Apple has announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded more than 200 million songs from the iTunes Music Store. The 200 millionth song was part of “The Complete U2” and was purchased by Ryan Alekman from Belchertown, MA.

“iTunes has now sold over 200 million songs, making it the world’s number one online music store by far,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re thrilled to be making music an even more popular gift this holiday season with iTunes and iPod.”

The iTunes Music Store features a holiday genre page with thousands of holiday favorites, including classics such as Ella Fitzgerald’s “Sleigh Ride” and contemporary favorites like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas.” The iTunes Music Store has also added Holiday Playlists to its collection of Celebrity Playlists, and users can view holiday playlists hand-picked by celebrities and with one click, own all of their recommendations.

The iTunes Music Store features more than one million songs from the major music companies and 600 independent record labels, over 9,000 audiobooks, gift certificates and exclusive music not found anywhere else online.