Today in Apple history: iTunes hits 10 billion downloads
On February 23, 2010, the iTunes Store officially passed the 10 billion downloads mark. The 10 billionth download was a Johnny Cash song.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
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Today in Apple history: iTunes hits 10 billion downloads
By Luke Dormehl • 7:51 am, February 23, 2026
- Apple history
[Image: With iTunes 10 billion downloads milestone, Apple becomes the world's biggest music vendor.]
Apple becomes the world's biggest music vendor.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
[Image: February 23: Today in Apple history: iTunes hits 10 billion downloads]
February 23, 2010: The iTunes Store officially passes the 10 billion music downloads mark, reaching a major milestone. The 10 billionth purchase? “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash.
The buyer of the song in question is Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia. As part of a “Countdown to 10 Billion Songs” promotion by Apple, Sulcer wins a massive $10,000 iTunes Store gift card. He also receives a personal phone call from Apple CEO Steve Jobs for good measure!
iTunes hits 10 billion downloads
By the spring of 2010, Apple’s digital music marketplace had reshaped the global music business. In just under seven years, the iTunes Music Store had turned an ambitious fight against piracy into a cultural and commercial juggernaut.
Hitting (and celebrating) the 10 billion song milestone was more than a feel‑good promo. It highlighted Apple’s rapid rise to become the world’s largest music retailer. The company had proved that digital sales of a la carte tracks was the way of the future — at least until streaming came along.
#### A surprise call from Steve Jobs
Sulcer, the father of three and grandfather of nine who downloaded the 10 billionth track, later told Rolling Stone he was unaware of Apple’s highly publicized competition when he downloaded the track. He bought the song for a Johnny Cash mixtape he was making for his son.
When Steve Jobs personally phoned him to say he’d won, Sulcer initially didn’t believe the Apple co-founder was on the other end of the line.
“He called me and said, ‘This is Steve Jobs from Apple.’ I said, ‘Yeah right,'” Sulcer told the magazine. “I have a son that loves to play tricks and he does that every now and then — calls me and imitates somebody.”
After questioning the caller’s identity multiple times, Sulcer eventually noticed that the caller ID read “Apple.” Only then did he start to believe the call might be genuine.
#### iTunes downloads reach record-breaking numbers
February 2010 was a big month for the iTunes Store, as it officially became the largest music vendor worldwide.
The 10 billionth iTunes song download wasn’t the first sales landmark Apple celebrated extravagantly for its online music store platform, though. On December 15, 2003 — about eight months after the iTunes Music Store’s launch — Apple marked its 25 millionth download. The winner that time? A Frank Sinatra cover of the Christmas classic “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
Less than a year later, on July 12, 2004, Apple sold its 100 millionth song: Zero 7’s “Somersault (Dangermouse remix),” purchased by Kevin Britten from Hays, Kansas.
Like Sulcer, Britten received a $10,000 iTunes Store gift card and a personal phone call from Jobs. (Britten also won a 17-inch PowerBook.)
#### Apple clams up about stats
Today, Apple mostly avoids making a big deal out of its sales landmarks. It no longer reports individual iPhone sales. Even when Apple passed the 1 billionth iPhone sold, it did little to commemorate the occasion. (In 2023, Apple mentioned that its user base hit an astonishing 2 billion active devices, but that revelation came in a press release about quarterly earnings. That number has now risen to 2.5 billion-plus.)
The company also seems a bit shy on Apple Watch, Apple Music and other sales fronts. Same goes for viewership numbers for Apple TV+. Apple says it views this information as competitive — and doesn’t want to constantly one-up itself.
Do you remember what your first iTunes song purchase was? Leave your comments below.
Luke Dormehl
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
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[Original source](https://www.cultofmac.com/apple-history/itunes-music-store-10-billion-downloads)