Apple has announced that downloads in the iTunes Music Store have topped 25 million songs since it launched in April 2003. The 25 millionth song, purchased last Friday afternoon, was “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” by Frank Sinatra.
Apple also announced that over $1 million of iTunes online gift certificates and allowances have been purchased since the features were added to the iTunes Music Store on October 16, 2003.
“With over 25 million songs purchased and downloaded to date, the iTunes Music Store is hands-down the most successful online music store,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Music fans are buying and downloading almost 1.5 million songs per week from the iTunes Music Store, which is a rate of 75 million songs per year.”
The iTunes Music Store offers Windows and Mac users the same music catalog of more than 400,000 songs, the same “gold standard” personal use rights and the same 99 cents-per-song pricing. The second generation iTunes Music Store launched October 16 includes: online gift certificates for family and friends; Apple’s innovative and patent-pending online "Allowance" feature which allows parents to automatically deposit funds into their kids’ iTunes Music Store account every month; more than 5,000 audiobooks which can be purchased with one click and listened to on a Mac or Windows computer as well as on iPods; Celebrity Playlists; and new exclusive tracks from more than 60 artists. The iTunes Music Store offers music from all five major music companies and over 200 independent music labels.