Apple Holds iTunes Contest Marking 10 Billionth Download

Apple is holding a contest on iTunes called "Countdown to 10 Billion Song Downloads."

The user who downloads the 10 billionth song from iTunes will receive a $10,000 gift card from Apple.

"iTunes changed the way you buy music, making songs and albums available for download, day or night," Apple said.

"Seven years later, we're about to celebrate our biggest milestone for music, yet - 10 billion songs downloaded. Buy a song, and if it's the 10 billionth download, you could win a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card. It's our way of saying thanks."

Users will be automatically entered in the contest by downloading a song from iTunes Store or they have an option to enter the contest for free by filling out an online form.  Apple says the promotion is limited to 25 entries per day, per user.
 

 

iTunes Lets You See Previews Without the Download

Apple has launched iTunes Preview, which is a means of showing what music is available on iTunes right in the web browser. This seems like an incredibly obvious way to do it, and one that many have been waiting for way too long, but now if you want to look at the iTunes catalog, without having to install iTunes, you can do so.

You can't listen to song previews without installing iTunes, but at least you can see what they have. You do still have to download iTunes to purchase music.

According to MacWorld, the feature only works for music, but could probably be applied to video at some point. The feature can be accessed at the iTunes Charts page or clicking on a link from the music store.

When you go to a preview page, you can see information for the album like the track listing, the length, and the price. There are also reviews that you can read through.

If you go to the Charts page, you can search for other artists and songs and get to preview pages for those results. However, if you click on the link on the search results page that says "view more results in iTunes," it will take you to the iTunes download page (assuming you don't have it installed).

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