if they could expand that section. I think there are a lot of people who would buy songs on iTMS - especially since often that music is really hard to buy unless you want to get it on vinyl.

[iMan]

Interestingly enough the "free song" link on Apples frontpage opens iTunes and takes you directly to that part of the music store... nice touch of integration. Does this work on Windows as well? And what if you don't have iTunes installed?

[Freg3000]

Interestingly enough the "free song" link on Apples frontpage opens iTunes and takes you directly to that part of the music store... nice touch of integration. Does this work on Windows as well? And what if you don't have iTunes installed?

Yeah these links are all over Apple, especially www.apple.com/itunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes). I dunno how it works really, but Phobos.apple.com is always included in the URL.

And yes it does work on Windows and I dunno what happens if you don't have iTunes installed, although I have a feeling it would bring you to a download page.

Edit: Here is a thread (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/10/20031017035157.shtml) on it.

[Doctor Q]

I find it odd that today's giveaway (Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows) is a single. Giving away a tune is a good way to get people to listen to a group they may not have heard before, with the hope that they will like it and buy the album or other songs by that artist. In this case, there's no album to buy, and that seems to remove one type of impulse shopping Apple would hope to see. The freebie might still get people into the store and get them to listen to other Counting Crows music, but it seems a little strange that out of all the available music, Apple picked a single.

Does somebody wanna phone Steve Jobs and ask how much these freebies have affected sales? I'm curious.

[sethypoo]

The requirement is OK with me. I have now downloaded and installed iTunes 4.5 and QuickTime 6.5.1. Then it was very easy to get my free song, "Hold on To Me" by Courtney Love. Does anyone know when the free song will be available each week? :cool:

I think it was kind of like holding the carrot in front of the horse. iTunes 4.5 has more FairPlay protections and upgrades, so I guess by offering free songs only if you upgrade to 4.5 is a way to help slow down the current DRM stripping frenzy.

If you click on a Protected AAC (iTMS download) in iTunes, and control-click "Get Info," you'll see that it says "FairPlay Version 2." Interesting change.

[sethypoo]

Does somebody wanna phone Steve Jobs and ask how much these freebies have affected sales? I'm curious.

I'll call. What's his home phone? :eek:

[tomatobush]

I don't see why apple doesn't let you pick the songs you want. I'm not a fan of the music they are giving away.

[TimDaddy]

I don't see why apple doesn't let you pick the songs you want. I'm not a fan of the music they are giving away.
Maybe they have some kind of deal where they pay a discounted royalty on certain songs that are given away. Probably not, but maybe.

[Doctor Q]

I don't see why apple doesn't let you pick the songs you want. I'm not a fan of the music they are giving away.Obviously, we all need to change our taste to suit Apple's choices. It'll be cheaper for us that way! ;)

[PretendPCuser]

No, you can only redeem 10 a day. I'm assuming Apple will be paying for the free songs we download? So if 10,000 free songs get downloaded, Apple will pay for them? Or are the greedy labels actually supporting the promo?

Why would you assume Apple was paying for the songs? The promotion was to get more people to spend money buying Pepsi with hopes of getting a free song. I would assume that Pepsi would be footing the bill, though they might be getting volume discount pricing. Does anyone know what the deal was?

[PretendPCuser]

I find it odd that today's giveaway (Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows) is a single. The freebie might still get people into the store and get them to listen to other Counting Crows music, but it seems a little strange that out of all the available music, Apple picked a single.


I think the Counting Crows tune was off the Shrek 2 Soundtrack. Maybe they are pushing the Soundtrack?

[latergator116]

I really like today's free song by Counting Crows. I have never heard of them before, but I will be sure to get some more songs by them. :)

[ftaok]

I think the Counting Crows tune was off the Shrek 2 Soundtrack. Maybe they are pushing the Soundtrack?I kinda wondered why they chose a song off the Shrek 2 soundtrack. Shrek 2 is by Dreamworks which is a competitor to Pixar.

[ftaok]

I think it was kind of like holding the carrot in front of the horse. iTunes 4.5 has more FairPlay protections and upgrades, so I guess by offering free songs only if you upgrade to 4.5 is a way to help slow down the current DRM stripping frenzy.Incidentally, I was able to DL the Foo Fighters song with iTunes 4.2. I downloaded that and two songs with my last 2 Pepsi credits before installing iTunes 4.5.

So has anyone else tried downloading a free song without using 4.5?

[Potus]

:) The selections are varied. Today, for example, ITMS is featuring Reneé Fleming, one of the greatest sopranos of our time. ITMS is showing that people who like all kinds of music can find their genre on iTunes. It also gives all of us a chance to "test the water."

Big thumbs up.

[gobi]

Man, is this another USA & Canada only thing? When I try to download this free song iTunes crashes time after time.

(I updated iTunes & Quicktime, so this should be ok)

You just fill in the form and click the no-creditd-card button. I downloaded 3 free songs so far mostly to tryout the iTMS.

[Tomaz]

I really like today's free song by Counting Crows. I have never heard of them before, but I will be sure to get some more songs by them. :)

You better get some more Counting Crows, you have no idea what you have been missing up to now!!!!

[wdlove]

Today I noticed that they didn't change the free song till after noon EDT. Just downloaded "La Wally, Drama Lirica in Quattro Atti: Ebben? Ne Andrò Lontana" 5:05 London Philharmonic Orchestra, Renée Fleming & Sir Charles Mackerras Renée Fleming Nice to see that Steve is also offering some Classical Music.

[Doctor Q]

Today I noticed that they didn't change the free song till after noon EDT.Huh? I found it to be the opposite; this tune was available earlier than previous tunes, not later.

I was surprised to find that they posted it before midnight last night (Monday night Tuesday morning) Pacific time. I had Renée Fleming's tune downloaded before it was technically Tuesday here. That wasn't the case Sunday night, when the Counting Crows tune wasn't available until after midnight. It was still the Jane's Addiction tune as Monday changed to Tuesday here.

Edit: For those who didn't spot it before, there's a list of the freebie songs in the first post here, updated as each one becomes available.

[Multimedia]

This seems to be a DAILY FREE download instead of weekly. I'm up to 8 downloads now and it changed again today. So I am not sure it is a weekly deal. Maybe it was so successful at selling more iTunes that they decided to go daily?

[Doctor Q]

No, they just kicked off their free weekly iTune program with an initial week of free daily iTunes. It was nice of them to do this, but it also confused a lot of people.

I wonder if anybody other than Apple will report who the next artist will be each week, before it appears in the iTMS on Tuesday.

[Multimedia]

No, they just kicked off their free weekly iTune program with an initial week of free daily iTunes. It was nice of them to do this, but it also confused a lot of people.

I wonder if anybody other than Apple will report who the next artist will be each week, before it appears in the iTMS on Tuesday.
Yes that is what I thought too. But today another NEW different FREE song appeared. They may have changed the plan.

[Elan0204]

Today's free song, by Crea, is just the first "free weekly single." I bet this one will be available until Tuesday, May 11, when the next weekly single will be available. That will start the cycle of free music Tuesdays, with a new song each Tuesday.

[latergator116]

Today's free song, by Crea, is just the first "free weekly single." I bet this one will be available until Tuesday, May 11, when the next weekly single will be available. That will start the cycle of free music Tuesdays, with a new song each Tuesday.

I just noticed this too. I thought they were going to advertise it on their main page like they did with the others.