(AFP PHOTO/OLIVER STRATMANN)

Downloader of the record-breaking track, Phillip Lüpke from Germany wins a €10,000 iTunes voucher for helping Apple hit its latest sales milestone of 25 billion songs.

iTunes has been nothing short of revolutionary since it launched in 2003 and over recent years has expanded to offer films and TV shows alongside singles and albums from established and unsigned bands. It is currently available in 119 countries worldwide.

Of hitting the milestone, Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Apple, said: "We are grateful to our users whose passion for music during the past decade has enabled iTunes to become the number one seller of music in the world. With an average of 15,000 per minute downloaded songs, the iTunes Store is the link between music fans and their favorite artists -- world famous artists like Adele and Coldplay as well as new artists such as The Lumineers -- a level that we did not think possible. "

While Phillip Lüpke will no doubt be happy with a €10,000 iTunes voucher, back in 2006, Alex Ostrovsky of West Bloomfield, Michigan received a call from Steve Jobs with the news that the 16-year-old was getting ten iPods, an iMac, a $10,000 music gift certificate, and a scholarship established in his name at the Juilliard School, all for purchasing the 1 billionth track.

Despite recent challenges from Amazon and Google, iTunes is still the most popular online music store in the world -- a milestone it reached back in 2010. Its success is as much down to its ease of use and its seamless integration with Apple products such as the original iPod, as well as the iPhone and all-conquering iPad, as it is due to choice of artists and tracks. The site had to wait over 10 years to be able to offer the Beatles, ACDC and Pink Floyd, but these exceptions have done nothing to dent its enduring popularity, even in the face of music streaming and radio services such as Pandora or Deezer.

Indeed Apple is rumored to be in talks with the major record labels to launch a radio streaming and on-the-hop music purchasing service of its own. Dubbed iRadio by the tech journalist community, it is expected to launch some time in 2013.