André

So Taylor Swift's new single is being released any moment now so yeah... obviously will top the iTunes chart for the rest of the week at least

As in: confirmed he is gay/bi. It's on his Tumblr.

Capital has more listeners than Radio 1.

Totally disagree with you. Digital sales didn't help rap songs AT ALL. In fact, 2005 rap domination had NOTHING to do with digital sales since they only started getting relevant 2 years later, in 2007. The best-selling digital single in 2005 was Beverly Hills by Weezer and only in 2007 a single surpassed 1 million downloads. In 2006, even though digital sales were still not as relevant, the iTunes charts started to influence radio playlists but prior to that, it had null impact. The 2003-2005 domination was only due to one reason: airplay. Since urban songs were playlisted in both URBAN and TOP 40, they had a much bigger advantage and hence the domination. The moment iTunes started to be a dominant player, rap music stopped dominating and we never saw Lil Jon or Sean Paul near the top 10 again.

Yup, last month.

Duh. Tons of rappers have ginormous fanbase: Eminem, Drake, Jay-Z, Kanye West. Flo-Rida, on the other hand, does not. He has really really popular songs but that's it.

I said it once and I'll say it again: Sing is a pretty good song. It's not a cheap charity remake, its an extremely well done song. It deserves success imo. Agreed. I don't get why people hate Gary tbh. He is harmless and Take That is amazing.

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.

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.

Well, there's the Ice Age 4 crosspromotion soon so maybe it'll help... But let's be truthful, The Wanted as a whole aren't catching up in the US. I mean, obviously Glad You Came was huge but it was a "one hit" thing. With the best promotion in the world, they're having an extremely difficult time achieving any kind of meaningful success and are constantly outshined by 1D.

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...

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.

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 denying China is an important market and I'm completely aware Jpop is basically blocked in YT. It doesn't change the fact Kpop is NOT (which is what we're talking about in the first place) and it doesn't change the fact Youtube is still EXTREMELY popular in Japan (http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/JP). And I'm not underestimating the international Kpop fandom. I'm well aware Kpop acts can sell-out arenas in the US and in Australia (coincidentally, in cities where there's a heavy density of Asian immigrants). That doesn't change the fact its pretty easy to understand why they don't chart in the Western even though they have heavyloads of views on YT. But yeah, anyway, I guess that's going OT.

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.

While IT IS blocked in China (but not in Hong Kong or in Taiwan, which are important markets), Youtube is BY FAR the most popular videosharing website in Japan and its also extremely popular in South Korea (albeit it is not as popular as Tudou). In fact, it is the 4th most popular website in Japan and the 6th in South Korea which is in line with any other nation around the world (in the UK, for example, YT is 4th. Source: alexa.org). Also, most videos in Youtube have stats which shown in what countries the videos are most popular in and any Kpop video will have most of its popularity concentrated in Asian territories.

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

Regarding Cher: I think she can sing perfectly well compared to any other popstar. And she has presence. Some of the favourite acts in this board (*ahem*Rihanna*ahem*) have really mediocre performance skills and no one calls them on that (and I do quite like Rihanna btw). What is your favorite genre? Basing on your icon, I would say K-pop, right? So it would be pretty easy to explain it: most of the 50million views are concentrated in Asian countries where they do indeed chart and sell in vast amounts.

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.

I don't know what you guys are all on about. SING is a gimmick-y release but its not a bad song AT ALL. Except all of those were pushed extremely hard by their labels? At least in the US. Justin Bieber manages Carly and she is signed to his manager's record label so his viral video and all the promo he did were all deliberate. And Fueled by Ramen also pushed Fun song extremely hard: they went after the Glee producers to convince them to do the cover version and it wasn't easy. Both of them were pushed hard. Obviously not as hard as a new Rihanna song obviously but still...

Yes. It was the opening to "The Hills" which was HUGELY popular at the time and was breaking records for MTV. In addition to that, it was used in several commercials.

GYC was clearly more successful on the radio; One Direction are obviously more successful overall.

I think it'll be EXTREMELY difficult for Leona, Alexandra or Pixie Lott to achieve the 4th number one (and even if they do, they won't surpass it imo). They're relevant enough for top 10, maybe even top 5 but their shots at number 1 is quite slim and, outside their core fanbase (which is somewhat big), most people are desinterested in them and probably won't give them another shot. Cheryl Cole and Jessie J, on the other hand, are still mainstream enough as of right now. Of course it can all change tomorrow but, as of today, I would say they're, by far, the one with the biggest chances. I mean, both of them have a guaranteed number one with the first single of their next albums so they will, least case scenario, tie the other girls records.

I think it'll easily go to 1.

Due to the fact its in a car commercial which is played all the time and had its debut during the Super Bowl.