10,000,000,000 and counting: 10billionth tune downloaded from Apple iTunes... by a 71-year-old man
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:59 PM on 26th February 2010
The 10 billionth song has been downloaded from Apple iTunes, just seven years after the online store shook up the flagging music industry.
The 10 billionth song - Johnny Cash's 'Guess Things Happen That Way' - was downloaded by 71-year-old Louie Sulcer in Woodstock, Georgia, U.S.
Apple has rewarded him with a $10,000 iTunes gift card.
An online counter of the popular music website read: '10 billion songs downloaded from iTunes. And counting' on Wednesday.
Tunes from The Black Eyed Peas came first and third in a list of the top songs on Apple iTunes. The list was released to mark the 10billionth download
ITUNES TOP 20 SONGS
1) I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas
2) Poker Face, Lady GaGa
3) Boom Boom Pow, Black Eyed Peas
4) I'm Yours, Jason Mraz
5) Viva la Vida, Coldplay
6) Just Dance, Lady GaGa
7) Low, Flo Rida
8) Love Story, Taylor Swift
9) Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis
10) Tik Tok, Keisha
11) Disturbia, Rihanna
12) So What, Pink
13) I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry
14) Single Ladies, Beyonce
15) Hot N Cold, Katy Perry
16) Stronger, Kanye West
17) Live Your Life, T.I
18) Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's
19) Right Round, Flo Rida
20) Party in the USA, Miley Cyrus
The California company behind the iPhone, iPod and Macbook series have promised a $10,000 iTunes gift card to the lucky customer who downloaded the 10-billionth song.
Apple has also provided a list of the all-time top 20 songs on iTunes to mark the occasion.
'I Gotta Feeling' by the Black Eyed Peas, which debuted in May 2009 topped the list, followed by Lady Gaga's electronic-inspired 'Poker Face.'
The iTunes Music Store had dominated the music download industry ever since its launch in 2003. This is because of the enormous popularity of Apple music devices such as iPods that automatically synced with the iTunes store.
Many iPod owners still do not realise they can buy cheaper music on websites other than iTunes, as most providers now don't use DRM (Digital Rights Management) to protect their tracks.
For instance Apple's top download from the Black Eyed Peas is 99p in the UK, but can be bought for 65p from play.com and 50p from 7digital.
iTunes has expanded over the years and now offers television shows, movies, audio books and podcasts.
Ten billion songs have been downloaded from the iTunes Store, an online digital media store which is owned by Apple Incorporated. Louie Sulcer, of Woodstock in Georgia, downloaded "Guess Things Happen That Way" by American musician, Johnny Cash, which became the ten billionth song downloaded from iTunes. Sulcer won an iTunes gift card worth US$10,000 (approximately £6,550 or €7,380), after purchasing a song on the iTunes Store to win the prize.

Beforehand, Apple had launched a competition entitled "Countdown to 10 Billion Song Downloads", where the person to make the ten billionth "entry" of a song from the iTunes Store would win the gift card. An "entry" could be created by either downloading a song from the iTunes store, or by filling in a form on the Apple website. 

The rules of the competition stated that "the downloading of the 10 billionth song is considered to be either the downloading of the 10 billionth song from iTunes or the receipt of the non-purchase entry after the download of the 9,999,999,999th song, whichever comes first." 
Below is a table of the twenty most downloaded songs of all time from Apple's iTunes Store. The list was initially placed on the website.





 Rank

 Song

 Artist



1

"I Gotta Feeling"

Black Eyed Peas



2

"Poker Face"

Lady Gaga



3

"Boom Boom Pow"

Black Eyed Peas



4

"I'm Yours"

Jason Mraz



5

"Viva la Vida"

Coldplay



6

"Just Dance" (feat. Colby O'Donis)

Lady Gaga



7

"Low" (feat. T-Pain)

Flo Rida



8

"Love Story"

Taylor Swift



9

"Bleeding Love"

Leona Lewis



10

"TiK ToK"

Ke$ha



11

"Disturbia"

Rihanna



12

"So What"

P!nk



13

"I Kissed a Girl"

Katy Perry



14

"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"

Beyoncé



15

"Hot N Cold"

Katy Perry



16

"Stronger"

Kanye West



17

"Live Your Life" (feat. Rihanna)

T.I.



18

"Hey There Delilah"

Plain White T's



19

"Right Round" (feat. Ke$ha)

Flo Rida



20

"Party in the U.S.A."

Miley Cyrus