Zune Insider

Well, it’s over! The Mixview contest is officially done. It was my first time running a contest – I’ve mentioned before, I actually work on one of the software development teams, so something like this was completely new for me. So thanks for participating! All of your paths from one artist to the other were shorter than the path I originally found when I created each challenge, so it was really fun to see how artists are remotely related to one another.

So the final winner is Kaboomachu, who got from The Crystal Method to The Beatles in five steps. (The Crystal Method’s new album is pretty cool, and they’ll be here in Seattle doing a live set on May 30! Check it out!) Kaboomachu, shoot me an inbox message with your name and address and I’ll get your prize – the Zune Home A/V Kit – sent out to you.

I’m thinking about doing other contests in the future. If you’ve got ideas for them, let me know! Till then, thanks again!

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Well, this is it: our last Mixview contest. Hope you enjoyed it!

Last week’s contest – Depeche Mode to Bonnie Raitt – was won by beefyy, who got there in just four steps! Beefyy, send me (jetherealz) a Zune inbox message with your name and address and I’ll get your prize sent out to you.

For our finale, let’s go from The Crystal Method (which I’m going to get to see in a couple of weeks – doing a live show, not a DJ set!) to The Beatles.

As a reminder, here’s what you have to do to win the Zune Home A/V Pack*:

• You can use the Zune client software or the Zune web site – click “Mixview” when you’re on the starting artist
• You can click from the starting artist to any other artist or album that appears in Mixview – but NOT listeners (since listeners cards change)
• You have to submit your path to the “ZContest” account via a forums private message in the official Zune forums. No other method of submitting a path will be accepted!
• To do this, just go to forums.zune.net, search for a post by user “ZContest,” then click “Private Message” when you’re viewing the post.
• The artists will be announced on Zune Insider (here) every Monday at 10 a.m. PST

The contest closes each week at 5 p.m. PST on Friday – so your submission needs to be in the ZContest private message box by then.

* No purchase necessary. Open only to US residents 18+. Challenge ends May 15, 2009. See full rules for details.

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Oooh, interesting! There were no winners for the ”Rumors” edition last week, attempting to go from Lindsay Lohan to Fleetwood Mac! (And yes, it is possible; I always validate the path before posting the contest.)

So we’ve got two weeks of the contest left, and two more Zune Home A/V Packs to give away. So this week, let’s do  Depeche Mode – they’ve got a new album out – to Bonnie Raitt – because they seem musically really far apart, and I want to see how close you can make them!

As a reminder, here’s what you have to do to win the Zune Home A/V Pack*:

• You can use the Zune client software or the Zune web site – click “Mixview” when you’re on the starting artist
• You can click from the starting artist to any other artist or album that appears in Mixview – but NOT listeners (since listeners cards change)
• You have to submit your path to the “ZContest” account via a forums private message in the official Zune forums. No other method of submitting a path will be accepted!
• To do this, just go to forums.zune.net, search for a post by user “ZContest,” then click “Private Message” when you’re viewing the post.
• The artists will be announced on Zune Insider (here) every Monday at 10 a.m. PST

The contest closes each week at 5 p.m. PST on Friday – so your submission needs to be in the ZContest private message box by then.

* No purchase necessary. Open only to US residents 18+. Challenge ends May 15, 2009. See full rules for details.

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You know who’s been in the news a lot lately?

Lindsay Lohan. All these rumors and bits of gossip going on about her…yeah. She’s even got a song from her 2004 album called “Rumors.” Not much has changed in five years, I guess.

Or maybe it’s been even longer…I remember the album “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac from when I was a kid (1977). Now that’s a solid album. My parents played it all the time.

Oooh, another good song from my childhood! 1987′s “I Heard a Rumor” from Bananarama. They’re still around, you know – they released an album in 2008.

So for this week’s contest, let’s go from Lindsay Lohan to Fleetwood Mac, and if you happen to get Bananarama in there somehow, I’ll do an extra prize.

Last week’s contest – Jessica Simpson to Eminem – was won by Hello Cthulhu in 6 steps. Way to go!

As a reminder, here’s what you have to do to win the Zune Home A/V Pack*:

• You can use the Zune client software or the Zune web site – click “Mixview” when you’re on the starting artist
• You can click from the starting artist to any other artist or album that appears in Mixview – but NOT listeners (since listeners cards change)
• You have to submit your path to the “ZContest” account via a forums private message in the official Zune forums. No other method of submitting a path will be accepted!
• To do this, just go to forums.zune.net, search for a post by user “ZContest,” then click “Private Message” when you’re viewing the post.
• The artists will be announced on Zune Insider (here) every Monday at 10 a.m. PST

The contest closes each week at 5 p.m. PST on Friday – so your submission needs to be in the ZContest private message box by then.

* No purchase necessary. Open only to US residents 18+. Challenge ends May 15, 2009. See full rules for details.

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Have you heard Eminem’s new single, “We Made You?”

I really like it. So, for this week’s contest, let’s go Jessica Simpson to Eminem and see how far apart they really are!

And for last week, the winner who found the shortest path between Lady Gaga and James Brown was VTPlaya8701, who got there first in four steps. I’m really starting to believe this “six degrees of separation” thing.

As a reminder, here’s what you have to do to win the Zune Home A/V Pack*:

• You can use the Zune client software or the Zune web site – click “Mixview” when you’re on the starting artist
• You can click from the starting artist to any other artist or album that appears in Mixview – but NOT listeners (since listeners cards change)
• You have to submit your path to the “ZContest” account via a forums private message in the official Zune forums. No other method of submitting a path will be accepted!
• To do this, just go to forums.zune.net, search for a post by user “ZContest,” then click “Private Message” when you’re viewing the post.
• The artists will be announced on Zune Insider (here) every Monday at 10 a.m. PST

The contest closes each week at 5 p.m. PST on Friday – so your submission needs to be in the ZContest private message box by then.

* No purchase necessary. Open only to US residents 18+. Challenge ends May 15, 2009. See full rules for details.

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