It took just a week for The Beatles to conquer iTunes too.
The iconic rock band sold more than 1.4 million songs and over 119,000 albums in the U.S. on Apple's online music store, squashing concerns that the English quartet came to iTunes too late.
Over 60,000 people purchased "Let It Be," which topped Billboard's top 100 list in 1970, followed by "Here Comes the Sun," according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Beatles' album "Abbey Road" moved 16,000 downloads and debuted at No. 8 on Top Digital Albums.
Compared to other iTunes holdouts, Led Zeppelin sold just 300,000 tracks and 13,000 albums when it joined the online music store in 2007.
But The Beatles' star power doesn't compare to today's top artists like Katy Perry and Rihanna. A new album by someone like Perry usually sells between 10,000 and 300,000 digital singles in its first week.
The Beatles' long-delayed arrival on iTunes began in 1978 when the band's corporation Apple Corps sued Apple Inc. for trademark infringement. In February 2007, both sides finally settled the trademark despite, but it still took another three years for The Beatles' music catalog to appear on iTunes.
"We love the Beatles and are honored and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said after a deal was reached to sell The Beatles' music on iTunes. "It has been a long and winding road to get here. Thanks to the Beatles and EMI, we are now realizing a dream we've had since we launched iTunes 10 years ago
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