Since the invention of the iPod in 2001, more and more people have turned to digital music purchases rather than purchasing physical copies of albums in stores. Digital music takes less space to store, is easy to buy, and it is possible to purchase individual songs rather than entire albums. This is one of the best features about digital music downloads. Since the release of the official iTunes store in 2003, millions of songs have been downloaded. As of 2012, the current catalog size for iTunes is just over 12 million songs available for download. Even with all of the music available, there are 10 songs that are downloaded many more times than others. Not surprisingly, all of these songs have come out in the past 5 years.

As of 2012, the top 10 downloaded songs are:

I Gotta Feeling The Black Eyed Peas

This song was released in the summer of 2009 and has remained one of the most popular songs ever since. In iTunes, the song has had over 8 million downloads. The Black Eyed peas have over 1 billion 400 million YouTube views from their various singles. The band has also sold over 56 million complete albums.

Poker Face Lady GaGa

This song was released in 2008. It has received over 6.8 million downloads on iTubes and Lady GaGa has over 2 billion, 300 million YouTube views. She has sold over 23 million albums in digital and physical format.

Boom Boom Pow The Black Eyed Peas

This is the second Black Eyed Peas song on the top 10 download list of all time. The song has over 6 million downloads in the U.S. alone. The song has over 1 billion, 400 million views on YouTube. The band has sold over 56 million albums.

I’m Yours Jason Mraz

This song was released in 2005. It has been downloaded over 9.5 million times worldwide. Jason Mraz has over 300 million views on YouTube, and has sold over 5 million albums.

Viva la Vida Coldplay

This song was released in 2008. This song has been downloaded over 6.4 million times on iTunes. Coldplay has over 400 million views on YouTube, and their albums have been purchased over 60 million times.

Just Dance Lady GaGa & Colby O’Donis

This song has been downloaded over 6.6 million times. Lady GaGa has over 2 billion, 300 million views on YouTube. Her albums have been sold over 23 million times.

Low (feat. T-Pain) Flo Rida

This song was released in 2008. It has 5 million iTunes downloads and over 600 million YouTube views. Oddly enough, Flo Rida has the least number of album sales, hovering somewhere around 1 million.

Love Story Taylor Swift

Love Story was released in 2008. The song has over 5 million downloads on iTunes and Taylor Swift has over 1 billion, 100 million views on YouTube. She has sold over 26 million albums.

Bleeding Love Leona Lewis

This song was released in 2007. It has over 4 million downloads online, and has over 300 million views on YouTube. Leona Lewis’ albums have sold over 10 million copies.

Disturbia Rihanna

Disturbia came out in 2008. The song has over 4 million downloads on iTunes. Rihanna has over 3 billion, 100 million YouTube views, and her albums have sold over 25 million copies.

It is easy to see what the most popular music of the day is if you use iTunes as a guide. Surprisingly enough, no new songs have pushed these high-selling singles off the top 10 list in years. It will take an extremely popular song to bump any of these from the top 10 list.

Guest post by contributing author Richard O., writing on behalf of Bearshare. When looking for ways to dowloand music, be sure to check out Bearshare.com music downloads!