iTunes Hasn't Offered Free Songs Since Apple Music Launched on June 30

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Outside of a one-month hiatus in January 2015, Apple has offered a wide range of songs through its weekly "Free on iTunes" program since April 2004, but for the last two weeks, the company has released no free tracks. The last free iTunes release was on June 30, 2015, as tracked by MacRumors forum volunteers, coinciding with the launch of Apple Music in over 100 countries.

freeonitunes-800x366.jpg

Apple has since removed the "Free on iTunes" graphic from the iTunes Store homepage, and set prices on songs that were kept free even after their weekly promotions ended, leading to speculation that free songs may no longer be offered now that unlimited streaming is available through Apple Music for a fixed monthly price. Apple Music costs $9.99 per month after a free three-month trial period.

It would not be entirely surprising if Apple shuttered the program, whether temporarily or permanently, but no official announcement has been made. A link to the "Free on iTunes" section remains accessible on the righthand side of the iTunes Store, where Apple continues to offer other free content, including movies, TV shows, apps, books and podcasts, in the United States.

Thanks to MacRumors forum members Doctor Q and JamesMike!

Article Link: iTunes Hasn't Offered Free Songs Since Apple Music Launched on June 30
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/14/no-free-itunes-songs-since-apple-music-debut/
GenesisST said:
I use to download these religiously. Made a few interesting discoveries, but now I have a library that is polluted with lots of crappy one song artists...

Edit: at least I don't use my library that much anymore since end of June...
Click to expand...
Hide the music you don't want to see
 
GenesisST said:
I use to download these religiously. Made a few interesting discoveries, but now I have a library that is polluted with lots of crappy one song artists...

Edit: at least I don't use my library that much anymore since end of June...
Click to expand...
I do, unfortunately.
 
People need to stop being cheap and want every damn thing for free always. Suck it up and pay $10 a month and now you can stream or download millions of songs. I'm glad they did this.
 
Before the cut-off I had posted over 300 free songs on this forum for the year. One of the benefits for me was being exposed to music I would not normally listen too. Some of it was fine, some was not.
 
GenesisST said:
I use to download these religiously. Made a few interesting discoveries, but now I have a library that is polluted with lots of crappy one song artists...

Edit: at least I don't use my library that much anymore since end of June...
Click to expand...

Delete the music you don't want from your library, but not your hard drive.
 
Kinda sad to see this go. I found a couple good artist from there that I still follow to this day. I still don't like paying for a streaming service, because if I ever cancel it there goes all the music I downloaded. At least with buying the songs from iTunes I can keep a copy on the computer that is licensed to me.

FWIW, I keep a very tight library though. I have been buying from iTunes for a decade and only amassed 1000 songs. I never really bought CDs either, but when I got my first iPod (a decade ago) what I did have (and still have) I put into iTunes.
 
Glad to see I'm not the only one who noticed it hasn't been updated in a few weeks.

I really hope it stays around though, I enjoyed getting the free songs from iTunes, and have for the past bunch of years, collecting cool songs from new artists, upcoming artists, and sometimes new songs by old favorite artists too.
 
MacRumors said:



Outside of a one-month hiatus in January 2015, Apple has offered a wide range of songs through its weekly "Free on iTunes" program since April 2004, but for the last two weeks, the company has released no free tracks. The last free iTunes release was on June 30, 2015, as tracked by MacRumors forum volunteers, coinciding with the launch of Apple Music in over 100 countries.

freeonitunes-800x366.jpg

Apple has since removed the "Free on iTunes" graphic from the iTunes Store homepage, and set prices on songs that were kept free even after their weekly promotions ended, leading to speculation that free songs may no longer be offered now that unlimited streaming is available through Apple Music for a fixed monthly price. Apple Music costs $9.99 per month after a free three-month trial period.

It would not be entirely surprising if Apple shuttered the program, whether temporarily or permanently, but no official announcement has been made. A link to the "Free on iTunes" section remains accessible on the righthand side of the iTunes Store, where Apple continues to offer other free content, including movies, TV shows, apps, books and podcasts, in the United States.

Thanks to MacRumors forum members Doctor Q and JamesMike!

Article Link: iTunes Hasn't Offered Free Songs Since Apple Music Launched on June 30
Click to expand...

Apple started dropping free Songs of the Week back in January. They disappeared from the Canadian store back then. If the US still had it, then count your blessings.. that was 24+ free songs that Apple gave away. :p
 
Well I'll be, There was a free songs section in iTunes, shows how much I've used iTunes lol
 
Use Spotify, YouTube or whatever for free music. It's not like it's now impossible to listen to a free song every week.
 
GenesisST said:
I use to download these religiously. Made a few interesting discoveries, but now I have a library that is polluted with lots of crappy one song artists...

Edit: at least I don't use my library that much anymore since end of June...
Click to expand...

Yeah, libraries, I used to have a nice, well maintained one of them until I switched "iCloud Music" on.
 
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