25 billion songs downloaded on iTunes, and counting

On Wednesday, iTunes rolled over another milestone in digital music — hitting 25 billion song downloads since it opened up shop as an online music store in April 2003.

Apple likes to mark these landmarks:

• 1 billion songs sold: Feb. 23, 2006.
• 5 billion songs sold: June 19, 2008.
• 10 billion songs sold: Feb. 25, 2010.
• 40 million apps downloaded: Jan. 17, 2013.
• 15,000 songs downloaded every minute: Feb. 6, 2013.

The numbers certainly indicate our ever-accelerating acceptance of digital music, as well as Apple's continuing dominance in the realm of digital gadgets.

What was the 25 billionth song downloaded? It was a little ditty called Monkey Drums (Goksel Vancin Remix) by London actor-turned-DJ Chase Buch. Phillip Lupke of Germany downloaded Buch's song and — naturally — won a 10,000-euro ($13,470 Cdn) gift card from iTunes.