01 KART-WM 2012 Christian Langos aus Essen - Oberhausen <br />Apple’s iTunes music store hit its 25 billionth download – equal to selling more than three songs for every person on Earth – and on Wednesday gave the German student who bought the track a gift card worth 10,000 euro. <br /><br />Economics student Phillip Luepke, 22, of Hanover, Germany, downloaded the techno song “Monkey Drums (Goksel Vancin Remix)” by British DJ Chase Buch, hitting the number a decade after the online music store debuted. <br /><br />“I was very surprised to hear the news,” Luepke told Reuters by phone from his home in Germany. <br /><br />“I woke up this morning and had an email from Apple saying I had the 25 billionth download,” he said. “In fact, I didn’t quite believe it at first. It’s a new feeling for me.” <br />Luepke, who is currently studying for exams, said he came across the song at a disco last Saturday night. <br /><br />He used the song-identification smartphone application Shazam to look up its name, after which he downloaded “Monkey Drums” the following evening. <br /><br />Luepke, who will celebrate over a few beers with friends, said he is not sure how he will spend the gift certificate, but he is confident that his music and movie collection will grow. <br /><br />Cupertino, Califoria-based Apple launched the iTunes store in April 2003 and has averaged about 15,000 songs downloaded each minute. The store has a catalog of more than 26 million songs in 119 countries.
