http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/pictures/l/02/08/KIZM-151.jpg

 

Japan: AKB48 with two all-time records in one week

 

With first week sales of 1,616,795 copies, AKB48's newly released "Manatsu No Sounds Good!" has set the record for the highest first week sales of a physical single.

 

The first day sales of "Manatsu No Sounds Good!" (1,170,554 copies) set a new record for most copies of a single sold in one day.

 

This release marks their 13th consecutive #1 single on the Oricon chart. They now have a total of 8 singles selling over a million copies.

 

The top 10 Japanese highest selling first week singles:

 

1. "Manatsu No Sounds Good!" (2012) - AKB48 - 1,616,795

2. "Flying Get" (2011) - AKB48 - 1,354,492

3. "Everyday, Kachusha" (2011) - AKB48 - 1,333,969

4. "Kaze Wa Fuiteiru" (2011) - AKB48 - 1,300,482

5. "Give Me Five!" (2012) - AKB48 - 1,287,217

6. "Namonaki Uta" (1996) - Mr. Children - 1,208,230

7. "Uekara Mariko" (2011) - AKB48 - 1,198,864

8. "Addicted To You" (1999) - Hikaru Utada - 1,067,510

9. "Dango 3 Kyoudai" (1999) - Kentaro Hayami, Ayumi Shigemori, Himawari Kids & Dango Gasshoudan - 1,025,740

10. "Winter, Again" (1999) - Glay - 955,780

It's this high because the most popular member is "graduating" out of the group, hence this being her last single as well as this is 2012's election single.

 

Nevertheless impressive :o

It doesn't impress me at all. AKB48 whole thing is pressuring their rabid fanbase to buy 100 copies each. Besides kids under 15 and perverted man, they're really not well-liked by the Japanese public. Then again, it shows the buying power "otakus" have.

It doesn't impress me at all. AKB48 whole thing is pressuring their rabid fanbase to buy 100 copies each. Besides kids under 15 and perverted man, they're really not well-liked by the Japanese public. Then again, it shows the buying power "otakus" have.

 

You really talk a bunch of shit.

 

AKB48 is obviously the biggest girl group in Japan and the public DO like them. If not, digitally they don't be having digital hits after one and another because really, hardcore fans buy physical whereas casual/interested in song listeners download it digitally. :rolleyes:

 

Plus, NO-ONE is forcing their fans to buy copies of their single. Is anyone handcuffed or threatened to buy them singles in order to boost sales up? NO. And to be fair, it's a clever strategy pulling tie-ins with it, not to mention almost ALL idol groups in Japan such as the Johnnies e.g KAT-TUN, Arashi, NEWS, etc etc have all these treatments and do you think they all sell that much? NO. Selling 1.6million PHYSICAL singles is not impressive? At this current climate, I would say it very much is so.

 

Talking about perverted old men in Japan, young teenage females drool upon male idols in Japan just as much as the "old" men do. Do you see male idol groups sell in Japan nearly as well? And so it's very much appropriate for teenage girls to buy male vocalists but wrong for a guy past their teenage years to buy female vocalist songs?

 

Go and do your research before coming back.

Edited June 1, 201213 yr by Oricon

Go and do your research before coming back.

That's so ironic it's not even funny.

 

Do you know anything about Dentsu, the ad agency that runs AKB48 and basically has the monopoly of Japanese media? Do you know anything about niche culture in Japan and their buying power? Do you know anything about the extensive market research that has been done which makes it clear AKB48 is NOT popular among the general public? Any dumbass can look at charts and draw conclusions from that but, in Japan, with niche groups with extreme buying power, it's not even close to being that simple. That said, I won't even bother going on a discussion with you because I can already feel it's rather pointless. bye

That's so ironic it's not even funny.

 

Do you know anything about Dentsu, the ad agency that runs AKB48 and basically has the monopoly of Japanese media? Do you know anything about niche culture in Japan and their buying power? Do you know anything about the extensive market research that has been done which makes it clear AKB48 is NOT popular among the general public? Any dumbass can look at charts and draw conclusions from that but, in Japan, with niche groups with extreme buying power, it's not even close to being that simple. That said, I won't even bother going on a discussion with you because I can already feel it's rather pointless. bye

 

Of course I do, I have followed Japan's music industry for quite some years tbh. So basically, the agency that runs AKB48 just happens to control the monopoly of Japanese media. If so, why havn't you done the research on their early days when they were considered "indie" and basically sold less than 50,000 per single. Dentsu had so much power then yet it only convinced barely anyone to buy their material :rolleyes: .

 

Extensive market research? Are you sure it's not just some bullshit poll done by around less than 500 people? You still havn't answered many of the questions which I layed down as FACTS that they are popular within the general public because in Japans digital market, ONLY artists who have a casual fanbase dominate there unlike physical which is the hardcore fanbase kingdom. They only reached extreme buying power back after Heavy Rotation exploded massively actually. It's more rather so called "heavy marketing, heavy promotion, strong handshake tie-ins, high-five events, signings, having their own theatre, having enough members to attract everyone who buys to have at least a bias, etc etc". I can give you a whole more evidence in that they're more popular than what you think they are compared to what you can give to me.

 

Clearly you're backing out of this, nothing you stated has even any evidence but your word of mouth whereas I would be happy to lay down a bunch of evidence to state they are popular.

 

kthxbye

Of course I do, I have followed Japan's music industry for quite some years tbh. So basically, the agency that runs AKB48 just happens to control the monopoly of Japanese media. If so, why havn't you done the research on their early days when they were considered "indie" and basically sold less than 50,000 per single. Dentsu had so much power then yet it only convinced barely anyone to buy their material :rolleyes: .

Because Dentsu didn't back them from day one?

 

I recommend you reading this http://neojaponisme.com/2011/11/28/the-gre...lture-part-one/ (part 4 and 5 mention AKB48 more specifically).

 

That said, I'm pretty confident I know what I'm talking about. It's rather pointless to start a discussion though: you're obviously an AKB48 fan and, besides, I'm not trying to deny their popularity (which is pretty obvious), all I'm saying is that this whole "they sell 1 million in 1 week!!" thing doesn't tell the whole story. AKB48 selling 1 million in 1 week in Japan isn't an indication of widespread popularity among the general public as it would be someone selling 500k in the UK. The Japanese industry works in a completely different way and its niche culture buying power is at another level.

Because Dentsu didn't back them from day one?

 

I recommend you reading this http://neojaponisme.com/2011/11/28/the-gre...lture-part-one/ (part 4 and 5 mention AKB48 more specifically).

 

That said, I'm pretty confident I know what I'm talking about. It's rather pointless to start a discussion though: you're obviously an AKB48 fan and, besides, I'm not trying to deny their popularity (which is pretty obvious), all I'm saying is that this whole "they sell 1 million in 1 week!!" thing doesn't tell the whole story. AKB48 selling 1 million in 1 week in Japan isn't an indication of widespread popularity among the general public as it would be someone selling 500k in the UK. The Japanese industry works in a completely different way and its niche culture buying power is at another level.

 

Basing all your argument on one article is clearly a bit dumb, the article mentions how some AKB48 fans do buy even up to 5,500 singles in order to boost the girls in the likes of election, however I know people and saw images of people buying even MORE for different artists so that argument is clearly invalid? Not to mention the article itself is clearly very one way biased as well.

 

I'm not an AKB48 hardcore fan, I'm a casual fan who buys probably every single AKB48 single in ONE edition ONLY and not the sub-units/solo releases as it's nice to have a copy of it and support them legally as I cannot download from Recochoku and the other Japan digital portals but that's only one though. You did state in your original post how besides kids under 15 and perverted men (I suppose I am one then since I am 19 and don't fall underneath the "Kid" category), the public isn't interested in them which is clearly false. Sure yes they have more male fans than female but that's how asian culture goes, boy groups = female fans and girl groups = male fans just like K-Pop.

 

Of course selling 1 million+ isn't an indiciation of widespread popularity among the general public, I have stated numerous times that Physical releases are the fanbase popularity which is normally targetted towards young teenagers who get their money from their parents or for those who have a job and are able to purchase copies of singles. The digital releases however indicate the general public popularity very much as it's much easier to purchase a sole song which is 10x more cheaper than the singer and they only purchase it IF they like it. The Japanese industry do work in a different way but that's because it's completely different from the likes of UK/US. Is it impressive? Very much so as Japan is small compared to the US so obviously music is a much bigger thing there than the likes of the UK/States.

 

That is all.

Basing all your argument on one article is clearly a bit dumb, the article mentions how some AKB48 fans do buy even up to 5,500 singles in order to boost the girls in the likes of election, however I know people and saw images of people buying even MORE for different artists so that argument is clearly invalid? Not to mention the article itself is clearly very one way biased as well.

I'm not basing my opinion on one article though. But even if I was, it is still an extremely well researched article from someone that has a clear perspective and ACTUALLY LIVES IN JAPAN and understands Japanese culture/subculture. And if all you took from the essay was the guy who bought 5500 singles (which the writer himself acknowledges isn't probably a reliable info) then you're clearly missing the point.

 

My point still remains. I'm interested in Jpop and, more than that, marketing in Japan and the general culture. And, based on my research and my impressions, I came to the conclusion AKB48 is not well liked among the general public and, although they are extremely well promoted and popular, they're still a somewhat niche group which panders to the "otaku" demographic (which is a demographic that is marginalized by the wider society). Ask anyone who actually lives in Japan and chances are they'll agree with me.

 

And while I do agree with you the digital music charts is a much better reflection of the general Japanese public buying tastes, you'll see that while AKB does well at the digital market (they ARE popular after all), they don't do anywhere as well as they do on the physical and their domination is clearly not as strong.

I'm not basing my opinion on one article though. But even if I was, it is still an extremely well researched article from someone that has a clear perspective and ACTUALLY LIVES IN JAPAN and understands Japanese culture/subculture. And if all you took from the essay was the guy who bought 5500 singles (which the writer himself acknowledges isn't probably a reliable info) then you're clearly missing the point.

 

My point still remains. I'm interested in Jpop and, more than that, marketing in Japan and the general culture. And, based on my research and my impressions, I came to the conclusion AKB48 is not well liked among the general public and, although they are extremely well promoted and popular, they're still a somewhat niche group which panders to the "otaku" demographic (which is a demographic that is marginalized by the wider society). Ask anyone who actually lives in Japan and chances are they'll agree with me.

 

And while I do agree with you the digital music charts is a much better reflection of the general Japanese public buying tastes, you'll see that while AKB does well at the digital market (they ARE popular after all), they don't do anywhere as well as they do on the physical and their domination is clearly not as strong.

 

The only reason I bring in the digital market perspective is to prove that they have general popularity in the public as acts don't do well if they don't and rely solely on fanbase. Of course digital will be lower than physical though as their fanbase would've bought the physical already and plus, one person is more likely to buy multiple CDs rather than download the same song twice tbh with no side gimmicks attached.

 

I still stand on my point though and that is AKB48 is well liked by the general public for me and are very popular in Japan atm, the biggest girl group actually ever since Morning Musume came into being.

I still stand on my point though and that is AKB48 is well liked by the general public for me and are very popular in Japan atm, the biggest girl group actually ever since Morning Musume came into being.

Morning Musume is an interesting comparision to make. AKB48 domination is much bigger and they have a wider share of the market than MomoMusu at their peak but Morning Musume were actually much more liked by different segments of the population than AKB.

Morning Musume is an interesting comparision to make. AKB48 domination is much bigger and they have a wider share of the market than MomoMusu at their peak but Morning Musume were actually much more liked by different segments of the population than AKB.

 

That I 100% agree with. I do not understand how they were so big back then but not now. I guess after all the popular members left, the group basically collapsed.

 

I am interested in what happens in AKB48's future singles as Matasu no Sounds good! was Maeda Atsuko's graduation single. Will they drop or continue to rise?

I am interested in what happens in AKB48's future singles as Matasu no Sounds good! was Maeda Atsuko's graduation single. Will they drop or continue to rise?

They're so powerfully backed by Dentsu that I would bet they will stay popular for awhile and Maeda's graduation will help the buzz around them till, at least, the end of the year. Sooner or later, they'll collapse though, it is bound to happen. The moment their singles stop clearing 1 million in a week there'll be lots of negative buzz and, imo, they'll start to fall but I have no idea when it'll happen...

They're so powerfully backed by Dentsu that I would bet they will stay popular for awhile and Maeda's graduation will help the buzz around them till, at least, the end of the year. Sooner or later, they'll collapse though, it is bound to happen. The moment their singles stop clearing 1 million in a week there'll be lots of negative buzz and, imo, they'll start to fall but I have no idea when it'll happen...

 

I still don't believe that Dentsu tbh but nevertheless your partially true. They WILL collapse one day just like the likes of Hikaru Utada, Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi, SPEED, GIRLS CAN'T CATCH did. So will the K-Pop boom in Japan.

 

Nothing lasts forever though, still find this feat impressive. Just waiting until they clear 2 million in a week (if ever ;))

I still don't believe that Dentsu tbh but nevertheless your partially true. They WILL collapse one day just like the likes of Hikaru Utada, Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi, SPEED, GIRLS CAN'T CATCH did. So will the K-Pop boom in Japan.

 

Nothing lasts forever though, still find this feat impressive. Just waiting until they clear 2 million in a week (if ever ;))

What's not to believe though? Dentsu is the biggest advertising agency in the world, has the monopoly of Japanese advertising world/media and has backed AKB since 2010. Nothing I'm saying isn't a fact, you can Google around yourself.

 

You want another example of Dentsu incredible hold? Facebook. It wasn't popular in Japan until last year when they Densu was hired to be their media representative in the country and, since then, it became quite popular. All of this is well documented by the Japanese press and even a few English speak sites. If you're doubting their power you obviously don't know much about Japanese media tbh.

Edited June 2, 201213 yr by André

What's not to believe though? Dentsu is the biggest advertising agency in the world, has the monopoly of Japanese advertising world/media and has backed AKB since 2010. Nothing I'm saying isn't a fact, you can Google around yourself.

 

You want another example of Dentsu incredible hold? Facebook. It wasn't popular in Japan until last year when they Densu was hired to be their media representative in the country and, since then, it became quite popular. All of this is well documented by the Japanese press and even a few English speak sites. If you're doubting their power you obviously don't know much about Japanese media tbh.

 

Dentsu aren't the only agency who has media power. Plus I'm pretty sure they don't JUST back AKB48 but a few other artists as well.

 

All this agency does is mass promotion and advertisement so I hardly fail to see why AKB48 are getting blamed for being popular because of all the treatment they receive?

 

We are going off the loop ATM tbh, 1.6 million singles is still impressive. Not even worldwide artists such as Gaga, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Britney Spears can sell that much in a week for an ALBUM Physically + Digitally nevermind physical singles.

Edited June 2, 201213 yr by Oricon

Dentsu aren't the only agency who has media power. Plus I'm pretty sure they don't JUST back AKB48 but a few other artists as well.

 

All this agency does is mass promotion and advertisement so I hardly fail to see why AKB48 are getting blamed for being popular because of all the treatment they receive?

 

Dentsu IS the only agency that has media power in Japan though. Up to like 10 years ago they had the complete monopoly to the advertising world over there (which literally means they were the ONLY agency) and even now they're still 472474 times more powerful than any other ad agency and they work directly with the biggest companies in Japan. I'm not trying to say their success is a BIG ILLUSION manipulated by Dentsu. But does it help tremendously? It does.

 

But oh well, Dentsu or not, 1 million in a week is still impressive. I'm not trying to deny their success in any way, the numbers are clear.