Worldwide sales of physical singles are difficult estimate accurately but we can say the following.
- The Beatles released a total of 63 singles worldwide.
- Sales of singles were far higher than those of albums during the 1960s.
- Relative to population size, the two biggest markets were the US and the UK.
- In the UK She Loves You was the biggest selling single at just under two million.
- She Loves You spent six consecutive weeks at the top of the UK charts.
US Sales
- In the US the exact rankings are cloudier as no organisation certifies full sales data .
- She Loves You only sold in the low thousands on its original release in 1963. It later went to number one.
- Most estimates have I Want to Hold Your Hand as the biggest selling single in the US.
- Can't Buy Me Love had the most advanced sales of any single
- In April 1964 The Beatles occupied all top five positions in the Billboard Chart
- Hey Jude spent the longest time in the US charts (19 weeks) and the at number one (9 weeks) Above photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.
LPs replace singles as best sellers
In the late 1960s the total numbers of single sold began falling (with LPs slowly rising) |
| Top 20 best selling UK singles |
- Only in recent years has the ratio (album to single track) began to move back in the former's direction
- By 2014, the official figure for Beatles US single sales was an astonishing 1.6 billion.
- This figure does included digital downloads which perhaps should be calculated separately.
- Generally, all recorded music has fallen in price (in relative terms)
- Live event have at the same time become much more expensive.
