Japanese Charts-The newest charts

[Edu]

mario:

Although I do not know before the 1970s, according to Oricon, in the 1980s, 650 shops were chosen as the sample, reported to Oricon every week by telephone and fax,and were processing them statistically.

Thank you very much!
So it was a methodology very similar to the UK, with the difference that in Japan the sales figures are made public.

Do you think that in those shops reports the imports were included? Could this be possible?

[Nackar]

Why lately album sales in Japan are too low?

Ehr, what do you mean lately? Past few weeks? They've mostly been HIGH. Rest of the year? Dropping sales like in most other markets.

Not sure what you're referring to D :

[mario]

Do you think that in those shops reports the imports were included? Could this be possible?

Imports were included from December, 2003.

[journey2010]

Hey Mario,

Do you know the highest chart position for Journey's "Infinity" album and the current sales?
I noticed that it wasnt included on the original "Journey" page.

Thanks!

[floria]

I have a question:

How many million physical singles were sold in Japan during the year?
Japan is 50%, 60% or even 70% of all physical singles sold in the world?

[Nackar]

I have a question:

How many million physical singles were sold in Japan during the year?
Japan is 50%, 60% or even 70% of all physical singles sold in the world?

We don't have the figures for this year yet... probably have to wait until IFPI's report for that.

But yes, the Japanese market alone should account for well over half.

Just wondering, but you didn't respond to my earlier question. I'm curious how you meant that album sales are low lately?

[floria]

^
Well, for example, #30 album in Japan sells almost 3 times less than in the UK recently... The best-selling album of the year has not passed a milon...

[LostAvenger]

^
Well, for example, #30 album in Japan sells almost 3 times less than in the UK recently... The best-selling album of the year has not passed a milon...

Japan (or ORICON) still prides itself with being a "physicals-only" market (it took until February 2011 for France to cave under including digital sales). I don't know if piracy has anything to do with it, but the digital market in Japan is increasing (though not to the extent it was in 2007-2008 when Utada and EXILE smashed).

Plus albums are expensive there... an album in Japan costs two times the amount it does in the US and the UK.

[floria]

^
Well, for example, #30 album in Japan sells almost 3 times less than in the UK recently... The best-selling album of the year has not passed a milon...

Japan (or ORICON) still prides itself with being a "physicals-only" market (it took until February 2011 for France to cave under including digital sales). I don't know if piracy has anything to do with it, but the digital market in Japan is increasing (though not to the extent it was in 2007-2008 when Utada and EXILE smashed).

Plus albums are expensive there... an album in Japan costs two times the amount it does in the US and the UK.

Yes, I know that Oricon account only physical sales, but in practice almost no digital in Japan...

And I know that prices in Japan are much more expensive than in the US especially...

Yet in previous years, almost always #1 album passed one million copies...

[Nackar]

^ The top-selling album not selling a million is simply the case of dropping album sales worldwide. It's easy to see it as "before 2011, always million seller, now none". But since 2000 or so the number one album has always been selling less. In 2008, it was 1,5 or something, in 2009 1,4 million, in 2010 1,1 million and now 920k or so. So yes, another drop, but this time it looks more drastic because it's below such a huge benchmark.

As for the number thirty album selling so little, that has ALWAYS been true. The Japan market is front-loaded. They have huge debuts and then tumble down. Although the figures at #30 are lower these days, the concept is not so don't worry!

[Timmy94]

And in the past, albums also have been that expensive and still people had the money to pay for them... I think Japan is also a quite wealthy country and the worldwide financial crisis didn't hurt it that much.

So the price-argument can't be the reason.

But it's really notable how the Japanese market - which even did better than most other countries during the boom of the music industry in the late 90s/early 00s - showed conspicuously big decreases... The German and the UK market (No. 3 and 4 on a worldwide basis) have been more constant especially as both markets will end having a No.-1-album selling 1 mio. copies despite a way smaller population. The Japanese market was always very frontloaded but therefore the debuting sales must be really huge but this year, there have been only 2 albums selling 500k+ in their first week.
There were quite a lot of weeks when the No. 1 album sold less than 50k and there was even only a hanful of international artists reaching a cert this year. They have really reached the No. 1 andin 2011, there was also one international album to reach No.1 (BTW) but this has never been a problem as sales have been huge enough that albums coul end with a lower position and still go Gold or Platinum...

[floria]

^ The top-selling album not selling a million is simply the case of dropping album sales worldwide. It's easy to see it as "before 2011, always million seller, now none". But since 2000 or so the number one album has always been selling less. In 2008, it was 1,5 or something, in 2009 1,4 million, in 2010 1,1 million and now 920k or so. So yes, another drop, but this time it looks more drastic because it's below such a huge benchmark.

As for the number thirty album selling so little, that has ALWAYS been true. The Japan market is front-loaded. They have huge debuts and then tumble down. Although the figures at #30 are lower these days, the concept is not so don't worry!

Yes you are right about the drop...I agree
But for me is amazing and very glad that physical singles are so HUGE!
I'm a huge fan of the physical copies!

[Pororo]

Japanese Music Market works very different ofcourse from other Western Countries. It's a very fast-paced industry where artists release 1 album a year. The promotion cycle for an album is very short and sales are very frontloaded. A completely new single is often already announced shortly after the album release or sometimes even before the album even has been released. So the release-date of a completely new single can be sometimes just be 1 or 2 months after the album release.
Also Albums don't have strong longevity, you won't see an album charting for like 2 or 3 years. Once it's out of the top 200 it won't likely chart anymore and even if it charts it will be in the lower regions with a few hundreds of sales.

I have a question:

How many million physical singles were sold in Japan during the year? Japan is 50%, 60% or even 70% of all physical singles sold in the world?

I don't have the info for 2010 but in 2009 43.6 million Physical Singles were sold in Japan accounting for aprox. 72% of Worldwide physical Singles!
and in 2011 there were 5 Million Selling singles.

Yes, I know that Oricon account only physical sales, but in practice almost no digital in Japan...

Don't underestimate the digital market in Japan. It's still the 2nd biggest digital market in the world, after the US.
In 2010 25% of the Japanese market was digital and accounted for almost 1 billion USD, which is bigger than the whole French market!! And actually not too far away from the whole UK/German market(1.3/1.4billion)

The only bad thing about the digital market is that it's not as transparent as other markets such as UK or US for example. They don't provide sales numbers etc. which I wish they did. We only know how much they have sold based on the RIAJ certifications.


The Japanese Music Market is a very lucrative market. They have by far the biggest physical single's market and also the biggest Music-DVD market in the World.
Also the high prices! A physical single cost the same amount as an album in the US/UK!! and albums and Music DVDs from local artist are about 3/4 times more expensive as in US/UK!

[Pororo]

Oricon reveals the top5 best selling artist at the end of the Oricon Year.

Just to show how lucrative the sales are in Japan; look at the top 5 best selling artist on Oricon chart in the past 3 years(Note: digital isn't included this is physical only!)

Oricon 2011 best selling artist:
1. AKB48 16,282 billion yen (210.7 million USD)
2. Arashi 15,369 billion yen (198.9 million USD)
3. EXILE 5,603 billion yen (72.5 million USD)
4. KARA 4,926 billion yen (63.8 million USD)
5. SJJD 4,049 billion yen (52.4 million USD)

2010 Oricon best selling artist:
1. Arashi 17,163 billion yen (222.1 million USD)
2. Tohoshinki 9,431 billion yen (122.1 million USD)
3. AKB48 7,092 billion yen ( 91.8 million USD)
4. EXILE 6,015 billion yen (77.8 million USD)
5. Ikimono Gakari 5,618 billion yen (72.7 million USD)

2009 Oricon best selling artist:
1. Arashi 14,641 billion yen (189.5 million USD)
2. EXILE 12,932 billion yen (167.4 million USD)
3 Tohoshinki 6,895 billion yen (89.2 million USD)
4. B'z 5,374 billion yen (69.6 million USD)
5. The Beatles 5,200 billion yen (67.3 million USD)

#1 best selling artist in Japan always bigger than #1 best selling artist In the US market.

Even with the massive year Adele had in the US, she is by far the best selling artist! ( Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry etc are far below her)

If we break it down for Adele including digital sales for 2011 billboard year:

5,5 million albums*12= 66 million
11 million singles*1.29= 14.19 million
275k dvds* 20= 5.5 million

total sales for adele in the US market roughly about 85.7 million USD and she had the best year in recent history!

[Nackar]

^ Thank you for your interesting posts, I couldn't have said it better myself!

That's why it's definitely worth it for artists in Japan, also Western ones. 100k albums in Japan = more profitable than 300k in the UK.

Gaga's probably made as much money off of her 670k in Japan for BTW than the 2 million + in the US, possibly MORE taking the $1 deal into account.

[Timmy94]

Exile's current album is staying at No. 1 for 3 weeks in Japan now. And sales are even relatively stable... While Japanese artists reach a high peak on the worldwide Albums Chart and than heavily tumble, they stayed at No. 2 for 2 weeks and than fell to No. 3... An unusual feat in the frontloaded Japanese market.

Is there a certain reasin for that?

Compared to their current album, their last one did 1-11-21 in its first 3 charting weeks on the worldwide chart and the one before did 2-11-35 in the same period...

[Pororo]

It's January, sales are generally low in the first month. There are no big new releases, hence they are still high in the Worldwide charts.

The two albums before you mentioned were released in March 2010 & February 2009, months where are generally more new releases, higher sales etc.

[Pororo]

here is a nice read about the Japanese Physical Music Market in 2011

After 5 years of decreasing, the overall Japanese Market grew 1% compared to 2010.
Physical singles increased 23% to 62 million copies. This is probably about 80-85% of the Worldwide physical singles!!



2011 Oricon music industry report: AKB48 achieved 15% market share of singles
Posted on January 20, 2012 by tokyograph


This week, Oricon released its annual music market report, which covers sales for singles, albums, DVDs, and Blu-rays. Last month, the company already revealed the rankings for the top-selling artists in various categories, but the new report contains information about the industry as a whole as well. The data also re-confirms the magnitude of idol group AKB48’s success, indicating a 15% market share of the single sales that Oricon tracks.

As announced last month, AKB48?s total artist sales amounted to 16.28 billion yen. This accounted for 5.4% of the entire music market in 2011, which was over 314.1 billion yen. Arashi, who ranked #1 in total artist sales in 2009 and 2010, dropped to #2 in 2011 with a 5.1% share, thanks largely to their 10.17 billion yen in DVD sales.

AKB48 was most successful in the singles category, having released 5 singles that all sold more than a million copies. Their total single sales amounted to nearly 9.59 billion yen, helping push the singles market up 16.9% from the previous year to more than 62.0 billion yen. In other words, AKB48 captured 15.46% of the singles market.

AKB48?s record label, King Records, achieved 21.23 billion yen in sales, up 145.5% from the previous year (14.59 billion yen). This gave them a 6.8% share of the overall market in 2011, putting them in 4th place out of all music companies in the industry. The year before that, they ranked 7th. Counting singles only, King Records held a 20.3% share of the market.

Sony Music Entertainment was #1 for the 3rd year in a row, with total sales of 51.88 billion yen and a 16.5% market share overall. Avex was #2 with 41.66 billion yen and a 13.3% share, and Universal Music ranked #3 with 36.38 billion yen and an 11.6% share.

A separate industry report revealed by the RIAJ on Friday shows that overall music production in 2011 (CDs, DVDs, etc.) grew by 1% from the previous year, after having shrunk for the past 5 years before that. CD single production showed the biggest increase, up 23% to 62 million copies.

Sources:
Oricon
Mantan Web
Sponichi Annex

[floria]

here is a nice read about the Japanese Physical Music Market in 2011

After 5 years of decreasing, the overall Japanese Market grew 1% compared to 2010.
Physical singles increased 23% to 62 million copies. This is probably about 80-85% of the Worldwide physical singles!!

GREAT!!!

[LostAvenger]

RIAJ Japanese Realtones Chart - Western Artists 09/02/12:

International Rank, Overall Rank, Song Title, Act

01 [25] Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO f/Lauren Bennett & GoonRock
02 [28] Mr. Saxobeat - Alexandra Stan
03 [38] What The Hell - Avril Lavigne
04 [39] Smile - Avril Lavigne
05 [42] Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne
06 [45] Baby I Love U! - Che'Nelle
07 [78] Dilemma - Nelly f/Kelly Rowland

[Nackar]

Exile's current album is staying at No. 1 for 3 weeks in Japan now. And sales are even relatively stable... While Japanese artists reach a high peak on the worldwide Albums Chart and than heavily tumble, they stayed at No. 2 for 2 weeks and than fell to No. 3... An unusual feat in the frontloaded Japanese market.

Is there a certain reasin for that?

Compared to their current album, their last one did 1-11-21 in its first 3 charting weeks on the worldwide chart and the one before did 2-11-35 in the same period...

While Pororo explained part of the reason, another important one to mention is that this album was released on January the 1st, when most shops in Japan are closed around New Year's Day. So this album's sales opened quite a bit lower than their previous ones' but had much stronger longevity as a result.

[LostAvenger]

RIAJ Japanese Realtones Chart - Western Artists 16/02/12:

International Rank, Overall Rank, Song Title, Act

01 [11] I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
02 [31] What The Hell - Avril Lavigne
03 [37] Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO f/Lauren Bennett & GoonRock
04 [38] Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne
05 [43] Rolling In The Deep - Adele
06 [50] Mr. Saxobeat - Alexandra Stan
07 [53] Smile - Avril Lavigne
08 [68] Baby I Love U! - Che'Nelle
09 [76] Strip - Chris Brown f/Kevin McCall
10 [78] All At Once - Whitney Houston
11 [86] Saving All My Love For You - Whitney Houston
12 [97] Danza Kudoro - Don Omar f/Lucenzo

[starshine90]

Oricon 2012 Year To Date (Week 09)

01 - 700,675 - Exile - Exile Japan Solo
02 - 231,908 - Funky Monkey Babys - Funky Monkey Babys 4
03 - 214,817 - Kara - Super Girl
04 - 170,855 - L'Arc-en-Ciel - Butterfly
05 - 165,905 - Girls' Generation - Girls' Generation
06 - 143,417 - Ayaka Iida - The Beginning
07 - 142,103 - Asian Kung-Fu Generation - Best Hit AKG
08 - 131,803 - Saori Yuki - 1969
09 - 129,806 - Koda Kumi - Japonesque
10 - 109,069 - Toshinobu Kubota - The Baddest Hit Parade
11 - 101,448 - Tokyo Jihen - Color Bars
12 - 93,363 - Yuki - Powers Of Ten
13 - 92,777 - No Holds Barred - Goirudesoarubamu
14 - 88,045 - Ketsumeishi - Arashi Spring Best
15 - 82,078 - Sonar Pocket - 365 Days
16 - 78,796 - Ketsumeishi - Arashi Summer Best
17 - 77,363 - Ketsumeishi - Arashi Fall Best
18 - 76,785 - Ketsumeishi - Arashi Winter Best
19 - 62,692 - Spitz - Arutana
20 - 62,265 - Perfume - JPN

[Timmy94]

No. 1 international album on that YE-Chart?

[Nackar]

No. 1 international album on that YE-Chart?

This early into the year they only release the top 20, since the entire top 100/200 wouldn't look like much : P

I could imagine it being Adele, actually, or alternatively LMFAO. Perhaps Lady Gaga.