Apple iTunes sales quicken

Apple Computer said Thursday that it has sold 150 million songs since the opening of its iTunes digital music store in April of 2003. The new figures, which include sales from its recently opened stores in Europe, put it on pace to sell more than 4 million songs a week, or more than 200 million songs a year, the company said.

Apple passed the 100 million mark in early July, which indicates the pace of sales has sped up over the past few months. A report this week from The NPD Group indicated that the overall customer base for digital music sales has declined somewhat in recent months, however.