The Beatles dominate South Korean music charts

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The Beatles dominate South Korean music charts
Yonhap News Agency
Feb 29, 2016

SEOUL, Feb. 29 (Yonhap) -- The digitalized hits of the legendary rock band the Beatles have conquered the top six slots in the international sections of major South Korean music charts, data showed Monday.

The songs became available on South Korean music streaming websites at midnight, as Universal Music Group, the distributer, authorized 10 South Korean music streaming services to provide online and mobile digital audio streaming and downloading services for the songs.

As of 10 a.m., the Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" took the No. 1 spot in the real time-based music chart for foreign artists on Naver Music, one of the leading music streaming and downloading service providers here, the Korean operation of Universal Music Group said.


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"Yesterday," "Let It Be," "Love Me Do," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and "A Day In The Life" snagged the No. 2 to No. 6 slots of the same chart, spurring nostalgia of the age of Western pop songs among South Koreans.

During the same hours, some other songs by the Beatles showed up in the top five spots in the international music chart Genie. "Yesterday" ranked first, followed by "Let It Be," "Hey Jude," "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Come Together" No. 2 to No. 5, respectively.

The list of the Beatles' music provided on the South Korean websites includes a total of 17 albums, including 13 regular albums, the best hits of the Beatles and other compilations.

MelON, the nation's largest music streaming service, said it has organized a series of events to celebrate the debut of the digitalized Beatles' songs on the local music streaming services. Part of the plan is to disclose the comparative data on people's preferences for different Beatles' songs from its counterparts in different countries, such as Apple Music and Spotify.

This is the first time that the Universal Music Group has allowed Korean providers to use the music of the Beatles. Prior to Monday's release, CD recordings and iTunes downloads were the only outlets for the Beatles' songs here, according to local music streaming service provider MelOn.

The 10 local streaming services that offer the Beatles' music include MelOn, Naver Music, MNet, Kakao Music, Genie, Bugs, Milk Music and Soribada.

jwc@yna.co.kr

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