After axing the iTunes Single of the Week promotion, Apple has now launched ‘Free On iTunes’ to give out more freebies.
Since 2004, Apple has generously been giving out free music to its users. Once a week, at least one new single would be available for the price of nothing as part of their iTunes Single of the Week promotion. Songs from artists like James Blunt, Drake, The All-American Rejects and 30 Seconds To Mars were all offered at one point.
But iTunes Single of the Week came to a surprising end in the middle of January, 10 years after it began. At the time, no word was given as to why Apple had axed the service and it seemed especially baffling as the company is becoming more focused on the music side of its business, having purchased headphone maker Beats by Dre for $3 billion back in 2014.
In the wake of the iTunes Single of the Week promotion, Apple has now decided to replace it. In a surprise move for the company, Apple has now introduced ‘Free On iTunes’ which will offer even more free goodies than before.
Unlike iTunes Single of the Week, the Free On iTunes section of the store will provide TV shows in addition to music. And on top of that, the music offered extends to more than just a lone single, with over a dozen free tracks being offered as of the time of writing.
Some examples of free tracks are Flower by Cody Simpson, Pacifier by Catfish and the Bottlemen and Breathe by Anima! None of the other tracks (there are currently 12 on offer) are by particularly big names either but the idea here is to drum up interest and give us new artists to listen to rather than to give us free music from artists that we already spend money on. Some examples of free TV shows include the pilot episodes of Better Call Saul and Fresh Off the Boat, which both recently debuted. Plenty of people are excited about those shows, so you can’t really go wrong there.
Unfortunately, Free On iTunes only appears to be available in the United States but as the previous promotion was supported globally (including in Brazil and the UK) we expect it to roll out there soon. We’ll keep you posted.
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