Digitalized hits of the Fab Four grabbed at least six slots of the South Korean music charts’ international section hours after their songs became available online starting Feb. 29, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand,” the Beatles’ best-selling single worldwide, surged to the top spot on the leading streaming and downloading site Naver Music.
Taking the no. 2 to no. 6 spots were the popular hits “Yesterday,” “Let It Be,” “Love Me Do,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “A Day In The Life.”
More than 300 songs from the Beatles, the world’s most famous rock n’ roll band, were now available for streaming and downloading in South Korea from all their 17 albums, including the 13 official albums.
“Starting Feb. 29, the streaming and download services for the Beatles tunes will be made available via 10 local online music providers who will offer the services in both online PC versions and for the mobile web,” the Korea Times quoted the Universal Music Korea as saying Monday.
Aside from Naver Music, other South Korean online music distributors include Kakao Music, Mnet, Soribada, MelOn, Groovers, Genie, Bugs and Milk Music.
Starting December 24, 2015, the Beatles were available on streaming websites such as Amazon Prime, Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play following years of legal battle over the use of Apple logo.
Due to royalty problems, the Beatles songs were previously not available online in South Korea. But after two months of negotiations, local distributor Universal Music Korea authorized at least 10 online music websites to provide streaming and downloading services starting February 29, 2016.
The Beatles, formed in Liverpool, England in 1960, have proven to be a hit online. In just 48 hours after becoming available online in December 2015, the Fab Four’s songs were played 50 million times worldwide, according to the Daily Mail.
Composed of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles were widely regarded as the biggest and most influential rock band. They broke up in 1970.
