Apple announced today that the iTunes Store has reached another major milestone in its music store dominance - the iTunes store has sold over 25 billion songs since it first launched on April 28, 2003.

iTunes has played a key role in making Apple one of the world's most valuable companies. The application began as a way for Mac users to organize their music; it then evolved into also managing music on iPods, which was then followed by selling music to customers for $0.99 per song, and has now turned into a music, tv, movie, app, and bookstore to supply content for iPhone, iPod touch, iPod and iPad users.

Here's Apple's press release announcing the news:

iTunes Store Sets New Record with 25 Billion Songs Sold

CUPERTINO, California-February 6, 2013-Apple® today announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded more than 25 billion songs from the iTunes Store® (www.itunes.com), the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store. The 25 billionth song, "Monkey Drums" (Goksel Vancin Remix) by Chase Buch, was purchased by Phillip Lüpke from Germany. As the downloader of the 25 billionth song, Phillip will receive a €10,000 iTunes® Gift Card.

"We are grateful to our users whose passion for music over the past 10 years has made iTunes the number one music retailer in the world," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "Averaging over 15,000 songs downloaded per minute, the iTunes Store connects music fans with their favorite artists, including global sensations like Adele and Coldplay and new artists like The Lumineers, on a scale we never imagined possible."

In case you're wondering who the winner is, Phillip Lüpke is a 22-year old student from Germany who thought it was a joke when he got a call from someone claiming to be from Apple informing him that he had just downloaded the 25 billionth song on iTunes. He told Cult of Mac:

"At first I was in disbelief. But then I was very happy, laughed. I've gone to my university and told all my friends. It was a very nice day."

It must have been a very nice day indeed for Phillip, not so much for the person who purchased a song right before Phillip purchased the 25 billionth song.