Legal digital downloads

2003

Apple sells songs for ninety-nine cents, Beyoncé goes solo, Fifty Cent conquers the charts, and OutKast deliver an album too weird to ignore.

iTunes Store Opens

Apple sells songs for ninety-nine cents and the industry discovers that convenience might save what piracy threatened — the single makes a comeback in digital form. Beyoncé goes solo, 50 Cent conquers the charts, and OutKast deliver an album too weird and wonderful to ignore. The download era begins in earnest. The download era begins in earnest, and convenience starts looking like the industry's last honest hope.

• iTunes Store
• Beyoncé
• 50 Cent
• OutKast
• digital music

• Apple iTunes Store launches — April 28
• Beyoncé's 'Dangerously in Love' launches solo superstardom
• 50 Cent's 'Get Rich or Die Tryin'' dominates hip-hop
• OutKast's 'Speakerboxxx/The Love Below' wins Album of the Year