Apple has launched the Next Big Thing iTunes promotion, offering online digital music shoppers indie albums for $5.99 and 6.99 in standard or iTunes Plus unprotected formats. The promotional deal highlights various independent artists and bands that Apple believes could be soar up the charts. "Musical fads and bands that tap into the zeitgeist of the moment are hard to predict, if not impossible," writes Apple. "Who in their right mind could have guessed that a Modest Mouse album would debut at number one on the charts? Or that the White Stripes would become a gigantic rock band?" After traversing half the year Apple's iTunes is offering a selection of artists who the company thinks have the "true grit (or pure luck)" it takes to become the next big thing.