Apple today announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded over 10 billion songs from the iTunes Store (http://www.itunes.com/, the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store. Apple has 70% of digital music market and 25% of total music market.
The 10 billionth song, “Guess Things Happen That Way” by the late Johnny Cash, was purchased by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia. As the winner of the iTunes Countdown to 10 Billion Songs, Louie will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card. iTunes is the number one music retailer in the world and features the world’s largest music catalog with over 12 million songs.
“We’re grateful to all of our customers for helping us reach this amazing milestone,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services.“We’re proud that iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs is truly staggering.”
Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" is officially the site's most downloaded track.
Their single Boom Boom Pow is the third biggest seller with Lady Gaga taking the number two slot with Poker Face.
The iTunes Store has a catalog of over 12 million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 movies including over 2,500 in stunning high definition video. "With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online," the company said.
Peter Kafka on All Things Digital says:"Even at today’s hyper volume, the digital store is still running at 'a bit over break-even,' the company reminded analysts during its earnings call last month.."
Apple owns 70% of the digital market and market research company NPD said it had reached 25% of the total music market in the US in 2009, as customers continue to move away from physical CD sales in favour of digital distribution.
As the music industry shut its eyes to the impact of the online sector, Apple's Steve Jobs was working on overtaking Sony's lead in mobile music, withthe then popular Walkman, challenging it with what transpired to be the phenomenally successful iPod digital music player.
iTunes' top 25 most downloaded songs
1 Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
2 Lady Gaga - Poker Face
3 Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
4 Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
5 Coldplay - Viva La Vida
6 Lady Gaga, Just Dance
7 Flo Rida - Low
8 Taylor Swift - Love Story
9 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
10 Kesha - Tick Tock
11 Rihanna - Disturbia
12 Pink - So What
13 Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl
14 Beyonce - Single Ladies
15 Katy Perry - Hot N Cold
16 Kanye West - Stronger
17 TI feat. Rihanna -Live Your Life
18 Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
19 Flo Rida - Right Round
20 Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA
21 Journey - Don't Stop Believin'
22 Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
23 Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
24 Owl City - Fireflies
25 The Fray - How to Save a Life