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They are probably sick of having to be insulted for giving out some little things for free.

I walked down the road randomly squirting mustard into people's faces. Can you believe how ungrateful and rude they were not to say thanks. I mean, everyone likes mustard don't they? How dare they insult my generosity !
 
It's not being 'dropped'.

It's just being rebranded into a new Music offering through their Beats platform. You will once again get 'free' singles, however it will be done through their Beats promotion. Just be patient until Apple roles this out.

I'm only in my 20s and I hate the way "times are a changing". I don't wanna switch to streaming :(
 
Definitely a shame. I stopped going for the free Single of the Week years ago but in 2006-2007 some songs were really neat and lead me onto buying albums.

Ho hum!
 
I surprisingly haven't heard about this and i had the iPod touch v1, and the iPhone 2g
 
While I agree that their prices are higher, I have not heard that they started forcing people to buy their products nor prevented anybody from buying from anywhere else they feel it's cheaper.

This is a business to them and giving away free stuff here and there is already considered customer appreciation.

I wouldn't mind getting free iPhones or iMacs from them, though :p

I know they do not force users to use their services. I presume that was tongue-in-cheek :D

I'm not asking for free stuff, just competitive pricing. The 12 days of Christmas was just an example. I downloaded the 12 days last year and plucked some things out of there.

I have no gripes paying for useful apps but the music/movie/tv show prices are too expensive and not competitive.
 
The U2 free song was my one and old experience with free songs... Never again. Then Tim felt the need to go and automatically put it on my iphone. Thanks.


Tim didn't automatically put it on your phone. Tim put it in your purchases. If you had show iCloud music or automatically download purchased music turned on, then thats how it got on your phone.
 
I'm only in my 20s and I hate the way "times are a changing". I don't wanna switch to streaming :(

You don't have to :) I have no plans of ever switching to streaming (my taste is a little eclectic with lots of music that hasn't really been released, like game soundtracks), plus I'd rather have access to my music and playlists I've had for years. If Apple don't want to cater to me I'm sure someone else will.
 
I don't know if it's greed as much as licensing conditions. Still, I must admit that the Google Play store is often $5-$10 cheaper on TV seasons.

If it's licensing then Apple cut bad deals and somehow Google and Amazon were able to go in after Apple and cut better deals for their customers.

That could very well be true. At the time the licensing deals were made Apple had X many customers and were projected to have X many more whereas Google and Amazon had a far broader reach. I think Apple's reach and number of customers have grown to the point where some price cuts and better deals for the consumers is not too much to ask.

On top of the whole thing, Apple doesn't need 30% of each sale. If they make their money in hardware why do they need 30% of each sale through iTunes?

I have no problem paying for their hardware. My 6 year old MacBook is testament to their quality.
 
I don't know if it's greed as much as licensing conditions. Still, I must admit that the Google Play store is often $5-$10 cheaper on TV seasons.

yes, but the google play isn't HD like iTunes is.... it may say HD, but its only 480 compared to 1080p on iTunes... just my 2 cents.
 
I liked the promotion in principle but quite honestly, I can't remember the last time I actually downloaded one of the free tracks and had honestly kinda forgotten about it.
 
There is always Amazon with not only a free single of the week but several free albums every day and some by known artists as well as samplers from up and coming acts and labels.

Never bothered with iTunes after the novelty wore off. Several years ago.
 
No 12 days of Christmas. Not a huge deal but no real explanation behind it.

Check out some of the content that has been in 12 days 2013 and you might understand the reason.

People were rating these apps/movies/books/songs with 1 star because they didn't like them.

I think that entitlement mentality is what has killed these promotions.
Getting free stuff is no longer enough. It must be exactly what you want.
 
Duh, this is because they are about to drop a huge update to music/store with a new subscription service. Supposedly out early this year. Not really some big surprise.

Remember that Beats deal???
 
I quit when they stopped emails

I used to pick the free singles regularly because I'd read about them in the weekly iTunes email. I also got into several new bands and artists because I liked their single.

When the emails stopped, I didn't make the jump to digging for them in the store.
 
I walked down the road randomly squirting mustard into people's faces. Can you believe how ungrateful and rude they were not to say thanks. I mean, everyone likes mustard don't they? How dare they insult my generosity !

Mustard in your face? A little dramatic, don't you think. Can't please everybody, I suppose.
 
It's been awhile since I downloaded these regularly, but through the years (especially the early days of iTunes store), some of the ones I've enjoyed were:

Annie Lennox - Pavement Cracks (Gabriel & Dresden Mixshow Edit)
Renée Fleming - La Wally, Drama Lirica in Quattro Atti: Ebben? Ne Andrò Lontana
Snow Patrol - Run
Jem - They
Phoenix - Everything Is Everything
Future Leaders of the World - Let Me Out
The Rasmus - In the Shadows (Radio Edit)
Rogue Wave - Kicking the Heart Out
Abdel Wright - Quicksand
Alih Jey - Al Verte Partir
Teitur - Sleeping with the Lights On
Beth Waters - Sweaters
Chris Glover" - Stand On Your Seat (Lord-Alge Mix Short)
Polly Paulusma - She Moves In Secret Ways
Eldar Djangirov - Watermelon Island
Flipsyde - Someday
Tyler Hilton - When It Comes
tobymac - Gone
Moby - Hotel Album Sampler
Low Millions - Eleanor
Ellie Lawson - Gotta Get Up from Here
Death Cab for Cutie - Title and Registration
Tegan and Sara - Walking With a Ghost
Bright Eyes - When the President Talks to God
Blue Merle - Every Ship Must Sail Away
Scissor Sisters - Laura
Features - Blow It Out
Dolly Parton - Travelin' Thru​

There were probably more, but those stand out as I scan through the lists. I didn't dig everything they put out but I was always appreciative, and I did hear a lot of things that I really liked and never would have come across otherwise.

Also I'd add a couple that I think were free but I don't see them on the lists:
Asobi Seksu - Thursday
Alias & Tarsier - Dr. C
Cities of Foam - Out of Reach
 
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I got a lot of good songs I wouldn't have otherwise through this program. Perhaps more importantly for Apple, it often led to me browsing and buying more. T'was a good program.
 
Heh, I haven't gotten a free single in years but I have a few that I really like and still listen too.

I still remember though, once of the first (it think it was my third) free music video I got was one Justin Bieber's music videos when he first started. Didn't sound so bad then, I always think it's humorous to see how he went from the free artist on iTunes to what he is (was?) now. Granted it seems he's fading, thank goodness...

I remember downloading Bestia - Hello Seahorse! while at the Apple Store around the same time, good song. Took it forever to download on my second gen iPod touch.

Oh the memories!
 
will miss it

it's a nice way to discover new songs. I have quite a few in my personal "rotation" that were free singles I'm sure I would have never discovered otherwise.
 
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