Apple sells 3 billion songs via iTunes

Apple today announced that more than three billion songs have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store, making iTunes is the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store. The company's catalog features over five million songs, 550 television shows and 500 movies and iTunes recently surpassed Amazon and Target to become the third largest music retailer in the US, according to market research firm NPD. "We'd like to thank all of our customers who have contributed to this incredible milestone," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes.

On Tuesday, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs was recognized by the USA Today as the third most influential leader in the past 25 years--in part for his growing influence in the music industry, while on the same day, the company was hit by a lawsuit from Eminem's publisher for allegedly breaking copyrights by selling Eminem downloads that neither company authorized.

Filed under: industry
Other story tags: digital music/video