TVXQ records highest album sales for 1st half of 2011

Cover of TVXQ's album "Why (Keep Your Head Down)" [SM Entertainment]

Korean duo TVXQ has recorded the highest number album sales for the first half of 2011, according to estimates by the Korea Music Content Industry Association's (KMCIA) Gaon music chart.

Gaon announced in a press release on Thursday that TVXQ's fifth album "Why (Keep Your Head Down)," which went on sale on January 3, sold over 230,922 copies, placing them atop the chart for most records sold between January 1 to June 30 of this year.

The duo also ranked in ninth with the repackaged version of "Why (Keep Your Head Down)" which sold 55,243 copies.

Big Bang's fourth mini-album took the No. 2 spot with 133,951 copies sold, while the special edition of the group's aforementioned release came in sixth place selling 83,726 copies.

Following behind in third place was BEAST's first full-length album "Fact and Fiction" with a total of 111,201 copies sold during the first half of 2011.

SS501's Kim Hyun-joong ranked in at No. 4 and was crowned the top-seller among solo artists during the first half of 2011, selling 100,433 copies of his first mini-album "Break Down."

Other notable artists on the top ten included CNBLUE, 2PM, f(x) and the soundtrack to SBS' hit TV series "Secret Garden."

Gaon's music chart, an integrated Korean pop music chart equivalent to the U.S. Billboard chart, was launched in late February of last year by KMCIA to rank singles and albums according to online and offline sales data provided by major web-based music providers and record distribution companies.

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