US computer giant Apple says a billion songs have been downloaded from its iTunes Music Store.
Apple launched iTunes in the United States in April 2003.
The service is now available in 21 countries, reaching an estimated 85 per cent of the global music market.
The site makes songs available for download for 79p per song.
The music fan who downloaded the billionth song won a new 20-inch iMac, ten 60GB iPods, and a $10,000 iTunes Music Card.
Apple has not released details about the name of the lucky downloader or the title of the one billionth song.
The 500 millionth song, Faith Hill's Mississippi Girl, was purchased last July by Amy Greer from Indiana.
She received 10 iPods, an iTunes gift card for 10,000 songs and four tickets to see Coldplay on their world tour.
The number of people visiting iTunes has increased dramatically over the past year.
Statistics gathered by market research firm Nielsen NetRatings shows that traffic to iTunes grew by 241 per cent in 2005.
Between December 2004 and 2005 the total number of unique users visiting the site increased from just 6.1 million to a whopping 20.7 million.
The figures mean that iTunes now reaches about 14 per cent of the active internet population.
The success of iTunes can be attributed to the growing popularity of Apple's iconic iPod family.
Apple has sold over 35 million iPods since their introduction in October 2001, making it the most widely used digital music player on the market.
During the last three months of 2005, the company sold 14 million iPods alone, a year-on-year rise of 207 per cent.
Apple has even teamed up with Motorola to offer an iTunes compatible mobile phone.
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