As the music industry awaited the official announcement that iTunes had finally scored rights to the Beatles catalog, one question kept popping up: Would the Fab Four let iTunes sell its music as singles?
The thought is that since the Beatles have historically had such strong album sales, making songs available for digital sale may threaten that. Did EMI have any such concerns?
“None whatsoever,” says Dominic Pandiscia, executive VP of EMI Music Services North America. “The legacy of the band is that they drive both single and album sales.”
Beatles Catalog Finally Coming to iTunes, Apple Announces
That confidence seems to be supported by the results of the band’s first day of sales on iTunes. As of 4:00 p.m. Eastern time today, “Abbey Road” holds the No. 7 spot on iTunes’ best-selling albums chart, followed by the White album (No. 8), “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (No. 9), “The Beatles Box Set” (No. 11) and the Blue album anthology (No. 12).
Other Beatles albums hold the following ranks:
14. The Red album anthology
16. “Rubber Soul”
19. “Revolver”
20. “Magical Mystery Tour”
22. “Let It Be”
26. “A Hard Day’s Night”
27. “Please Please Me”
28. “Help!”
32. “With The Beatles”
33. “Past Masters, Vol. 1 & 2”
36. “Beatles For Sale”
49. “Yellow Submarine”
It also has 52 of the top 200 singles of the day. The highest ranking single is “Here Comes the Sun” at No. 16, followed by “Let It Be” (No. 20). Other rankings include:
22. “In My Life”
32. “Blackbird”
35. “Come Together”
44. “Hey Jude”
49. “With A Little Help From My Friends”
56. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
58. “Twist and Shout”
61. “Eleanor Rigby”
63. “A Day In the Life”
64. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
68. “I Saw Her Standing There”
69. “Yesterday”
80. “Something”
81. “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
83. “Help”
88. “Can’t Buy Me Love”
89. “A Hard Day’s Night”
99. “Dear Prudence”
103. “Strawberry Fields Forever”
106. “When I’m Sixty-Four”
108. “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”
110. “I Am the Walrus”
113. “Revolution”
115. “All My Loving”
119. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
121. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
122. “Penny Lane”
125. “I Should Have Known Better”
129. “The Long and Winding Road”
135. “Back In the U.S.S.R.”
137. “Hello, Goodbye”
139. “I’ll Follow the Sun”
141. “Across the Universe”
143. “Do You Want to Know a Secret”
144. “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
146. “All You Need Is Love”
147. “If I Fell”
150. “Rocky Raccoon”
155. “Get Back”
156. “Ticket to Ride”
158. “Yellow Submarine”
165. “And I Love Her”
168. “Nowhere Man”
174. “Love Me Do”
179. “Hey Bulldog”
182. “Drive My Car”
184. “Got to Get You Into My Life”
188. “Eight Days a Week”
192. “Magical Mystery Tour”
197. “Michelle”