Apple sells 100 millionth download

Apple Computer reported Monday that its iTunes online digital music service crested 100 million downloads late Sunday. The milestone, which the company had been anticipating for several weeks, was achieved when 20-year-old Kevin Britten of Kansas downloaded the song "Somersault," performed by the band Zero7. As part of a promotion run by Apple, Britten will receive one of the company's 17-inch PowerBook notebook computers, along with a 40GB iPod digital media player and a gift certificate for 10,000 free downloads from iTunes.

The iTunes service, which launched roughly 14 months ago and clocked 70 million song downloads in its first year, continues to grow rapidly in the United States and around the globe. Consumers pay Apple 99 cents per song for most iTunes tracks. In June, Apple launched iTunes in Europe and sold more than 800,000 songs during the service's first week in business.