Sam Oliver
Ten years after giving away its first song, Apple has reportedly wound down the "Single of the Week" program that offered iTunes users a chance to download a free track from up-and-coming artists.
Apple previously updated the Single of the Week every Sunday, and questions about the future of the popular promotion began to circulate after a new single did not appear on the iTunes store earlier this month. One Apple forum member claims to have received confirmation of the campaign's cancellation from iTunes support, a report that was first noted by Business Insider.
If true, it would mark the end of one of Apple's longest-running promotional campaigns. Single of the Week began in August 2004, just over one year after the launch of what was then known as the iTunes Music Store, and was offered in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Germany.
Though there is no word on why Apple may have taken this action, shakeups in the company's iTunes team could be to blame. Notably, Apple brought in music industry heavyweights Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre with the acquisition of Beats Electronics, a move believed to be at least partially motivated by the need to keep pace with a marketplace that is shifting from music downloads to subscription-based streaming services.
The final single offered in the U.S. was Charlotte OC's Hangover. Customers in the U.K. received Rae Morris's Unguarded, while Canadian music fans could choose from Avicii's New Year's Eve Mix or Les Tireux d'Roches's Snowbird.
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28 Comments
First they stop 12 days of Christmas give away, Now this Looks like Apple needs the money...
When's the next billion download giveaway! Or maybe a 10 millionth iTunes Radio subscriber giveaway?
Sell the stock, Apple is doomed!
Honestly, I don't think I ever took advantage of this. And I've had an iPod since May 2005.
I never took advantage of this so do not care but....I would be curious if they are planning something better or would at least be curious why they took this action...
While this does seem to indicate a sad trend of Apple seemingly removing freebies I honestly can't remember the last time the single of the week was something I would have wanted to download even for free so from a personal point of view this is no great loss. It will be interesting to see if they have any replacement offers in the pipeline that are more in line with how people are using the store now.