iTunes meets iBillion

Filed in archive Apple on February 23, 2006

Apple licensed-music service iTunes broke one billion songs sold three years after opening. Alex Ostrovsky from West Bloomfield, Michigan bought the billionth song and won a 20-inch iMac, 10 iPods, and a $10,000 iTunes Music Card.

"I hope that every customer, artist, and music company executive takes a moment today to reflect on what we've achieved together during the past three years," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Over one billion songs have now been legally purchased and downloaded around the globe, representing a major force against music piracy and the future of music distribution as we move from CDs to the Internet."

The announcement was met with a range of reactions. Apple's digital music success has made it a Wall Street darling and driven its personal computer sales. Competitors have not been able to cut into the company's market dominance. The major recording labels seek to take back power and change the company's flat dollar a song pricing. To consumer advocates Apple illustrates that digital music can be sold despite illicit P2P activity and that there is huge room for innovative marketing. At the same time many criticize the restrictive DRM packaging.

In comparison a few billion songs a month are downloaded over P2P networks.