Apple is singing merrily for iTunes, which recently crossed a mark of 1 billion songs purchased and downloaded from the iTunes store as of yesterday. Despite all the screaming from the industry about how people are nothing but pirates and no one will pay for songs legally online, Apple must be quite pleased with the stunning success iTunes has been. Jobs made a statement confirming his resolve to have the Internet be the next major distribution method as opposed to CDs:
"I hope that every customer, artist and music company executive takes a moment today to reflect on what we've achieved together during the past three years," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Over one billion songs have now been legally purchased and downloaded around the globe, representing a major force against music piracy and the future of music distribution as we move from CDs to the Internet."
ITMS, for all that can be said about it, good or bad, has done a great job of bringing a new-age distribution channel to entertainment, and has opened the door for many other companies to follow suit and provide similar services. Read the full press release for more details.