iTunes Europe sales soar

Apple today announced that the European version of its sold more than 800,000 songs in its first week of operation. Apple touted the success of its industry-leading online music store against other music services, saying that music fans in the UK, France and Germany have purchased and downloaded more than sixteen times the music than Appe's nearest competitor, according to the press release: "After selling over 800,000 songs during its first week, iTunes is Europe's top online music store," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "In the UK alone, iTunes sold more than 450,000 songs in the last week -- 16 times as many as OD2, its closest competitor."

Exclusive tracks from leading worldwide artists including the Pixies, Alicia Keys, Anastacia and Herbert Gronemeyer have been among top selling artists during the store's first week. "By distributing our first new song in 13 years exclusively on iTunes, we were able to quickly and inexpensively make it available to millions of fans in the United States and Europe," said Ken Goes, manager of the Pixies. "One week after its release, we are thrilled at the response from iTunes users that have helped to make Bam Thwok a top seller across four countries."



Earlier this year, UK-based OD2 said it had sold one million downloads through its European retail partners during the first three months of 2004.

by MacNN Staff