Quaoar

RIAJ have today published the monthly download chart for August 2007. http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/SRCL-6608-9.jpg 01　RSP - Lifetime Respect -Onna hen- 02　RIP SLYME - Nettaiya 03　ORANGE RANGE - Ikenai Taiyo 04　GReeeeN - Aiuta 05　Ayumi Hamasaki - talkin' 2 myself 06　Mika Nakashima - Life 07　Kazumasa Oda - Kokoro 08　Keisuke Kuwata - Kaze no Uta wo kikasete 09　Ai Otsuka - Peach 10　EXILE - Toki no Kakera 11　Monkey Majik - Sora wa Marude 12　Dreams Come True - Ai$h!teru no Sain -Wata$h!tachi no Mirai Yosozu- 13　GReeeeN - Michi 14　MINMI - Sha na na 15　mihimaru GT - Gazen Yeah! 16　Noriyuki Makihara - Green Days 17　Utada Hikaru - Beautiful World 18　FLOW - Answer 19　Ayumi Hamasaki - Glitter 20　Aqua Timez - Alones This chart is a summation of three types of download: 45 second ringtonessongs downloaded to mobile phonesongs downloaded to PCAugust Download chart: 1 - 50 | 51 - 100 | certifications GReeeeN and Ayumi Hamasaki both have two songs in the Top 20. GReeeeN also receive a gold certification for downloads to PC of "Aiuta".

Thanks for your comments. :) I can't take exception to any of the above. The new daily rankings are quite fun. Singles really are a two horse race between Ayu and Tohoshinki. They are the only people to outsell last week's top 2. I see little chance of Ayu missing this. Eight new albums in the daily Top 10 with, predictably, Angela Aki looking comfortable at the top. But Will I Am misses the Top 10 and James Blunt seems to have a flop on his hands. One oveseas act has come through at No.9 - goth metal band Arch Enemy, who will be playing dates in Japan during October. Shokotan has got No.5, one ahead of Maki Goto. Looks like an interesting week to watch. All being well, we will get the August download rankings tomorrow.

These are the Top 10's for singles and albums that Oricon will publish tomorrow, for week ending 2007-09-24. ~Singles~ http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/3711/kinkikids26buw2.jpg 01　 190,495　 KinKi Kids - Eien ni　 (190,495) 02　 *65,276　 Koda Kumi - Ai no Uta　 (65,276) 03　 *30,936　 Arashi - Happyness 　 (223,132) 04　 *28,284　 Utada Hikaru - Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry　 (173,439) 05　 *25,825　 ayaka - CLAP & LOVE / Why　 (42,197) 06　 *20,272　 Ken Harai - fake star　 (20,272) 07　 *17,492　 Perfume - Polyrhythm　 (17,492) 08　 *17,243　 Oshiri Kajiri Mushi - Oshiri Kajiri Mushi　 (54,429) 09　 *15,608　 SOPHIA - Aozora no Kakera　 (15,608) 10　 *11,903　 Ongaku Gatas - Nari Hajimeta Koi no Bell　 (11,903) KinKi Kids score their 26th consecutive No.1 hit. Ayaka's second week sales, aided by the delayed release of an additional format, were nearly 10k higher than for the first week enabling her to retain the No.5 spot. Oshiri Kajiri Mushi is another musical spin-off from childrens television show "Minna no Uta" (who previously brought you "Boku wa Kuma"). After eight weeks of unobtrusively climbing the chart, this single has now arrived in the Top 10. ~Albums~ http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/8437/v6voyagerak6.jpg 01　 76,122　 V6 - Voyager　 (76,122) 02　 49,726　 Ketsumeishi - Ketsunopolice 5　 (596,576) 03　 47,078　 Dragon Ash - The Best Of Dragon Ash with Changes vol.2　 (153,487) 04　 43,110　 BOOWY - THIS BOOWY DRAMATIC　 (134,278) 05　 41,629　 BOOWY - THIS BOOWY DRASTIC　 (131,914) 06　 38,619　 Dragon Ash - The Best Of Dragon Ash with Changes vol.1　 (134,813) 07　 32,428　 The Cro-magnons - Cave Party　 (32,428) 08　 31,049　 Hideaki Tokunaga - Vocalist 3　 (360,082) 09　 27,502　 Leah Dizon - Destiny Line　 (27,502) 10　 25,960　 KREVA - Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu　 (103,021) The "Voyager" album form boy-band V6 enters the record-book as the 1000th album to top the Japanese album chart. New Releases - Singles Ayumi Hamasaki - talkin' 2 myself Tohoshinki - SHINE / Ride on Chihiro Onitsuka - Bokura Barairo no Hibi Hitoto Yo - Tsunaide Te Since Tohoshinki have had two consecutive No.2 hits, a few eyebrows have been raised by their record label's decision to all but deny them the opportunity to go one better. Next week Tohoshinki go head to head with Avex's biggest selling artist Ayumi Hamasaki. New Releases - Albums Angela Aki - TODAY Hikawa Kiyoshi - Enka Meikyoku Collection 7 Abayo Kiyoshi no Soran bushi James Blunt - All the lost souls BUCK-TICK - Tenshi no Revolver Maki Goto - How to use SEXY Will I Am - Songs About Girls AAA - Around Fumido - Fumido 3 Shoko Nakagawa - Shokotan Cover x2 Anison ni Ai wo komete!! While Angela Aki is tipped to take the No.1 position in next week's album chart, Enka singer Hikawa Kiyoshi and overseas artists James Blunt and Will I Am are also in contention for a Top 10 finish. Note also that Oricon apparently intend to classify Shoko Nakagawa's 5 track EP of Anime covers as an album, even though it will retail for not much more than the price of a single.. Oricon: Singles | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Albums | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Daily rankings are updated at noon (european time), new weekly charts are plubished each Wednesday.

More news about Joni and the new album from The Age

Sorry to disappoint, but it looks like it's missed the Top 50. Yes, the Utada tortoise often wins the race in the end. ;) I'm not really a rock fan and BOOWY are pretty much nostalgia now - but I do have a sneaking respect for Tomoyasu Hotei who is a 'cool dude'. There is a chance Namie will have made the half-million this week. She was 2,769 short last week - waiting for the number. I think Kuu may have a battle on her hands to stop Ken Harai taking No.2. I'm wondering if the gossip about her romance with Masahiro Nakai will impact sales?

These are the Top 10's for singles and albums that Oricon will publish tomorrow, for week ending 2007-09-17. ~Singles~ http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/6329/arashihappynesshq8.jpg 01　 192,196　 Arashi - Happyness　 (192,196) 02　 *51,637　 Utada Hikaru - Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry　 (145,155) 03　 *18,584　 EXILE - Toki no Kakera / 24karats -type EX- 　 (113,883) 04　 *17,440　 Keisuke Kuwata - Kaze no Uta wo Kikasete　 (147,785) 05　 *16,372　 ayaka - CLAP & LOVE / Why　 (16,372) 06　 *16,057　 L'Arc~en~Ciel - My Heart Draws A Dream　 (128,664) 07　 *14,917　 Yuuto Sakurai & Denebu - Action-Zero　 (14,917) 08　 *14,734　 Aya Hirano - Lucky Star Character song Vol.001 Konata Izumi　 (14,734) 09　 *14,234　 Emiri Kato - Lucky Star Character song Vol.002 Kagami Hiiragi　 (14,234) 10　 *13,898　 Mika Nakashima - Life　 (96,440) ~Albums~ http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/6527/tfcc86233ir4.jpg 01　 114,009　 Ketsumeishi - Ketsunopolice 5　 (546,850) 02　 106,409　 Dragon Ash - The Best Of Dragon Ash with Changes vol.2　 (106,409) 03　 *96,194　 Dragon Ash - The Best Of Dragon Ash with Changes vol.1　 (96,194) 04　 *91,168　 BOOWY - THIS BOOWY DRAMATIC　 (91,168) 05　 *90,285　 BOOWY - THIS BOOWY DRASTIC　 (90,285) 06　 *77,061　 KREVA - Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu　 (77,061) 07　 *49,206　 Hideaki Tokunaga - Vocalist 3　 (329,033) 08　 *46,608　 Yoshii Kazuya - Hummingbird in Forest of Space　 (46,608) 09　 *40,206　 Ken Yokoyama - Third Time's A Charm　 (40,206) 10　 *23,218　 Kome Kome Club - komedia.jp　 (23,218) Boy band Arashi take top honours in the singles chart. First week sales of 192,196 for their 20th single "Happyness" gives them their 16th No.1 hit. Ketsumeishi retain the top spot in the albums chart for a second week and in so doing, sail effortlessly past the half-million mark after two weeks on the chart. Hip-hop outfit Dragon Ash and old-time rockers BOOWY jump on the current bandwagon for 'best of' compilations and in so doing occupy the No.2 to 5 positions. New Releases - Singles KinKi Kids - eien ni Koda Kumi - ai no uta Ken Harai - fake star New Releases - Albums V6 - Voyager The Cro-magnons - Cave Party Leah Dizon - Destiny Live The Birthday - Teardrop Anri - Tears of Anri Oricon: Singles | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Albums | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Daily rankings are updated at noon (european time), new weekly charts are plubished each Wednesday.

At No.16 with sales of 9,397. Once again, ayaka has debuted at No.4. It looks as if Arashi may have outsold her nearly 20:1 for the first day. Maybe this isn't really such bad news for ayaka. Could it be that people have decided she is an 'albums' artist? If so they are simple waiting for these singles to be bundled on the next album - which will then go straight to the top. Sometimes people attach too much significance to chart positions. We had an interesting chart battle between three big selling singles last week. This week it already looks as if Hikki's second week sales might see her climb to No.2, since this week's story is Arashi - and no-one else. Yes, the albums are mostly low profile releases. I would be interested to hear the FreeTEMPO album, but don't expect it to shift many copies.

These are the Top 10's for singles and albums that Oricon will publish tomorrow, for week ending 2007-09-10. ~Singles~ http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/4673/larcencielkscl1159mn1.jpg 01　 112,607　 L'Arc~en~Ciel - My Heart Draws A Dream　 (112,607) 02　 *95,299　 EXILE - Toki no Kakera / 24karats -type EX-　 (95,299) 03　 *93,518　 Utada Hikaru - Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry 　 (93,518) 04　 *37,033　 Keisuke Kuwata - Kaze no Uta wo Kikasete　 (130,345) 05　 *26,110　 Mika Nakashima - Life　 (82,542) 06　 *16,685　 Park Yong Ha - Eien　 (16,685) 07　 *15,525　 aiko - Hoshi no Nai Sekai / Yokogao　 (91,930) 08　 *14,734　 Nami Tamaki - Brightdown　 (14,734) 09　 *14,548　 Kazumasa Oda - Kokoro　 (88,774) 10　 *14,423　 Masafumi Akikawa - Sen no Kaze ni Natte　 (1,060,994) One of Japan's premiere rock groups takes the No.1 position in this weeks singles chart. Since their debut in 1991, L'Arc~en~Ciel have been a major force within the Japanese music industry. "My Heart Draws A Dream" is their 35th single and gives them their second No.1 hit of 2007. ~Albums~ http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/TFCC-86233.jpg 01　 432,841　 Ketsumeishi - Ketsunopolice 5　 (432,841) 02　 140,302　 Porno Graffitti - Porno Graffitti　 (140,302) 03　 *83,290　 Hideaki Tokunaga - Vocalist 3　 (279,827) 04　 *31,889　 Sukima Switch - Greatest Hits　 (560,297) 05　 *21,820　 Various Artists - Climax -Dramatic Songs-　 (40,724) 06　 *17,508　 Yanawaraba - Uta Gusui　 (17,508) 07　 *16,330　 Various Artists - R35 Sweet J-Ballads　 (428,262) 08　 *15,050　 Hideaki Tokunaga - Vocalist　 (414,793) 09　 *14,452　 Hideaki Tokunaga - Vocalist 2　 (348,980) 10　 *13,154　 MONKEY MAJIK - Sora wa Marude　 (236,445) The holiday period is over, the kids are back at school and suddenly album sales have re-bounded. Ketsumeshi book first week sales of 432,841 to take the No.1 spot with their 5th album "Ketsunopolice 5". With all three of Hideaki Tokunaga's "Vocalist" albums now in the Top 10, Oricon has seen fit to point out that the total sales for the three albums combined has passed the million mark. Okinawan girl duo Yanawaraba make their first Top 10 appearance in any chart. None of their eight singles have graced the Top 20 but several of them have nevertheless attracted considerable attention and this has finally paid off with the release of their first full length album "Uta Gusui". New Releases - Singles Arashi - Happyness ayaka - CLAP & LOVE / Why Chatmonchy - Daidai New Releases - Albums KREVA - Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu Yoshii Kazuya - Hummingbird in Forest of Space Dragon Ash - The Best Of Dragon Ash with Changes vol.1 Dragon Ash - The Best Of Dragon Ash with Changes vol.2 Oricon: Singles | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Albums | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Daily rankings are updated at noon (european time), new weekly charts are plubished each Wednesday.

2007-03-07：鈴木亜美 joins Buffalo Daughter : 472007-03-14：鈴木亜美 joins THC!! : 46 (first week - 2,892)2007-03-21：鈴木亜美 joins キリンジ : 39 (first week - 2,790)Can't find the figure for the first one. I'm still not sure what the 'objective' of CONNETTA was, but I certainly agree that it a) did not succeed and b) seriously pissed-off her new Avex fanbase. I'm inclined to wonder if Ami may have had some personal input into the 're-think' that led to "CONNETTA". She had spent all her life doing what record labels told her to do - I'm sure that's true of "Around the World" as well, since it was her chance to get back into the music business. But it seems that Max Matsuura is personally managing Ami (as he does with Ayu) which must put her in a stronger position than some other Avex artists. I wouldn't label "CONNETTA" as 'dreadful' (except for track 04, which is dreadful). It's a completely different sort of exercise to "Around the World" and it's not easy to make a meaningful comparison of the two albums. Whatever. "CONNETTA" is history now and "FREE FREE" is the first step towards her third Avex album. We'll just have to wait and see how things develop. I wasn't expecting to see EXILE ahead of Hikki on the daily.

Ami finished the week at 32. Looks like "FREE FREE" sold just under 6k. Even that is a better showing than the three colaboration singles that were released in advance of "CONNETTA". I conferss I find this weeks charts a tad dull. There is plenty of action in the singles chart, but nothing much that appeals to me at a personal level. The album chart is moribund, still suffering under the influence of the holiday season. Some brighter spots: One of may favourite singers, Eiko Shimamiya, has taken the No.12 spot on the singles chart. Given "Naraku no Hana" has no video and has had no promotion other than being used as an anime theme, that seems a fairly good result. On the album chart, Chiaki Ishikawa takes No.28 with what I think is one of the best albums of the year. It seems Namie's sales have taken something of a tumble this week. She's down at No.44 which implies it may still be 3, perhaps 4 weeks before "PLAY" reaches the half-million. I shall be interested to see tomorrows daily figures. I really don't know if Hikki can pull this one off. The NINKI has a bad habit of over-estimating the potential of singles from high profile artists. The Yahoo straw-poll is telling a different story.

These are the Top 10's for singles and albums that Oricon will publish tomorrow, for week ending 2007-09-03. ~Singles~ http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/VICL-36800.jpg 01　 93,312　 Keisuke Kuwata - Kaze no Uta wo Kikasete　 (93,312) 02　 76,405　 aiko - Hoshi no Nai Sekai / Yokogao　 (76,405) 03　 56,432　 Mika Nakashima - Life 　 (56,432) 04　 41,838　 Nana Mizuki - Massive wonders　 (41,838) 05　 32,858　 Tokyo Jihen - Killer tune　 (32,858) 06　 29,460　 Ginnan Boyz - I Don't Wanna Die　 (29,460) 07　 25,931　 Kazumasa Oda - Kokoro　 (74,196) 08　 23,034　 RSP - Lifetime Respect -Onna hen-　 (78,351) 09　 19,528　 Kazuya Yoshii - Shredder　 (19,528) 10　 18,355　 the brilliant green - Stand By Me　 (18,355) Eight new entries in the Top 10. Veteran lead singer of the Southern All Stars, Keisuke Kuwata, tops the singles chart as a solo artist for the second time this year. Kuwata, who has been a permanent fixture on the Japanese music scene for more than 25 years, has career sales of 47 million with Southern All Stars and has augmented his CV with a string of other projects (colaborations, solo work and film directing). ~Albums~ http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/UMCK-9185.jpg 01　 80,785　 Hideaki Tokunaga - Vocalist 3　 (196,537) 02　 51,569　 Sukima Switch - Greatest Hits　 (528,408) 03　 19,622　 Various Artists - R35 Sweet J-Ballads　 (411,932) 04　 18,904　 Various Artists - Climax -Dramatic Songs-　 (18,904) 05　 18,702　 MONKEY MAJIK - Sora wa Marude　 (223,291) 06　 18,586　 ZARD　Brezza di mare ～dedicated to IZUMI SAKAI～　 (105,317) 07　 18,460　 ZARD　Soffio di vento ～Best of IZUMI SAKAI Selection～　 (107,183) 08　 15,885　 Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra - Braban! Koshien　 (61,126) 09　 13,137　 ORANGE RANGE - RANGE　 (370,936) 10　 12,723　 Various Artists - Beautiful Songs Vol.2　 (12,723) Hideaki Tokunaga's "Vocalist 3" claims a second week at No.1. The success of this album has also pulled it's predecessors back up the chart. "Vocalist" ends the week at No.13 (total sales 399,743) and "Vocalist 2" is at No.16 (total sales 334,528). At No.2, Sukima Switch's "Greatest Hits" offering passes the half-million mark after 4 weeks on the chart. New Releases - Singles Utada Hikaru - Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry L'Arc~en~Ciel - My Heart Draws A Dream EXILE - Toki no Kakera / 24karats -type EX- Park Youg Ha - Eien Nanamusica - Kanata Even though the NINKI is calling this one for Hikki, I'm inclined to think next week's singles chart battle is still too close to call with any certainty. New Releases - Albums Ketsumeishi - Ketsunopolice 5 Porno Graffitti - Porno Graffitti Yanawaraba - Uta Gusui Hip-hop influenced vocal group Ketsumeishi release their 5th album and go head to head with rock duo Porno Graffitti who release their 7th. Oricon: Singles | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Albums | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Daily rankings are updated at noon (european time), new weekly charts are plubished each Wednesday.

DVD: KOTOKO - Starlight Symphony ~Live in Yokohama Arena~ [wmv] single: Nanamusica - Kanata [wmv]

from The Guardian Music Week, the influential trade title, will this week publish a chart based on the internet listening habits of the social networking site Last.fm, the first time the magazine has included data from an online supplier. The move is an indication of the increasing influence of online social networks on the charts, and an acknowledgement of the ability of a group of musical tastemakers to predict future stars. Last.fm has become something of a cult among music obsessives since it was founded five years ago. Users download a desktop program that tracks every song played through their computer's music player. They can then build their own customised "radio stations" based on tracks they like, and link to similar artists recommended by others. To music industry watchers, however, it's the data generated by the site's 20 million enthusiasts that is priceless. Last.fm's weekly charts, the site claims, are much more significant for the industry than reviews or even sales data, which cannot trace how often tracks are listened to once they have been bought. In addition, they say, they are less subject to huge marketing spends and targeted buying which critics say can distort the traditional charts. "Our users are on street level and they pick up music as it happens," said Last.fm spokesman Christian Ward. Referring to the early popularity on the site of Gnarls Barkley, he said: "That's the kind of thing these charts reflect and that's priceless to the industry. It's beyond our control what happens in these charts, and artists can't be artificially 'bumped up' the chart." Music Week's acting online editor Adam Benzine said Last.fm's data is important because the magazine needs to show "the most relevant, influential voices" in the industry. full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/22/1

Apparently Masafumi got the certificate yesterday. http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/694/masafumiakikawa47398200ck1.th.jpg The rest of the piece just says that it's the first time a classical singer has sold a million and that he's not change his lifestyle - still takes the tram to work. :) As of last week he had not sold a million during 2007. With the extra 23k increment this week I think he's now done it on all counts. 2006 sales were really quite small. I believe the figures are 10,634 for the 'oricon year' and 16,479 for the calendar year. [ref 1 | ref 2] I shall also be watching to see how Ami does ... and watching for Eiko Shimamiya and Chiaki Ishikawa as well. I've had the e-mail saying my copy of Chiaki's album is on it's way, so I'm waiting for the postman ... :coffee:

I wasn't expecting Hideaki Tokunaga to get the No.1 spot. Neither of the previous "Vocalist" albums made it to the top. I guess it was a clever choice of week for the release. Amusing to see Masafumi bounce back into the Top 10 on the strength of all the pubicity surrounding the 1,000,000 sales. Maybe NHK will invite him back to Kouhaku this year and the whole cycle will start all over again. SMAP went back to No.1 with "sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana", nine months after it was originally at the top, on the strength of their 2003 Kouhaku performance. At the moment, we seem to be seeing a generational split emerge between the physicals and download charts. Younger buyers are downloading (mostly to mobile phone) while older people continue to buy CDs. We had Mariya Takeuchi (52) at the top of the album chart in May and now, this week, the combined age of our two chart toppers is 105. Perhaps after the holiday season is over this wil become less obvious again.

RIAJ have today published the monthly download chart for July 2007. Since this is the 12th monthly chart RIAJ have published we now have one years worth of information and a small anniversary. http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/UPCH-80019.jpg 01　GReeeeN - Aiuta 02　Ayumi Hamasaki - Glitter 03　Ai Otsuka - Peach 04　Ayaka - Jewelry Day 05　RIP SLYME - Nettaiya 06　ERIKA - Free 07　Monkey Majik - Sora wa Marude 08　Koda Kumi - Girls 09　Namie Amuro - Hide & Seek 10　Mika Nakashima - Life 11　Koda Kumi - Freaky 12　Ayumi Hamasaki - Fated 13　Yuna Ito with Micro of Def Tech - Mahaloha 14　AI - I'll remember you 15　Noriyuki Makihara - Green Days 16　MINMI - Sha na na 17　RSP - Lifetime respect -Onna hen- 18　Dreams Come True - Kimi ni shika Kikoenai 19　Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend 20　Keisuke Kuwata - A$h!ta Harerukana This chart is a summation of three types of download: 45 second ringtonessongs downloaded to mobile phonesongs downloaded to PCJuly Download chart: 1 - 50 | 51 - 100 GReeeeN hold the top spot for a second month. Mika Nakashima appears in the download Top 10 prior to physical release of "Life". To date RIAJ have issued 17 gold certifications (100,000) and one platinum certification (250,000) for downloads to PC. When the first RIAJ monthly download chart was published for August 2006 it was accompanied by a backlog of 11 gold certifications. The complete archive of download charts is here. August 2006: gold Rimi Natsukawa - Namida so so Ai Otsuka - Sakuranbo Ayaka Hirahara - Jupiter O-ZONE - Dragonstea Din Tei Hitoto Yo - Hanamizuki AI - Story Remioromen - Konayuki MONKEY MAJIK - Around the World Utada Hikaru - Keep Tryin' mihimaru GT - Kibun Jojo Utada Hikaru - This is love October 2006: gold Spitz - Maho no Kotoba January 2007: gold DJ OZMA - Age Age Every Knight March 2007: gold Utada Hikaru - Flavor of Life April 2007: gold ayaka - Mikazuki Utada Hikaru - Flavor of Life (ballad version) May 2007: gold ayaka - I believe July 2007: platinum Utada Hikaru - Flavor of Life

These are the Top 10's for singles and albums that Oricon will publish tomorrow, for week ending 2007-08-27. ~Singles~ http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/FHCL-7004.jpg 01　 48,265　 Kazumasa Oda - Kokoro　 (48,265) 02　 45,022　 TOKIO - Honjitsu, Mijukumono / Over Drive　 (45,022) 03　 29,028　 Noriyuki Makihara - GREEN DAYS 　 (29,028) 04　 28,840　 RSP - Lifetime Respect -Onna hen-　 (55,317) 05　 24,802　 mihimaru GT - Gazen Yeah!　 (24,802) 06　 23,286　 Masafumi Akikawa - Sen no Kaze ni Natte　 (1,028,395) 07　 16,517　 Hey! Say! 7 - Hey! Say!　 (161,761) 08　 16,119　 The Cro-magnons - Girigigagangan　 (16,119) 09　 15,895　 FLOW - Answer　 (54,274) 10　 14,030　 Aqua Timez - Alones　 (83,353) ~Albums~ http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/UMCK-9185.jpg 01　 115,752　 Hideaki Tokunaga - Vocalist 3　 (115,752) 02　 *88,723　 ZARD　Soffio di vento ～Best of IZUMI SAKAI Selection～　 (88,723) 03　 *86,731　 ZARD　Brezza di mare ～dedicated to IZUMI SAKAI～　 (86,731) 04　 *85,660　 Sukima Switch - Greatest Hits　 (476,839) 05　 *34,053　 MONKEY MAJIK - Sora wa Marude　 (204,587) 06　 *27,128　 Various Artists - R35 Sweet J-Ballads　 (392,310) 07　 *26,871　 ORANGE RANGE - RANGE　 (357,799) 08　 *23,424　 ORANGE RANGE - ORANGE　 (342,696) 09　 *17,712　 Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra - Braban! Koshien　 (45,241) 10　 *17,344　 KobuKuro - All Singles Best　 (2,459,570) With the O-bon holiday period at it's peak, this week's charts are not quite 'business as usual'. At the top of the singles chart, Kazumasa Oda will celebrate his 60 birthday next month. He is no stranger to the top of the chart. In 1991 a single entitled "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" sold 2,587,840 copies and is currently at No.8 on the all time list of big sellers. In September 2005 Hideaki Tokunaga (he's only 46) released an album of cover versions entitled "Vocalist". This turned into a long running success story (87 weeks on the album chart so far) and was inevitably followed last year by "Vocalist 2", and now by this weeks No.1 album "Vocalist 3". New Releases - Singles Keisuke Kuwata - Kaze no Uta wo Kikasete aiko - Hoshi no Nai Sekai / Yokogao Tokyo Jihen - Killer tune Nana Mizuki - Massive wonders Mika Nakashima - Life The Brilliant Green - Stand by me Ami Suzuki - FREE FREE Keisuke Kuwata scored a No.1 hit at the end of May with "A$h!ta Harerukana" and this new release could well see him return to the top position. New Releases - Albums ALI Project - Psychedelic Insanity Chiaki Ishikawa - Boku wa Mada Nani mo Shiranai This week's relatively low-profile set of album releases may make little impact on next week's top chart positions. Oricon: Singles | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Albums | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Daily rankings are updated at noon (european time), new weekly charts are plubished each Wednesday.

The BONNIE PINK album is at No.14. Another 11,047 copies sold last week. Momusu are at No.15 on the singles chart (13,621 copies sold). I thought he would find it difficult to get the top spot, but I did expect a better showing than 4th. Well, at least he's learned something valuable - he needs the other two guys. ;) NEWS have booked exceptional sales (120k). The 20k BoA booked would have been enough for the top spot many a week. Tommy and Hikki are my two original j-pop godesses. It's all their fault. They got me into all this. :wub:

These are the Top 10's for singles and albums that Oricon will publish tomorrow, for week ending 2007-08-20. ~Singles~ http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/6884/ttavcd31302yt8.jpg 01　 57,771　 Tackey & Tsubasa - Samurai　 (57,771) 02　 34,487　 UVERworld - Shaka Beach ~Laka Laka La~　 (34,487) 03　 29,825　 Lucky Star - Lucky Star ~Re-Mix001~　 (29,825) 04　 27,376　 YUKI - Hoshikuzu Sunset　 (27,376) 05　 26,477　 RSP - Lifetime Respect - Onna hen　 (26,477) 06　 25,946　 AKB48 - Boku no Taiyo　 (25,361) 07　 24,724　 Hey! Say! 7 - Hey! Say　 (144,018) 08　 19,133　 Aqua Timez - Alones　 (69,323) 09　 16,875　 Ai Otsuka - PEACH / HEART　 (120,569) 10　 16,471　 Ikimonogakari - Natsuzora Graffiti / Seishun Line　 (16,471) 19　 11,106　 Masafumi Akikawa - Sen no Kaze ni Natte　 (1,005,109) ~Albums~ http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/AUCK-11009.jpg 01　 145,388　 Sukima Switch - Greatest Hits　 (391,179) 02　 *38,082　 ORANGE RANGE - RANGE　 (330,928) 03　 *35,066　 ORANGE RANGE - ORANGE　 (319,272) 04　 *33,067　 Micro of Def Tech - Laid Back　 (33,067) 05　 *32,808　 MONKEY MAJIK - Sora wa Marude　 (170,536) 06　 *21,752　 Crazy Ken Band - Soul Denpa　 (21,752) 07　 *19,211　 DOUBLE - Reflex　 (19,211) 08　 *17,353　 Various Artists - R35 Sweet J-Ballads　 (365,182) 09　 *16,040　 KinKi Kids - 39　 (419,145) 10　 *15,816　 GReeeeN - A, Domo. Hajimema$h!te.　 (397,397) http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/760/masafumi01ve9.jpg Masafumi Akikawa is a 39 year-old classical tenor who did his vocal training in Milan. On 24th May 2006 his record label Takumi Note released the song "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" as a CD single. At first, not a lot happened. During the first six months on release the single entered and then dropped out of the bottom of the Japanese singles chart on four separate occassions. Then at the end of November last year, NHK television made it known that Masafumi would be a guest on the traditional end of year music spectacular Kohakou Utagassen. This program starts at 8 p.m. on the evening of December 31st and sees in the new year. Radio stations dug into their archives and dusted off their copies of "Sen no kaze ni natte" and the song duly entered the singles chart for a fifth time. After Kohakou Utagassen was broadcast, sales of the single took off. Oricon have now reported that after 44 weeks on the chart, "Sen no Kaze ni Natte" has passed the million mark for physical CD sales (Oricon do not count downloads). New Releases - Singles TOKIO - "Honjitsu, Mijukumono / Over Drive" mihimaru GT - "Gazen Yeah!" Rina Aiuchi - "Mint" Kazumasa Oda - "Kokoro" Noriyuki Makihara - "GREEN DAYS" New Releases - Albums ZARD - "Soffio di vento ~Best of IZUMI SAKAI Selection~" ZARD - "Brezza di mare ~dedicated to IZUMI SAKAI~" With two 'memorial' releases from ZARD this week and another penciled-in for later in the year, the death of Izumi Sakai may yet prove to be one of the most profitable pop-star deaths since Roy Orbison. The "Soffio di vento" album can at least claim to have been in the planning prior to Izumi's passing since the tracks on this album are a personal selection of hers. "Brezza di mare" on the other hand looks like the point where sincerity gives way to commercialism. Oricon: Singles | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Albums | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Daily rankings are updated at noon (european time), new weekly charts are plubished each Wednesday.

Oricon themselves are not the problem. In April 2006 Oricon announced they were intending to publish 3 download charts (chaku uta, chaku uta full and PC downloads) as of 'last quarter 2006'. There was a press release naming the software company who had been contracted to build the system required. But it never happend. I'm not wholly sure of what happened, but my guess is that Oricon were unable to secure all the legal permissions they needed. There are quite a large number of parties involved. After the negotiations failed, RIAJ stepped in and started publishing their own monthly download chart. But the RIAJ chart is simply a ranking for all three categories combined (although the certifications are separate) without any detailed sales numbers. Oricon obviously want to count downlosds. They are a market research organisation with a strong focus on the music industry. Doing stuff like that is their core business. I really don't care about ringtones. I view sales of those as part of the mobile phone industry, not the music industry. But it would be nice to have proper figures for the chaku uta full and PC download markets - especially since the certifications indicate that songs are being downloaded to mobile phones in huge numbers.

Globe & Mail Warner Music may go private Reuters August 8, 2007 at 9:52 AM EDT NEW YORK — Warner Music, bruised by the steady decline in CD sales, is mulling the possibility of going private, the New York Post said on Wednesday. Citing company sources, the paper said Warner Music's falling stock price and negative sentiment for the music industry in general, is frustrating Warner's financial backers. The going-private discussion at the company, home to artists such as the Flaming Lips and Kid Rock, "is understood to be in its infancy," the paper said. Warner Music on Tuesday posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss as growth in digital revenue failed to make up for declining CD sales, sending shares down as much as 10 per cent.

I was quite pleased to see Leah Dizon miss the Top 10 on today's daily rankings. ;) As far as certification is concerned - the certifications for download sales issued by RIAJ are as you note: gold = 100k, platinum = 250k, double platinum = 500k, triple platinum = 750k. Thereafter the certifications a simply increments of 1 million. By the way, mianichi reported a few days ago that GReeeeN's "aiuta" has been certified as a million seller for the 'chaku uta full' format (full song downloads to mobile phone). I presume certifications for physical sales use the same format, but I've never checked. Since we have real figures for physical sales, certifications don't really add much of value. For downloads, the certifications are the only hard numerical information we currently have. I should have checked this yesterday but I wasn't expecting last week's increase. Two weeks ago Masafumi Akikawa shifted another 6,687 copies of "sen no kaze ni natte". Last week's tally was 9,252 which puts the single at No.16 on this weeks chart and brings the cumulative sales total since the release date of 24th May 2006 to 994,003 copies. It's obviously going to be touch and go, but next week might just be the week Masafumi demonstrates that the impossible simply takes a little longer.

I'm still wondering what is to become of EMI. I find it hard to believe that the change of ownership which is currently playing out is going to be the end of the story. When Warner changed hands in 2004, they acquired a new boss who had both experience of running a major label and a personal interest in music. EMI are in the process of being bought up by a financial speculator who probably doesn't know the first damn thing about the music business. He's in it for the money. Where does that put EMI?

These are the Top 10's for singles and albums that Oricon will publish tomorrow, for week ending 2007-08-13. ~Singles~ http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2494/heysay7150rr5.jpg 01　 120,520　 Hey! Say! 7 - Hey! Say!　 (120,520) 02　 112,771　 Tohoshinki - Summer Dream　 (112,771) 03　 *50,190　 Aqua Timez - Alones　 (50,190) 04　 *31,689　 Spitz - Gunjyou　 (31,689) 05　 *29,468　 Ai Otsuka - PEACH / HEART　 (97,814) 06　 *25,361　 Kamen Rider Den-O - Perfect Action　 (25,361) 07　 *23,498　 FLOW - Answer　 (23,498) 08　 *23,059　 Sound Horizon - Seisen no Iberia　 (23,059) 09　 *22,755　 Kira☆Pika - Hana wo Pu~n　 (22,755) 10　 *16,850　 SS501 - Kokoro　 (16,850) The number 1 positions on this weeks daily rankings were: Monday - Ai Otsuka Tuesday - Tohoshinki Wednesday - Hey! Say! 7 Thursday - Tohoshinki Friday - Tohoshinki Saturday - Hey! Say! 7 Sunday - Tohoshinki Nine new entries in the Top 10. A close battle between two five-member boy-bands was finally resolved in favour of Hey! Say! 7. Yes, there are only 5 of them. Hey! Say! 7 are the latest offering from Johnny's Entertainment and the song "Hey! Say!" has been recorded as theme for anime series "Lovely Complex". Korean boy-band 동방신기 (Rising Gods of the East) originally romanised their name as Tong Vfang Xien Qi which was then abbreviated to TVXQ. When they launched in Japan as 東方神起 this was romanised as Dong Bang Shin Ki and promptly abbreviated to DBSK. But recently, Avex made the decision to start marketing the group under the name Tohoshinki. Perhaps they feel that this will avoid confusion. Since their debut in late 2004, Tohoshinki have made steady progress. The first of their 13 singles peaked at 77. All later releases have been Top 40, with the last 6 reaching the Top 10. Now they have made two consecutive appearances at No.2, with "Summer Drive" selling considerably above expectation. ~Albums~ http://www.oricon.co.jp/cdimg/AUCK-11009.jpg 01　 245,791　 Sukima Switch - Greatest Hits　 (245,791) 02　 *78,697　 ORANGE RANGE - RANGE　 (292,846) 03　 *73,402　 ORANGE RANGE - ORANGE　 (284,206) 04　 *55,418　 MONKEY MAJIK - Sora wa Marude　 (137,726) 05　 *29,873　 KinKi Kids - 39　 (403,105) 06　 *20,871　 GReeeeN - A, Domo. Hajimema$h!te.　 (381,581) 07　 *19,145　 SUM 41 - Underclass Hero　 (112,801) 08　 *18,009　 BONNIE PINK - Thinking Out Loud　 (71,614) 09　 *16,500　 Cocco - Kira Kira　 (63,927) 10　 *15,212　 Various Artists - R35 Sweet J-Ballads　 (347,829) The only new entry in the album Top 10 is at the top. Male duo Sukima Switch sell just short of quarter of a million to take the No.1 position with their "Greatest Hits" album. New Releases - Singles Tackey & Tsubasa - Samurai YUKI - Hoshikuzu Sunset UVERworld - Shaka Beach ~Laka Laka La~ Toshinobu Kubota meets KREVA - M.A.G.I.C Leah Dizon - L.O.V.E U Morning Musume, Tanjo 10 Nen Kinentai - Itoshiki Tomo e Mariya Takeuchi - Chance no Maegami / Jinsei no Tobira Every Little Thing - Kirameki Hour Tackey & Tsubasa are favourites to Top next weeks singles chart. Any ruffled feathers between JE and Avex resulting from this week's closely contested chart battle should be smoothed, since both companies have a stake in the Tackey & Tsubasa release. New Releases - Albums Micro of Def Tech - Laid Back Micro is a member of Japanese/Hawaiian band Def Tech. He will be releasing his first solo ablum this week and it may well be the highest new entry in next week's album chart. However there is also a chance that Sukima Switch may be able to hang on to the top spot for a second week. Oricon: Singles | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Albums | daily rankings | weekly top 30 Daily rankings are updated at noon (european time), new weekly charts are plubished each Wednesday.

single - Mami Kawada - Get My Way