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Apple passes 600 million iTunes Music Store songs sold milestone

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 · 1:34 pm · 28 Comments

“Apple’s biggest competitors in the digital music downloading market are illegal music file-sharing services such as Kazaa and BitTorrent, said iTunes vice president Eddy Cue,” Munir Kotadia reports for CNET News. “Cue said that none of the other 20 countries where Apple has launched an online music store had previously established a strong legal market for music downloading. ‘We have now sold over 600 million songs worldwide and have nearly 80 percent market share in most of the countries we are in,’ said Cue. ‘This is our 21st time and I will say that there is no place that we have ever launched where music downloads have been strong prior to us.’”

Full article here.

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Apple most likely passed the 600 million mark quite some time ago (sometime in September?). Expect the “1 billion songs sold” to be next official announcement out of Apple. The now-passé 100 million milestones go by too quickly nowadays.

The Apple iTunes Music Store Milestones:
• October 25, 2005: Available in Australia.
• July 17, 2005: 500 million songs sold.
• May 10, 2005: 400 million songs sold. Custom stores for music fans in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
• January 24, 2005: 250 million songs sold.
• December 16, 2004: 200 million songs sold.
• December 2, 2004: Available in Canada.
• October 26, 2004: Available to music lovers in the European Union.
• October 14, 2004: 150 million songs sold.
• July 12, 2004: 100 million songs sold.
• June 15, 2004: Available in UK France Germany.
• April 28, 2004: 70 million songs sold.
• March 15, 2004: 50 million songs sold.
• December 15, 2003: 25 million songs sold.
• October 16, 2003: Available for windows. 13 million songs sold.
• September 8, 2003: 10 million songs sold.
• June 23, 2003: 5 million songs sold.
• May 14, 2003: 2 million songs sold.
• May 5, 2003: One million songs sold.
• April 28, 2003: Launched in United States.

More info about Apple’s iTunes Music Store here.

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Comment Feed

28 Comments

1 2 Next »

me

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 2:58 pm · Reply

It is very probably that the 600 M mark was met as long ago as this time last month. If it were met today, 10/25, as the announcement was made, it would be exactly 100 days since their last 1/2 B announcement, leading to a meger-for-Apple 100,000 songs per day. When the 500 M mark was reached 100 days ago today, the rate was 170,000 songs per day (also during heave promotion and iPod giveaway).

As a totally wild ass guess, I predict another 5 months, pegging the 1 Billionth song sold right around the end of March.

MDN word: trouble
MacMan

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 3:16 pm · Reply

I say late January or early February. Holiday sales of iPods will help fuel iTunes sales.
Marcie88

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 3:17 pm · Reply

the billionth download will happen in late january
jo jo the dancer

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 3:36 pm · Reply

1 billion on February 12th.

That’s right you read it here from the dancer first!
mugwump

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:05 pm · Reply

1 billion songs milestone on January 8, 2006. That is all for now.
No One

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:07 pm · Reply

Jo Jo, Go Johnny Jo Jo Jo!
MDN you FORGOT something!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:08 pm · Reply

MDN you forgot about itunes japan!
gwm

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:09 pm · Reply

and in Japan, even.

Ironically I just now got done watching a video from 2004 of the UK, France and Germany iTMS launch. Pretty good presentation, that. Very rewarding in retrospective 85 million tracks at that point.
You know...

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:10 pm · Reply

If this many songs are bought legally everyday, the recording industry needs to realize how much they’re losing everyday to illegal downloads.

With the Christmas iTunes gift cards, gifting music via iTMS and iPod sales w/ immediate must buy a song or two syndrome – I predict 1 billion no later than Jan 11th.
MCCFR

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:18 pm · Reply

Back on 18/07 – the 500 million milestone – Apple was shifting tracks at around 1.525 million/day.

Then, following the launch of iTMS Japan, there was the announcement that Apple had sold 1 million tracks in four days, implying that Apple was now moving 1.75 million tracks/day.

A recent article quoted an Apple VP – I think it was Cue – as saying that downloads were now running at 1.85 million downloads/day.

All of these random bits of intelligence indicate that Apple has now taken to sandbagging its numbers: Apple should have reached well above 650 million tracks by now (in fact, my estimates are that they are currently around the 678 million mark about now).

The release of iTMS Australia and the holiday quarter – with the new gift functionality – should see these figures rise to around two million tracks/day in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

As a result, Apple should achieve the 750 million mark in the first week of December, and go on to achieve the 1 billion tracks milestone in early April.
icantstandit

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:31 pm · Reply

“MDN word: trouble”

No offense to those who use this stuff, but WHY are you putting it in your posts? It adds no value, is not funny and, worst of all, it makes no sense. “trouble”? How does that relate to the article you’re commenting on.

Maybe I just don’t understand, but it just seems like it’s supposed to be humorous, but it really falls flat. Like a punchline but no joke to preclude it.

Yes, I’m fraying a bit at the edges as the end of the day approaches, but this really does annoy me for some reason.
Neil

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:33 pm · Reply

They’ll probably announce the 750M mark.
NewType

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:34 pm · Reply

“As a result, Apple should achieve the 750 million mark in the first week of December, and go on to achieve the 1 billion tracks milestone in early April.”

If they reach 1 billion in April, that would be quite a nice birthday announcement from Apple.
Geo

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 4:34 pm · Reply

I recently spent a week with my sister in Albuquerque and helped them install iTunes and an Airport Express to stream music to their home stereo.

They had many CDs, and set about importing everything onto a hard drive. In spite of this existing library, and several extensive discussions we’ve had about stealing music, my niece and nephew, and many, many students in both the high schools and junior highs in that city appear to be using the Limewire peer-to-peer file sharing system to illegally download commercial mp3 songs as well as those in the public domain. The kids burn CDs for one another without hesitation. Even one of their teenage friends who is the daughter of a local copyright attorney was using Limewire!

I had to explain peer-to-peer file sharing networks to this attorney, and break the news that her daughter (and my nephew and niece) were stealing commercial songs. Everytime my brother-in-law made them uninstall Limewire, they just waited a week and then surreptiously re-installed it after things died down. Free music is just irresistable to most average kids and they just don’t care if it is stealing.

The interesting thing was this: iTunes recognized and played Limewire Playlists.
Tempus Fugit

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 6:09 pm · Reply

Re: Magic Words…

icantstandit wrote:

“No offense to those who use this stuff, but WHY are you putting it in your posts? It adds no value, is not funny and, worst of all, it makes no sense.”

it’s a MDN thang. if we have to explain it….

MW: “nature”

“Apples are found in nature. Microsofts are found…. ?!”
BIll McFly

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 6:13 pm · Reply

“Maybe I just don’t understand, but it just seems like it’s supposed to be humorous, but it really falls flat.”

Yes, you don’t understand.

MDW = “cases”, as in head cases?
Carl

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 6:16 pm · Reply

Refresh my math please. Is a billion a thousand million, or a million million ?
jo jo the dancer

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 6:49 pm · Reply

to Carl:

a billion is a thousand million in the US

in the UK a billion is (or used to be) a million million (a trillion in the US).

and i want to refine my February 12th prediction to 0830 GMT, Feb 12, 2005.
josh

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 7:28 pm · Reply

The most likely fact is that Apple didn’t pass the 700M mark yet. Thus, the “over 600″.
Pretty Funny

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 7:53 pm · Reply

MW: icantstandit

“icantstandit when people just don’t get something…are frazzled at the end of a busy day…and then decide to take it out on those who do get it.”

icantstandit:

I’m just messing with your head. I do agree that many times the magic word thing is pretty lame, but every so often there are some good ones.

——————-

By the way, the “MDN Magic Word” is what you were forced to type in order to get your post to…welll…post.

For example, I had to type in “instead” on a text field before I clicked on the “Submit” button in order for this post to be…well…posted. Every person gets a different magic word. So if I did a “MDN Word” with “instead” it might not mean anything to you since you did not get that same word when you posted.

——————–
Less is More

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 9:19 pm · Reply

He’s right that the MW [trouble] didn’t fit the post. It’s supposed to have at least some minor connection to be worth mentioning.
Keith in Japan

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 10:01 pm · Reply

MDN magic word: “Showed”
Keith in Japan

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 10:02 pm · Reply

MDN magic word: “inside”
Keith in Japan

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 10:03 pm · Reply

See, using the MDN magic word, I can post even if I don’t have anything to say! Isn’t that what MDN is all about?

MDN magic word: “street”
Carl Hajduk

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 10:49 pm · Reply

MDN magic word “post”

sorry, I could not help my self with that one