It's Been 22 Years Since Apple Launched the iTunes Store

On April 28, 2003, Apple introduced the iTunes Store, its iconic digital marketplace for downloading music. 22 years later, most of us don't purchase songs and albums individually anymore, and the iTunes Store doesn't exist as it once did, but played a major role in Apple history.

iTunes 22nd Anniversary Feature

Early Years

When it launched, the iTunes Store was only for the Mac, but it expanded to Windows PCs before the end of 2003. It was a one-stop shop for music that could be loaded onto an iPod, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs inked deals with a number of different record labels to get it up and running.

In the first 18 hours following the launch of the iTunes Store, Apple sold ~275,000 tracks, with songs priced at $0.99 at the time. Less than a week after launch, Apple sold 1 million songs, and at the two week mark, Apple was at 2 million songs sold.

By 2008, five years after the iTunes Store launched, Apple's iTunes Store was the biggest music vendor in the United States. In 2010, it was the largest music seller in the world, bringing in over a billion dollars.

Pricing

The iTunes Store sold songs for $0.99 in the United States, though some were more expensive at $1.29. Albums were priced at $9.99 by default, but distributors were able to set higher prices. Apple regularly offered iTunes promotions, including weekly free songs.

Beyond Music

Before the App Store launched in 2008, the iTunes Store also housed apps, plus it was home to digital books before the launch of the iBooks Store. Apple also used the iTunes Store for distributing podcasts, TV shows, and movies.

The Rise of Streaming Music

In the 2010s, interest in streaming music started to pick up, cutting into music purchases. Streaming services like Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, and Pandora launched earlier in the decade, but more people became interested in streaming music when Spotify launched in the United States in 2011.

Beats Music launched in 2014, and was quickly purchased by Apple when Apple acquired the Beats brand. Apple ended up turning Beats Music into Apple Music, a Spotify competitor that launched on June 30, 2015. By 2016, just 24 percent of the music industry's revenue came from digital music sales, with streaming services bringing in over 50 percent of total revenue.

The iTunes Store Today

You'll still find the iTunes Store app on your iPhone, but it's a little harder to find on the Mac. It's available as a dedicated section in the Apple Music app for those who still purchase music.

TV shows and movies were split out into the TV app, while podcasts were split into the Podcasts app as part of changes made in macOS Catalina back in 2019. The Windows version of the iTunes Store stuck around longer, but in 2024, Apple launched dedicated ‌Apple Music‌, Apple TV, and Apple Devices apps for Windows users to replace iTunes.

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Top Rated Comments

sjsharksfan12 Avatar
22 weeks ago
I miss the original Itunes store. You had the free single of the week (A lot of it was no name artists, but there were some good ones, like Sarah Bareilles "Love Song" which became a hit) and trying to find the old .69 songs. A lot has changed, yes, but there was something Iconic about that era.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
211 Avatar
22 weeks ago
I still buy music, movies and TV shows from the Store. And I have  Music. I think more people would still buy from the store if it wasn’t buried and Apple still promoted it
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Marbles1 Avatar
22 weeks ago
Apple cheapened it by turning the iTunes experience for music into a generic streaming service, where Apple Music itself is a bit of an annoyance.

They took away the sense of 'having' an album. Of having your own collection, curated neatly. Coverflow showing album covers.

They should've kept the best bits of iTunes - they could have made it feel as if we actually owned or were at least _collecting_ music even if it was all provided through a subscription service. It'd make it more sticky.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mrkevinfinnerty Avatar
22 weeks ago
Such a great history with digital music. Shame they squandered this market with Apple Music.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
attohs Avatar
22 weeks ago
I remember tipping Pepsi bottles. You could tell which ones were winners before you bought them.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unity451 Avatar
22 weeks ago
This is the era that everyone learned to despise Lars Ulrich.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)