[10/4 ORICON] Current Yearly TOP 40
 

-It's still a down year for both singles and albums, but there's still a few more big single releases in October that could boost TOP 50 singles sales up.

-Kobukuro's "ALL SINGLES BEST" just recently had the 2nd highest album 1st week sales of the year, behind Koda Kumi's "BEST ~second session~" with 556,988 units. "(miss) understood" doesn't count as it was over a 2 week period.

-It should be interesting to see how the bottom half of the TOP 10 albums will play out with 3 albums ("ULTRA BLUE", "(miss) understood" and "NAMELESS WORLD") all within at least 15k of each and now with "ALL SINGLES BEST" poised to pass 800k within at least 2 weeks.
***
For those wondering how well 2006 is doing here are some stats:
2005 TOP 50 Single Sales (Up to 1st Week of October): 16,364,710
2006 TOP 50 Single Sales (Up to 1st Week of October): 15,996,077
2006 Decrease of 368,633 or 2.25%

2005 TOP 50 Album Sales (Up to 1st Week of October): 29,655,715
2006 TOP 50 Album Sales (Up to 1st Week of October): 26,677,625
2006 Decrease of 2,978,090 or 10.04%
***
TOP 40 SINGLES
01 1,035,102 'Real Face' - KAT-TUN
02 *,754,448 'Konayuki' - Remioromen (Total: 847,932)
03 *,672,159 'Seishun Amigo' - Shuuji to Akura (Total: 1,617,474) *63rd best selling Japanese single*
04 *,596,555 'Daite Senorita' - Yamashita Tomohisa
05 *,562,196 'Tada...Aitakute' - EXILE
06 *,561,862 'SIGNAL' - KAT-TUN
07 *,511,562 'Junrenka' - Shonannokaze
08 *,483,860 'supernova/karma' - BUMP OF CHICKEN
09 *,419,399 'Taiyou no Uta' - Kaoru Amane
10 *,413,167 'Dear WOMAN' - SMAP
11 *,405,586 'Houkiboshi' - Mr. Children
12 *,383,467 '4 hot wave' - Koda Kumi
13 *,358,170 'milk tea/Utsukushiki Hana' - Fukuyama Masaharu
14 *,342,696 'Tabibito' - Ketsumeishi
15 *,340,768 'Triangle' - SMAP
16 *,330,164 'SPLASH!' - B'z
17 *,317,397 'SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!' - KinKi Kids
18 *,312,282 'Sorafune/do! do! do!' - TOKIO
19 *,310,516 'Natsumoyo' - KinKi Kids
20 *,304,370 'Shodo' - B'z
21 *,301,192 'Venus' - Tackey & Tsubasa
22 *,292,346 'Fever to Future' - GYM
23 *,287,307 'to U' - Bank Band
24 *,271,186 'Koi no Tsubomi' - Koda Kumi
25 *,260,667 'Sakura' - Kobukuro (Total: 421,698)
26 *,259,874 'Deep in your heart/+ MILLION but - LOVE' - Domoto Koichi
27 *,258,566 'BLUE BIRD' - Hamasaki Ayumi
28 *,233,375 'Yuruginaimono Hitotsu' - B'z
29 *,224,827 'I believe' - ayaka
30 *,222,848 'Sayaendou/Hadashi no Cinderella Boy' - NEWS
31 *,221,965 'DIRTY OLD MAN ~Saraba Natsu Yo~ - Southern All Stars
32 *,220,955 'Champione' - ORANGE RANGE
33 *,220,826 'Good-bye days' - YUI
34 *,218,807 'Teru no Uta' - Teshima Aoi
35 *,211,399 'Precious' - Yuna Ito
36 *,207,543 'Age Age EVERY Knight' - DJ OZMA
37 *,206,076 'ANSWER' - GLAY feat. KYOSUKE HIMURO
38 *,202,645 'Kitto Daijobu' - Arashi
39 *,200,531 'Osaka Obachan ROCK/Osaka Romanesque' - Kanjani 8
40 *,200,423 'Only Human' - K
...
44 *,188,551 'Startin'/Born To Be...' - Hamasaki Ayumi

TOP 40 ALBUMS
01 2,059,761 'Single Collection '95-'05 "UTABAKA" ' - Hirai Ken *69th best selling Japanese album*
02 1,754,014 'BEST ~second session~' - Koda Kumi *96th best selling Japanese album*
03 1,212,294 'Catch The Wave' - Def Tech
04 1,191,725 'B'z The Best "Pleasure II" ' - B'z
05 1,097,675 'BEST' - Nakashima Mika
06 *,877,433 '(miss) understood' - Hamasaki Ayumi
07 *,871,327 'ULTRA BLUE' - Utada Hikaru
08 *,864,743 'NAMELESS WORLD' - Kobukuro
09 *,826,450 'LOVE COOK' - Otsuka Ai
10 *,736,738 'Best of KAT-TUN' - KAT-TUN
11 *,672,641 'CYCLE HIT '91-'97 Single Collection' - Spitz
12 *,637,680 'Sora Ippai ni Kanaderu Inori' - Aqua Timez (Total: 639,855)
13 *,632,753 'HORIZON' - Remioromen
14 *,622,341 'BEST ~first things~' - Koda Kumi (Total: 1,830,134) *89th best selling Japanese album*
15 *,601,983 'Beautiful Songs ~Kokoro de kiku Uta~' - Various Artists
16 *,556,988 'ALL SINGLES BEST' - Kobukuro
17 *,540,953 'Daniel Powter' - Daniel Powter
18 *,535,583 'MONSTER' - B'z
19 *,535,215 'CYCLE HIT '97-'05 Single Collection' - Spitz
20 *,501,682 'ASIA' - EXILE
21 *,471,616 'Every Single Day -Complete BONNIE PINK (1995-2006)- - BONNIE PINK
22 *,464,545 'THE LOVE ROCKS' - DREAMS COME TRUE
23 *,457,078 'Confidence' - HY
24 *,435,842 'Pop Up! SMAP' - SMAP
25 *,431,604 'Home' - Angela Aki
26 *,427,037 'OUTGROW' - BoA
27 *,425,938 'Curtain Call: The Hits" - EMINEM
28 *,420,420 'Kanojo' - aiko
29 *,392,167 'Shonannokaze ~Riders High~' - Shonannokaze
30 *,390,407 'AMARANTINE' - Enya
31 *,360,718 'Stadium Arcadium' - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
32 *,356,218 'Confessions on a Dancefloor' - Madonna (Total: 409,281)
33 *,328,655 'Back to Bedlam' - James Blunt
34 *,323,636 'Wave' - YUKI
35 *,293,604 'Adult' - Tokyo Jihen
36 *,292,435 'Def Tech' - Def Tech (Total: 1,950,066) *77th best selling Japanese album*
37 *,255,754 'Ribbon' - Yuzu
38 *,253,137 'Fun Club' - ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
39 *,250,698 'Call Me Miss...' - Crystal Kay
40 *,231,211 'Bakushou Super Live Dai 2 Shu! Ganbatte Itadakitaino...' - Ayanokouji Kimimaro
***
2006 Current Breakdown of Singles (vs. Same Time 2005)
1 million+ = 1 single (vs. 0 single)
500k+ = 7 singles (vs. 5 singles)
250k+ = 27 singles (vs. 31 singles)

2006 Current Breakdown of Albums (vs. Same Time 2005)
1 million+ = 5 albums (vs. 7 albums)
500k+ = 20 albums (vs. 19 albums)
250k+ = 39 albums (vs. 47 albums)

Bad year for Ayu compared to any of her previous years.

The drop in total album sales on the Japanese market is just crazy.

I would think that Ayu's popularity is declining when Kumi is ascending. Feel really sad about this...As with the other popular singers of today (e.g. Mika Nakashima)

Sucks for Ayu. Like whoa.

Doesn't suck much for Koda, though. But... the chart timing is a tad confusing to me. Why isn't Koda placed higher on the list with he album sales? Am I missing something?

Bueller?!

I'm not sure what you mean. She is at #2 for album sales.

And yes, easily Ayu's worst year sales wise - but can't say I'm too suprised since I wasn't that impressed w/ either single this year, especially when it came to the PVs.

Seems like Ayu will only release two singles on this years Oricon chart, or is B&D counted as a 2006 single?

^ I always wondered about that. I hope someone explains where it charted on the Yearlies.

Real bad year for Ayu eh?

It seems that B&D is out of the top 100?? It's supposed to be counted in this year's oricon.

Really bad year in general I'd say. Usually I at least remember some of the most sold songs because they were somehow good or at least memorable (like orange range) for some strange reason. This year I can't even remember most of the songs in the top 20 even though I knowI've listened to them at some point.

well atleast the albums above miss understood are best of albums...

well about utada's i thjink thats fine lol

yeah...a really bad year for ayu...
but hope next year will be better, she need something to blow her popularity up...maybe her A BEST 2 will get a HUGE SALES!!!

@eu - That applies to all albums except 03 1,212,294 'Catch The Wave' - Def Tech.

She has got this years 2nd best selling original album.

^ oh forgot that... well atleast its the highest original album by a solo female artist so far XD

and wow this is the first time ayumi beats utada in terms of album sales lol

Well, yup, bad sales for Ayu for this year. At least her tours are a sellout! But musically wise, I think she really needs to find her footing again. Everything from her is still great, just that I though BLUE BIRD was really one tad of a boring pop tune. The rest is great though. I really like her recent stuff except BLUE BIRD.

Utada's album still have like 4, or is it 8? weeks to beat (miss)understood on this years chart... :/

Thanks @__@

i hope it doesnt outsell (m)u XD im also an utada fan but i like ayu better

but i twill probably outsell (m)u... but still... high hopes for me :P

i completely agree about this. unless ayu does a reinvention of herself, she can't remain as the queen of pop. :no

wow TOKIO single beated Ayu's hehe

Tokio's song Sorafune is from my boss my hero! pretty good!

thanks for the information. :)

whats up with that KAT-TUN album? its sold way more than #2.

The phenomenon KAT-TUN isn't hard to explain.

6 incredibly talented and deliciously hot young men ... sick amounts of promotion ... boom bada boom boom bam!

The first fact makes me happy.
But the second one... it's just a matter of time... but it's still great! :)

It's a 2006 single. I know it's most likely going to be in the TOP 100 for sure since the mininum amount to get into the TOP 100 is ~100k.

Plus it was their debut album + single. JE debuts CD sales are quite big, then they just drop with their 2nd, 3rd, 4th release.. (i.e.: Arashi, NEWS)

Aww. I hope that Ayu's sales are boosted in 2007! At least BLUE BIRD is above Good-bye Days by YUI.

And kinda the whole thing with KAT-TUN is that they have debut over and over... lol.

New members, if I'm not wrong.

Do you mean the part where it took them 5 years to debut? Because I don't think they had any new members.

Hmm, okay, I don't know where I actually heard it from, but someone I was talking to told me that they were formed and re-formed, as a band, more than once. Not sure about anything though.

I blame the whole thing on Avex for releasing a single a month before the album. On top of that, I blame the bad cover (except the one on Startin' PV). And for another thing...

Utada's Ultra Blue, we all know, will take number 1 for original female album. guess utada beats ayu again. Ultra Blue is still selling well over 1k a week. and it'll probably get to 880,000. around ter

stupid avex for the cover and promotion (T___T)

i think (m)u should be getting the 8th position for the yearly chart...

I doubt Koda will ever be considered queen as she will never outsell Ayu's total record sales of 46 000 000 records so far.

Ayu's popularity is slowly rising again anyway

Bold & Delicious/Pride: 132,993
Startin' / Born To Be...: 188,551
BLUE BIRD: 258,566 (Still charting)
Jewel/1love: well i'm sure it will outsell BLUE BIRD

As for koda I predict she will fall half way through 2007.
selling only 383,467 copies for a quadruple A side was pretty bad.
Her albums sell well but her singles sell poorly (mostly less than 100 000).
This means she has no staying power.

Whoa!...Koda is not first single girl anymore...tats shocking to me...

O well, Ayu ganbatte next year..

Uhmmm, no because being Queen just doesn't mean you sell the most. Ayu's released a lot + she released during the peak era of CD sales. Namie is definietely considered a Queen of J-pop yet her CD sales are about 60% of Ayu's. Matsutoya Yuming, Seiko Matsuda (etc.) don't match Ayu's ~45m yet their still J-pop Queens.

Anyways, my point is that there really isn't only 1 single "J-pop Queen"; there's a bunch of them representing their own time periods/eras.

Well obviously it would rise, it would've been hard to sell lower than Bold & Delicious/Pride since it was released 6 weeks before the album. As for BLUE BIRD, you could say her popularity is going up with it, but another reason could be that the songs were just a lot better (to the Japanese public) than the Startin' single was and also there were 3 covers instead of the regular 2. Btw, it's not charting anymore, it dropped out of the TOP 200 ~2 weeks ago.

After 'secret', she's had 8 non limited singles of which 7 made it past 100k. And I don't see how not selling singles = no staying power. How about Otsuka Ai? Her singles don't sell that much either, and her albums do pretty well yet she's staying strong for at least 2.5 years.

well at least ayu's album is #6... *shrugs*

I would make a comeback to all of this, but it is just to long and I can't be bothered. The point is, Ayu's career will continue forward and so will otsuka's most likely, but Koda will start to slip in the second half of 2007 unless she can do something miraculous, everyone is already getting sick of how she uses sex to sell records. I can't even believe anyone even finds her beautiful, I agree with otsuka when she called her Vulgar and disgusting.

:shakehead Ai Otsuka called Koda, vulgar and disgusting??? ouch!

Geez. People actually buy Otsuka's stuff. >__> That kind of saddens me.

What's wrong with Ai :shrug




she's better than Kuu

I think I shouldn't be bothered to make a comeback as you actually believe Otsuka Ai called Koda Kumi "Vulgur and dusgusting".

Anyways, do you have sufficient proof that "everyone is already getting sick of how she uses sex to sell records."? The last time I checked, Yume no Uta/Futari de... had very little sex appeal in the PVs and in the covers.

And how about "The point is...Koda will start to slip in the second half of 2007..."? Please, you're making yourself sound like you can actually tell the future.

About the "I can't even believe anyone even finds her beautiful..." part, each person has a different perception of what "beauty" is.

I think we should all keep our own bad opinions about other artists to ourselves. It's not fair to people who actually like the artists!

Hmm... my arn't you condescending, I wont even dignify this with a response to your ill informed information/knowledge.

Don't you dare say that ayu_fan929, tells ill informed information/knowledge! ayu_fan929 is the smartest person on this forum!

Condescending? I wouldn't act like that if your points had some substance in them.

As for my ill informed information/knowledge, please shower me with yours, I'd like to see proof of your information, especially the part where you wrote "I agree with otsuka when she called her Vulgar and disgusting." Did this happen to come from here:

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai...dm011000c.html

If not, then I would really like to see where you got Otsuka Ai's quote from.

Kaoru Amane (no, ERIKA) CANNOT sing. Why she is charting so high? The dorama sucked too. Gah.

I agree it shouldn't be so high and I wonder why YUI is so low... Good bye days is so good.

Ayu's singles of this year aren't memorable at all. =___=;

That is where I got Vulgar from (I tried to find it again but I guess you have) I would show where I got disgusting if I could find it, I read it a while ago, there are quite a few of those articles around that say similar things.

btw: I did'nt come here to make enemies with anyone. That is what youtube is for.

Before you accuse me of having I would like to remind you that your "source" is from a tabloid magazine as seen through this following post:

If lots of tabloids have it, it is more often than not, true.

AND FFS!! I am so over this! I could'nt care less anymore. Ayu, Koda, and Ai are all sucessfull, popular artists and I don't hate any of them just some of Koda's tactics. If I offeneded you in any way, shape, or form it is regretable and not my intention so I apologize, but If you wanna fight about something so so stupid like this tell me when and where cause I am sick of this, like I said "I did'nt come here to make enemies with anyone".

^ if that is so...
why make such offending comments about Koda Kumi, especially when there are people who are her fans...
The things you've said so far have been based on false information and opinion, so obviously Koda Kumi fans are gonna defend her...
Just be careful of what you say next time because so far your statements have been proven to be wrong...

You are just digging yourself into a hole here. The information regarding record sales that ayu_fan929 has given is correct and it does no good to insult other artists on the forum. Right now Koda (and others) are doing better in terms of sales than Ayu is - bottom line.

And Mainichi news is hardly a valid source.

I don't dispute the information regarding the record sales, I know that it is correct. I am also aware that Koda and others are doing better in terms of sales than Ayu for the moment.

^ ok there you go again.. so much for not making enemies...
Otsuka Ai fans and Koda Kumi fans certainly don't have a problem with each other... they love their artists and their artist is producing good music and that's all they're worried about...

Why make such a fuss over something like this..?

Obviously the media's going to want to jump onto Kuu's ass especially since her popularity is booming... Since she won last year, she's got something to live up to now.. I mean Ayu won the award 3 years in a row....
Seeing as how the Japanese media portray Kuu as Ayu's successor or the next one after Ayu... they make a big deal out of stupid things...

To make things even more interesting, they include another rising star Ai Otsuka... Her career is also booming... So when they write these stories they think it out carefully... Koda Kumi, Japan's hottest star at the moment. Some say she's the successor to Ayumi Hamasaki.. BUT then there's Ai Otsuka, another star on the rise...

It's a smart move on the writer's part... They've put things together well, and its going to cause a stir...

That article is a load of crap seriously... wow! So Ai Otsuka was 2nd and Koda Kumi was 3rd!! OMG... that means nothing... Doesn't mean she's 3rd best or anything... they're making a big deal of nothing...

Look A-Nation... People usually say they save the best til last... Not the case... Koda was first for some of the shows... Doesn't mean she isn't popular etc... jeez.. take a chill pill...

immel: I don't think KAT-TUN are very talented or that hot. They're just well promoted and catchy.

That's debatable.

i can't believe ayu's sales are lower than most of the others.. but still manages to be on no1 for every release.

It's good marketing... Johnny's Ent. are very smart... they get pretty looking boys to sing and dance (or grind)... and it drives the fangirls wild and that's why they're doing well... Boybands will always be supported by fangirls~

Its because she has stronger first week sales than other artists...

^^^That's the problem with the Japanese market. It's all commercial -__-

Of course, there are exceptions, and that the actual music does play a part in the sales for many artists, but some of the sales are just ridiculous.

I'm honestly SORRY!! if I offended anyone, I really did not mean to.
Interesting to note your from Sydney though.
Your also acting like i'm the only who has said stuff like this, other people have said far worse things about Koda and other singers.

its alright... i just didn't like the fact you called Kuu "disgusting and vulgar"

wow, very interesting

*damn those bishounen groups -_-

We'll always accept your apology in the end. It's okay! And we forgive you, but you know the consequences now if you say something really bad again. :yes

Never heard anything from them, only seen, hehe.

Agreed.

Am I the only one not surprised about Ayu's sales? After all, it's her eighth year in the business. It's only natural in Japanese pop culture, especially with female artists, for popularity to decrease. It's been happening since the 70s. That her latest album manages to make it into the top 10 is an amazing feat, in my opinion. The only other female J-pop artist to have as much staying power is Yumi Matsutoya (in the 80s and early 90s) and perhaps Hikki (though she hasn't released an album every year).

It's also the digital age. People in Japan prefer to download music via i-pods and cellular phones. This is only physical sales. There is so much sales unaccounted for by the Oricon chart: http://www.riaj.or.jp/whatsnew/w060920_3.html.

Anyway, sales is not equal to quality. I did not like Startin', but I think Blue Bird (it's not so much conventional as it is nostalgic) is one of the best A-sides I've heard this year. And last year's best single release from Ayu was her lowest selling (Bold & Delicious), in my opinion.

I don't think there's anything wrong with criticizing artists. Don't we all have the freedom to speak here? If Kingofpop wants to criticize Koda Kumi, then so be it. Ayu is criticized A LOT in this forum. Maybe he shouldn't have used tabloids to reinforce his opinion. He should have just said plainly "I think Koda Kumi is vulgar and disgusting".

Personally, though I don't agree. I think it's Koda Kumi's sexiness that distinguishes her. (But she's far from a pioneer. Silva - who seems to have disappeared - was the first to mix sexiness and J-pop with an R&B flavor. And Namie Amuro was the first to make it popular).

I don't think that we can say those things really. :\ There are fans present who lash out at any negative form of opinion against her.. x.x

I like to believe that dialogue can only serve to enrich one's appreciation of an artist, be there positive or negative things said. I've heard so many negative comment made about Ayu, but five years later I am still as much a fan as I was when I first heard her music. And my love has only gone deeper.

Fans can simply disagree than go off on some heated diatribe. It says more about them than about their idol.

I believe everyone is entitled to there own opinion.. I'm not going to pipe down just because a few people can't hack it.

Well, we're new to JPOP. So yeah, it's surprising. Most of us would expect her to go on selling like Madonna. But the Japanese industry is fickle, so...

I agree. He's awesome. :yes

IMO, Ayu's one of the only ones of her time still selling at a steady rate..
Is anyone else still selling albums AND singles like Ayu does?

Anyone female artist?

YouKnowWho is.

I think truehappiness meant for as long as Ayu's been around :) Koda Kumi has been big for only a little more than a year. Female artist? Hikki still sells well. Yumi Matsutoya was the most popular for the longest.

Bands are more successful in Japan than solo artists. Southern All Stars has been around for thirty years, and they're still selling like crazy.

Ah, I understand now, misinterpreted his post a bit.

Yeah, hikki still sells really well, her album is probably going to pass (m)u, or has it already? I do not know about her singles, but I don't think any of them made it very far?

That Ayu is the highest selling female artist in Japan, ever, speaks for itself and is the answer to Anthonys question: No.

Yeah, Ayu has been (is) a one-of-a-kind phenomenon :D

From what I know, Hikki singles sell better as digital music (Keep Tryin', apparently, has sold more than a million downloads). Probably because they're cheaper to buy and make more sense than a CD with a measly number of tracks.

It will make such a huge change as soon as oricon gets their online sales charts up, I think that, with the few numbers I've heard about, Ayu is way below Koda and Utada.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see ... I hope it'll be up before the release of the new album, but I think they'll wait with putting it up until the new oricon year starts, and I forgot which date that is. Should be around that time?

The new Oricon year starts around the last week of November, I think. Well, everyone else in J-pop is behind Koda Kumi :) But I think Ayu's and Hikki's sales aren't that far from each other, relatively speaking. Plus Hikki's music is available in more formats. Ayu's songs aren't found in the popular chaka-uta download service, for instance.

That they can't be found, do you mean at all, or that you can only find her newer songs?

Maybe they're limited to like... mu-mo?

D'oh, my bad! I meant OnGen, not Chaka-Uta. As far as I know, there aren't any Ayu songs (new or old) available for download there. Here's the website:

http://www.ongen.net/

I'm not really sure how digital music works in Japan. There are so many services! For cellphones, for mp3 players, and then there's i-tunes. It makes me wonder how Oricon can pull off a digital music chart :P

They'll probably have direct connections to each page, maybe even counting the sales live. Or the pages in question will report to ORICON after certain marks have been reached, something like every 100 songs sold.

They might go for the same "weight" system as they do for the physical stores, and only count the largest pages' sales.

I did 1 search on that page, and got this:
http://www.ongen.net/search_detail_a.../at0000000308/

By the way, what sucks about the coming oricon charts is that they will combine cellphone and other digital downloads. I think those two should be split categories, even though both is being paid for.

Whoops, sorry. It's been a while since I looked over the site. Okay, Ayu's songs are available, but it's strange that they're sold in some weird "Orgel" format compared to, say, Hikki's music, which is sold in the same format as her CDs:

http://www.ongen.net/search_detail_a.../at0000000175/

It's the same with all the other artists. I think Avex has had a hand in this...

I guess that explains why Hikki's all over the OnGen charts, and not a single Ayu song in sight. I think they only count "non-Orgel" sales.

Or Orgel sales simply does not make it hight enough on the charts, because it's not the "real" songs.

avex most definately has a hand in this, maybe they limit selling Ayus music as much as possible only to their own Chaka-Uta store? But that'd be ... stupid.

You can always smell Avex's presence a mile away. The scent of money gives them away :D Hehe.

Maybe it has to do with copyright issues and purchasing the right to sell an artist's music. Like how some artists still aren't available at the i-tunes store. I guess Avex is pretty confident about its business that it feels like it doesn't have to tap into all the markets. Ah, hubris still exists in the modern corporate world! I wonder when their downfall will begin... :)

Economics always makes my head spin anyway :dead2 The Oricon chart says Evolution isn't a million-seller. The Planet Chart (RIP) says it is. I don't know what to believe anymore!

What is evolution stated to be on ORICON? And what is/was The Planet Chart?

I wonder if we'll ever see avex's downfall, they're skilled at what they do, even if we, here, think they make retarded choices. They are careful and go for what they KNOW will sell, they don't have to push out money to explore new corners of the market as it works fine going on as they do right now ... I guess they're pretty settled. They couldn't really grow much more, being the second largest recording label in Japan.

According to the Oricon chart, the sales numbers are around 900,000+ (maybe 980,000?). According to the Planet Chart, the sales numbers are 1,000,000 (I think 1,000,100, estimate - sorry, I have to dig through my old backup CDs to get the exact number). I can PM you the Planet Charts I managed to save before the site went kaput :) Needless to say, a lot of the Oricon and Planet Charts sales numbers do not match up.

The Planet Chart was my personal alternative to the Oricon Chart. It also counted physical sales, and at the end of the year recorded the sales numbers of all top 100 singles and albums and top 50 (I think) DVDs before the Oricon Chart started doing so. The Planet Chart was around from 1991-2004, and kept all their records available online. It was better than the Oricon, in my opinion :)

Yeah, Avex is criticized a lot, but they're very smart to still be around and this big after practically a decade. They're responsible for the biggest acts of the past ten years: Namie, globe, TRF, Ayu, Koda Kumi, etc. etc.

At least the biggest, and longest lasting, acts, when it comes to solo artists.

Thanks for the offer, but I don't care too much about the numbers. I think that it could deserve it's own thread though, if you looked up and compiled all the sales numbers for Ayu on their charts.

Do you know how they counted the sales?

Edited my post above :) I didn't know exactly how the Planet Chart numbers worked. Sometimes the sales would be higher, sometimes lower. Hikki's Deep River sales were lower in the Planet Chart than the Oricon Chart. And yet Exodus was a million-seller according to them, earlier than Oricon said so!

I was obsessed with the sales numbers for a good five years, and then I started not caring recently. It took a while for me to realize that whatever the numbers are, it's the music that matters.

I think sales numbers are interesting, but my interest in them ends there, hehe. It's fun to discuss them, but that's it, I really do not care about them either.

Thanks for notifying me that you edited it, wouldn't have noticed.

It is cool that they kept the records public, but that's probably why they finally died, ORICON makes money from what they do.

I wonder what their algorithms looked like... I always thought that ORICONs way of counting is pretty doubtful... if not very.

That's probably why. Oricon used to keep all their records public (until 2001, I think), and then suddenly implemented the subscription service in order for visitors to gain access to the numbers. They're now the Avex of the music charts :) The Planet Charts are still around, as a pale, sad version of their former glorious selves:

http://planet-chart.jp/

All the old records are gone sadly, and they don't put up sales numbers anymore. Sigh. Life changes so quickly.

Yeah, sales numbers are fun so long as you don't take them too seriously (like I did) :) And I'm with you, I really doubt the Oricon numbers are that accurate. I bought a CD of My Story in early November last year in Tokyo, and I noticed that the sales numbers for the album never changed between the Oricon half-year chart and the Oricon year-end chart! (They don't even round off to the tens or hundreds). Ever since then, I can't look at Oricon numbers without a little doubt in my head :D

EDIT: Oricon sales for Evolution are 950,000+

Haha, well, there's also the fact that they don't update the public numbers as soon as the CD goes off the charts. Only if you have their most expensive subscription service you'll have access to the "exact" numbers, although those are still based a bit on assumptions.

Indeed sad about the planet-charts page.

By the way, it's evolution :D.

man.. the music industry in japan is really brutal isnt it?.. I mean.. look at america.. you can be old and still have tons of fans and sell tons of albums ect..
but in japan.. once you start to age your sells go down and your fanbase leaves?

Well, staying on the market for a long time/until you're old is very rare on both markets. Madonna is unique.

Ayumi is pretty unique, on the Japanese market ... she's been around for a long time and I'm pretty sure she could be around forever if she wanted to go for it, her sales would decline, but she'd still be popular enough to live on her music.

To stay popular when you grow old, or for a long time, is rare on any given market.

Not a good year but thanks for posting.

Just somethings that astounds me..

In Japan they seem to prefer female singers to be a young as possible but when it comes to male solo singers, they seem to like the older one's mainly in there 30's

Aww poor AYU sale -- Always so sad for me. I love Kumi, but I don't care about her charts at all. I hoped that AI would have top charts for something, "Believe" I thought sold well.

Apparently, Oricon is going to extend their year this year by 3 extra weeks. That means the 2006 year will end with the releases of 12/6.
https://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_co...il.asp?no=4757

I don't think that Ayu's popularity is falling or something, it's just that there are TOO MANY new artists in japanese market :eviltongu Therefore, sales fall quite fast almost for everyone. I think "BLUE BIRD" did quite well for this year. :D Let's hope Ayumi's brand new mini-album will break into top 10 @ yearly album charts!!!
And let's support her by buying more singles!

That menas ULTRA BLUE will definately pass (m)u, unless it already did? Not that it matters, could be fun to know.

Take a peek at the US, younger and good looking females has a lot easier to break through there aswell. There's not many pop artists who stay at their peak when they start hitting their 30's over there either. The exception would be Madonna.

Semantics! :)

Nowadays, it seems that extremely big male solo singers are a rare breed. I can only think of Masaharu Fukuyama and Ken Hirai. Male artists usually succeed in bands and Johnny's Jimusho groups.

You could count Gackt, but I think he caters more to a niche market.

Of course, the most popular male artists are usually under 30. (KAT-TUN now known as KNUTT?). They're even under 20! To be big in Japan when you're past 30, you have to either be a) in a band or b) an enka singer.

How much does Gackt sell? I think I vaugely remember some numbers, and I was shocked by them... considering that he always seemed... huge, to me.

Gackt is all about an artist of perfection, the way any artist should be, like you say, maybe he does only cater a niche market.

His live performances size match Ayus though, or they did, I think?

Anyone mind filling me in?

Well, as incredible as his music is, he doesn't sell as well as the other big names. His Sixth Day Single Collection sold around 200,000+ copies, though his latest (Diabolos) didn't even make last year's top 100. His bestselling single is Another World (around 300,000).

I think Gackt is even bigger in the West than in Japan, thanks to all the fangirls who are into J-rock :) Or maybe he's someone more popular for being himself than for his music.

I haven't seen any Gackt concerts, but watching the Kouhaku I'd gather he's very popular among the female population. It's usually women in Japan who are into visual kei. The dark side of the Johnny's Jimusho phenomenon, I'd say. (You have to keep in mind that Ayu has more concerts on her tour and plays in bigger venues.)

EDIT: His singles sales numbers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gackt

True about more venues and so on.

Gackt isn't into Visual Kei, though, that was back during his malice mizer era, I'm pretty sure?

Thanks for the numbers, puts me a bit more in perspective.

I don't know if you like watching concerts, or if you like his music, but watching them for sure is worth it. The Sixth Day/Seventh Night one put up one hell of a show, excuse my language. If I have it somewhere I could upload it, I don't know if I still do though.

Yup, he's no longer visual kei, but I think people still associate him with that movement and his predominantly female fans just followed when when he went solo.

I LOVE his music. He's my male Ayu, and Ayu is my female Gackt :D I became a fan of his at the same time I became a fan of Ayu (I heard his Saikai ~Story~ and I heard Ayu's Surreal). I'd really like to get his concerts (and Ayu's) on DVD, but I just don't have the money :( I can barely afford buying all the J-pop CDs I want. But maybe that's because I insist on buying only the Japan versions...

Oh, I'd be very thankful if you could upload a bit of his concerts! But only if it won't be that much of a bother for you :)