December 16, 2004: iTunes Sells 200 Millionth Song

iTunes milestones help Apple to reap free publicity whenever iTunes passes a large round number with plenty of zeros, and they also make excellent fodder for history projects, particularly in very slow months like December.

So it was that Apple announced that the iTunes store was selling music at an ever-increasing rate. It had taken the store a week to reach the millionth song sold, but ten months were needed before Apple moved 100 million songs and a mere 19 months before the store passed the 200 million milestone. Sales of iTunes songs were definitely accelerating when Apple announced users had purchased a fifth of a billion songs on December 16, 2004.