iTunes hits 25 million track downloads [Today in Apple history]

December 15, 2003: Nearly eight months after launching the iTunes Music Retailer, Apple celebrates its 25 millionth obtain.

The track in query? Appropriately sufficient for this time of yr, a Frank Sinatra cowl* of the Christmas basic “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”

iTunes: Probably the most profitable on-line music retailer

“With over 25 million songs bought and downloaded so far, the iTunes Music Retailer is hands-down the most profitable on-line music retailer,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs mentioned in an announcement on the time. “Music followers are shopping for and downloading virtually 1.5 million songs per week from the iTunes Music Retailer, which is a price of 75 million songs per yr.”

Jobs’ forecasts proved extremely correct. By the next July, Apple bought its 100 millionth track, Zero 7’s “Somersault (Dangermouse remix),” bought by Kevin Britten from Hays, Kansas.

As we speak, iTunes has bought billions and billions of songs, though downloads have been eclipsed by streaming companies like Apple Music and Spotify.

iTunes Music Retailer in 2003

The iTunes Music Retailer circa 2003 provided what appears as we speak a relatively paltry music catalog “of greater than 400,000 songs,” priced at 99 cents every. These got here from all 5 main document labels and greater than 200 unbiased labels.

Apple additionally celebrated promoting greater than $1 million value of iTunes on-line reward certificates and top-up allowances since introducing them a few months earlier in October.

What was your first iTunes track obtain? Go away your feedback beneath.

* On the danger of being persnickety, Apple’s press launch claims that the “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” obtain was a model by Frank Sinatra. Whereas Sinatra did document a Might 1950 model of the track, which appeared on the 2002 Christmas With the Rat Pack album, the much more well-known model was sung by Sinatra pal and stablemate Dean Martin. Undecided if Apple made a mistake right here!