A pple announced yesterday that there have been more than 25 million songs downloaded from the iTunes Music Store (iTMS). According to Apple, the 25th million song was Frank Sinatrais version of "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" That song was downloaded on Friday.
Apple also announced that more than a million dollars in iTMS gift certificates and allowances have been purchased since their introduction on October 16th. "Allowances" allow parents to put money into an account for their kids to use to purchase songs without a credit card, while gift certificates are just what they sound like.
Whatis perhaps most important about this announcement, however, is the fact that Apple says it is seeing 1.5 million downloads per week from the iTMS. That pace not puts Apple on track to sell 75 million songs a year, it also puts Apple squarely in the lead in the battle for online music distribution. From Appleis press release:
"With over 25 million songs purchased and downloaded to date, the iTunes Music Store is hands-down the most successful online music store," said Steve Jobs, Appleis CEO. "Music fans are buying and downloading almost 1.5 million songs per week from the iTunes Music Store, which is a rate of 75 million songs per year."
You can find more information on the iTMS at Appleis Web site.