The Beatles rack up big sales on iTunes in first week
Forty years after breaking up, The Beatles are flexing their digital sales muscle, selling 450,000 albums and 2 million songs worldwide in their first week on iTunes, according to Apple Inc.
The 1969 classic Abbey Road, the final album recorded before the 1970 breakup, topped album sales, and George Harrison’s Here Comes the Sunwas the best-selling tune.
After years of holding out, The Beatles finally agreed to allow downloading of its catalog on iTunes beginning Nov. 16. And while most fans presumably already transferred their Fab Four CD libraries to computers and MP3 players, the first-week tally suggests a healthy surge of consumers willing to spend $12.99 and $19.99 for albums and $1.29 for tracks. The $149 Beatles Box Set, with 13 remastered studio albums and loads of video extras, is No. 10 on iTunes’ ranking of U.S. best-selling albums.
Hoopla over The Beatles’ move into digital space also drove sales of physical units. All 13 remasters enjoyed spikes and moved into Amazon’s top 100 last week, according to EMI.
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