Underlining their timeless appeal and unique status in music, The Beatles
have broken multiple chart records around the world following the September
9, 2009 (9-9-09) CD release of their digitally re-mastered catalogue. In the
major music markets of North America, Japan and the UK, consumers purchased
more than 2.25 million copies of The Beatles' re-mastered albums,
individually and in two multiple-CD boxed sets, one in stereo and one in
mono, during the first five days of release (excluding non-traditional
retail outlets whose sales are not tracked by the chart compilers).
The Beatles' original UK studio albums were re-mastered by a dedicated team
of engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period,
carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original
analogue recordings. The result is the highest fidelity the catalogue has
seen since its original release.
The most popular band of the 20th century, The Beatles are beloved by music
fans in the 21st century, as evidenced by their current unparalleled global
chart performance:
- US: During the first five days of release, consumers purchased
more than one million copies of re-mastered Beatles titles, and the
individual CD and boxed sets debuted strongly across multiple Billboard
charts.
- On Billboard's Comprehensive Albums chart, which lists the most
popular album releases in the US, including current and catalogue titles,
The Beatles set a new record for the most simultaneous titles by a single
artist (18), including five of the top 10 and nine of the top 20.
- On the Pop Catalog chart, The Beatles achieved another new
Billboard chart first for the most simultaneous titles in the top 50 (16), a
record they previously set themselves with 12 titles in December 1995. The
Beatles have nine of the chart's top 10 titles, and all 14 re-mastered CDs
are in the top 20, led by 'Abbey Road' at number one and 'Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band' at number two.
- On the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, 'The Beatles' stereo boxed
set debuted at number 15, and 'The Beatles in Mono' limited edition boxed
set debuted at number 40.
- UK: In last week's chart, The Beatles had four titles in the top
10, seven in the top 40 and 16 in the top 75, including both the stereo and
mono boxes, as well as 2000's 'Beatles 1' compilation. This set a new record
for the most simultaneous albums in the UK charts according to the UK
Official Charts Company. In this week's UK chart, The Beatles have 13 albums
in the top 75. A further 84,000 CDs were sold last week, bringing their
total sales of the re-masters to more than 354,000 in 11 days and their
total UK sales this decade to 6,755,000.
- Japan: All 14 re-mastered titles and boxed sets debuted in the top
25 of the international chart, including seven of the top 10, led by the
stereo boxed set at number two, the mono boxed set at number three, 'Abbey
Road' at four and 'Let It Be' at six. Across all titles and box sets, more
than 840,000 albums were purchased by consumers in Japan in the first three
days of sales.
- Canada: The Beatles have 15 of the top 20 catalogue titles
including all of the top 11. The stereo boxed set is a new entry in the
current albums chart at number four, the highest debut for a boxed set in
Canada since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales. Cumulative sales
across all titles were just under 160,000 over the counter.
- France: All 14 of the re-mastered titles and boxed sets entered
the latest album chart, including three in the top 10, led by 'Abbey Road'
at number four, a new record for the most original studio albums in the
French album chart in one week.
- Italy: The Beatles have 17 titles in the current chart - all 14
re-mastered titles, the two boxed sets, plus the '1' compilation, a record
for the most simultaneous entries in the album chart.
- Belgium: With 17 entries in the current chart - the 14 re-mastered
titles, two boxed sets and '1' compilation - The Beatles have set a new
record for the most simultaneous albums in the Belgian chart as confirmed by
chart compiler Ultrapop.
- Sweden: The Beatles have 16 titles simultaneously in the top 60,
led by 'Abbey Road' at number six. Local industry body IFPI have confirmed
that this is a record for the Swedish charts.
- Argentina: Seven of the current top 10 albums are Beatles
re-masters, led by 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at number two,
'Abbey Road' at number three and 'The Beatles' (The White Album) at number
four. All 14 re-mastered titles are in the top 20 and the boxed sets are at
numbers 73 and 74 in the chart.
- Spain: 13 Beatles albums plus both boxed sets debuted in the
latest chart, a record for a single artist. The combined sales of the boxed
sets places them at number four in the chart
- Poland: All 14 re-mastered albums and two boxed sets debuted in
the current top 100, led by 'Abbey Road' at six. This is a record for the
highest number of simultaneous entries in the Polish chart.
- Switzerland: 14 Beatles titles, including the stereo boxed set,
debuted in the most recent album chart, a record for the most simultaneous
titles in the album chart.
- Denmark: The latest album chart includes 15 re-mastered Beatles
titles, plus the '1' compilation, including four of the top 20.
- Australia: The Beatles have 14 titles in the current chart,
including the '1' compilation.
- Germany: The combined sales of the stereo and mono boxed sets,
with one boxed set counted as one unit sale, places them as the number three
best seller in the latest chart.
- Austria: The current top 75 contains 12 re-mastered titles plus
the stereo boxed set.
- Portugal: The re-mastered titles occupy 11 places in the current
top 30 album chart, including three of the top 10.
- Norway: The combined stereo and mono boxed sets debut at number
three with a further 12 re-mastered titles in the top 100.
- Colombia: Half of the current top 10 albums are re-mastered
Beatles titles.
- Korea: During the first sales week The Beatles occupied 16 out of
the top 17 spots in Korea's Hottracks album chart.