iTunes Billion songs countdown
Apple is counting down to the one billionth download from the
iTunes Music Store, and as is the tradition they are having a contest. The person that downloads the one billionth song
(- 1 20-inch iMac
- 10 60 gig iPods (5 white and 5 black)
- 1 $10,000 iTunes Music Card (in US dollars which is good for any kind of download).
But that's not all, starting at 950,100,000 Apple will be giving away the following for every 100,000th song:
- a 4 gig black iPod nano
- $100 iTunes Music Store card
Thanks, Aaron.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jacob Wilson said 2:10AM on 2-07-2006
WOW, no cheating out on the automatically-sent e-mails this time :-P
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ooda said 2:52AM on 2-07-2006
Does anyone get this when they try to enter?
"The MZFinance.MZAlternateEntryForm.Zip field must be at least 5 characters."
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ooda said 2:54AM on 2-07-2006
And I do realize that it's the zip code that is the problem, but I figured that because it's not only open for the US it wouldn't be a problem.
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Xenedar said 3:33AM on 2-07-2006
Yeah, I got that too. I had to pad my ZIP/Postcode with leading zeros. Basically, they require 5 digits, which isn't always correct. Perhaps localised pages under the local Apple websites (apple.com/au/ for example) will be forthcoming?
Do they realise they're counting *up* to one billion, not down? :)
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Piotr Malecki said 6:09AM on 2-07-2006
Please read the rules ppl, or your entries will be deemed invalid.
- If you don't live in the US, you CAN'T use the form on the www.apple.com site (you have to wait until your national Apple website has the form)
- You will have to pay taxes on your winnings (assuming 15% tax rate [Ontario, Canada], that's $53 USD for the iPod Nano prize and $2,400 USD for the grand prize) OUCH! (but still nice - the prizes)
- You cannot use any automated entry solution (a script)
- You have to "allow Apple to use the winners name, photography, likeness, voice, prize information, and biographical information for publicity and promotional purposes without further compensation where permitted by law."
- You have to allow Apple to interview you (don't know if this is a phone or email interview or whether they fly you somewhere)
- The winners will be contacted by email within 3 days (of winning) and must respond within 5 days (probably of receiving the email - although it might be of winning) Check your email at least once a day
As of this post there isn't a form on the Canadian website - YET.
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pdh1978 said 7:09AM on 2-07-2006
Piotr, try reading the rules more carefully:
"- If you don't live in the US, you CAN'T use the form on the www.apple.com site (you have to wait until your national Apple website has the form)" - Balls! Rule #4 says you should use the iTMS in your country of residence, it says nothing at all about the form.
Rule #5 only states you should use your own email address on the form.
Feel free to correct me though if I misread them!
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Aaron Yates said 7:13AM on 2-07-2006
Realistically speaking. There will not be 49 million downloads completed in this week...I figured you would want to know that.
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CJN said 8:59AM on 2-07-2006
I might be wrong, but with 50 million songs, at 1.5 song a second it would take about a full year before the billion-mark is reached. Just a calculation I thought I'd share.
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Piotr Malecki said 8:59AM on 2-07-2006
pdh1978: You're right about Rule #4 (in the iTunes Music Store there's a brushed metal counter which sends a link to your web browser telling it to go to the US Apple 1 Billion song countdown web site)
I just assumed that you had to enter on your national Apple web site, because the Music Store won't allow you to purchase songs from a foreign store.
BTW I'm trying to get the Free Download Single of the Week (on the Canadian ITunes Music Store) "El Torpedo - Time of Your Life (Til Your Dead)" and it's listing it as having a price of $0.99. Anyone (especially US residents - since they had free singles for a while) know why it doesn't say free (like most podcasts)?
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kevin said 10:27AM on 2-07-2006
i'd fill out the online form but i'm always (always always) wary of giving out personal info like this to companies (address and phone number especially). anyone got any valid reasons why i shouldn't be paranoid about this?
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amerob said 11:10AM on 2-07-2006
If you read the rules carefully, you'll note that "You will automatically be entered into the Promotion by: 1) downloading a song from iTunes (any music video or other video downloads and any free downloads will be deemed an ineligible entry)"
So, the original post that says downloading a video would qualify is sadly incorrect
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Alexander said 11:33AM on 2-07-2006
I don't get it. So you don't have to buy a song to win? So basicly somebody who didn't bought a song but filled in the form 25 times a day can win as "buyer of the 1 billion song"?
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Dan said 11:45AM on 2-07-2006
Kevin, Chances are if you're reading (and commenting on this site) then you've already provided Apple with your personal information (many times over) through the purchase of songs on iTunes, purchasing a hardware product of theirs or signing up for .Mac
Not saying you shouldn't be warry about providing info to companies in general, but in this case they prob. already have your info.
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David H said 12:24PM on 2-07-2006
Piotr,
That happens sometimes in the US iTMS too. In fact, when I checked this morning, ours said that as well. Give it a day or so and it should change to say Free. Hope that helps!
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Alan said 2:34PM on 2-07-2006
I wonder which music school they're talking about... (cough...cough...BERKLEE...cough...) damn, I should really get some Robitussin or something.
Anyway, Berklee makes all their new and returning students buy a $2500 Apple laptop package before starting classes, and there's not a single non-apple computer in any of Berklee's computer labs, synth labs, or recording studios, so it's about time Apple gave something back!
(oops, I forgot, I think they do have one old Gateway laptop there, but it's holding up a wobbly table in the cafeteria.)
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dre said 2:34PM on 2-07-2006
does anyone know if the counter to a billion is time accurate or if it's just an app?
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Jono said 5:08PM on 2-07-2006
It's just an app - try opening several windows/tabs in your browser and the values of the timer are different.
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Me said 7:44PM on 2-07-2006
To win through filling the forms, do you have to send the form as a song count is met to win (for example 999,100,000) or do they mix your entry in randomly?
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Ama said 10:43PM on 2-07-2006
Whoa, I can't imagine buying $10,000 of music.
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Kazaki said 1:23PM on 2-09-2006
Does buying an album count as 12 song purchases, or must each song be purchased one by one?
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