Apple Announces Winner of 10 Billion Song Contest

MacRumors · Feb 25, 2010

Apple today announced that its iTunes Store has reached the significant milestone of 10 billion songs downloaded, as we noted yesterday. The company also revealed that the winner of its "Countdown to 10 Billion Songs" contest is Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia, who purchased "Guess Things Happen That Way" by Johnny Cash to push Apple to the milestone. Sulcer will receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

"We're grateful to all of our customers for helping us reach this amazing milestone," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services. "We're proud that iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs is truly staggering."

Apple notes in the press release that the iTunes Store currently offers a catalog of over 12 million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 movies including over 2,500 in high definition.

Article Link: Apple Announces Winner of 10 Billion Song Contest

HyperX13 · Feb 25, 2010

Johnny Cash rocks!!! That is all I have.

Robert M. · Feb 25, 2010

Congrats to him! Hopefully he doesn't spend it all in one place...wait...

Sky Blue · Feb 25, 2010

Glad someone with taste won.

VenusianSky · Feb 25, 2010

So if the winner was the person that purchased the 10 billionth song, what was the purpose of having a 25 limit per day entry?

840quadra · Feb 25, 2010

Yuck on the song, but contrats to the winner

.

rdowns · Feb 25, 2010

Poor guy wakes up to a $3,000 tax bill.

millertime021 · Feb 25, 2010

Wow it wasn't a rap song that won? Crazy.

Congrats, but good luck with the taxes on that thing.

millertime021 · Feb 25, 2010

VenusianSky said:
So if the winner was the person that purchased the 10 billionth song, what was the purpose of having a 25 limit per day entry?

So when it got close, someone (who had some money) wouldn't go buy $2000 worth of music to win $10000.

But realistically, it didn't matter much anyway.

ghostface147 · Feb 25, 2010

Glad to hear that The Man in Black is what won this contest...

miles01110 · Feb 25, 2010

Apple is getting cheap. The prize for 1 billion was better

Alex Ostrovsky of West Bloomfield, Michigan, bought the billionth song, "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay.[42] He later got a call from Steve Jobs with the good news that the sixteen-year-old was getting ten iPods, an iMac, a $10,000 music gift certificate, and a scholarship established in his name at the Juilliard School.

LEStudios · Feb 25, 2010

millertime021 said:
Wow it wasn't a rap song that won? Crazy.

Congrats, but good luck with the taxes on that thing.

I thought I did I bought Eminem Relapse: Refill about that same time.

Schtumple · Feb 25, 2010

miles01110 said:
Apple is getting cheap. The prize for 1 billion was better

Everything is realative.

Music Labels See Slower iTunes Sales Growth in Wake of Price Increases

mekopolis · Feb 25, 2010

They Spelled my name wrong, and i don't live in Georgia...this is awkward

well, at least i don't have to pay all those taxes

kirky29 · Feb 25, 2010

Congratulations to them!

I'm glad someone won with a great Taste in Music! Better than some RAP/HIP-HOP CRAP

BillyBobBongo · Feb 25, 2010

Bugger, it was suppose to be me! I demand a recount!

slapppy · Feb 25, 2010

If its a "gift", does it make a difference with the tax implications?

willmtaylor · Feb 25, 2010

rdowns said:
Poor guy wakes up to a $3,000 tax bill.

No kidding. My thoughts exactly.

byke · Feb 25, 2010

Just out of interest, is this a contest only for americans?

It seems it has been an american both times, and given the amount of songs sold from worldwide stores it seems questionable.

miles01110 · Feb 25, 2010

byke said:
Just out of interest, is this a contest only for americans?

It seems it has been an american both times, and given the amount of songs sold from worldwide stores it seems questionable.

The contest entry rules varied by country. Obviously in those countries where the iTunes store isn't allowed, entries were not possible.

MrCrowbar · Feb 25, 2010

kirky29 said:
Congratulations to them!

I'm glad someone won with a great Taste in Music! Better than some RAP/HIP-HOP CRAP

Word! I wish it was one of my iTunes releases though. Hello, free advertising.

rdowns · Feb 25, 2010

byke said:
Just out of interest, is this a contest only for americans?

It seems it has been an american both times, and given the amount of songs sold from worldwide stores it seems questionable.

Nope.

Chupa Chupa · Feb 25, 2010

slapppy said:
If its a "gift", does it make a difference with the tax implications?

if it's a gift there is no tax on the first $11K, but only individuals and married couples can gift to other individuals so moot point. This is a prize won in a contest so its considered income and taxable at whatever the winners tax rate is. The tragedy would be if this $10K prize bumped him up to the next bracket.

BTW no one noted the irony of the winning song title.

NeverhadaPC · Feb 25, 2010

They are sour, said the fox about the grapes.

You tax the cash-value of the giftcard. In this case, the case value of the gift is specified by apple to be 1/100 of a dollar (i.e. 1 cent). Yes, he will have to pay taxes... on one cent (or worst case on 100 dollars, if they count it as 1 cent per dollar)

At worst he will pay 14 dollars for a 10,000 dollar gift card. Not too shabby. That is front-page on slickdeals.net for sure

SkippyThorson · Feb 25, 2010

Johnny Cash, amen! The day after the American 6 release too.

Good for the Man In Black, and finally, a winner with taste!

Apple Announces Winner of 10 Billion Song Contest

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