itunes 10 billion

Apple (AAPL) launched the iTunes Music Store in the U.S in April of 2003. By the end of the year, it had sold more than 25 million songs. By February 2006, that number had risen to one billion. Now, just four years later, it’s passed another landmark: 10 billion songs sold. Astonishing — more so, when you recall that it was just 18 months ago that Apple was crowing about crossing the five billion songs sold threshold.

“This has been the birth of legal downloading,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said of iTunes when it first launched in 2003. “We’re going to fight illegal downloading by competing with it. We’re not going to sue it. We’re not going to ignore it. We’re going to compete with it. With iTunes you’re supporting artists. You’re not stealing. It’s good karma.”

It’s good karma. Clearly, it has been that. Especially for Apple, which has used it to become America’s No. 1 music vendor in less than seven years.