[Luv ~Venus~]

^I wish some of you would stop blaming EVERYTHING about the downfall of sales on "illegal downloading". Yes, it's a contributing factor but that's not the only reason. It's because of the fact it's on sale digitally which is cheaper, people aren't interested in that artist's music that much anymore or just that particular release, people don't have the money like they use to, and of course illegal downloading.

Times have changed. There really aren't that many "I'm gonna his or her CDs because she's pretty, cool, etc etc" people out there anymore. =/ And the fact that it's on sale digitally would be a great contributing factor to artist's sales since people tend to buy it through that means. If Oricon would stop being in the old age and keep up with the times sales would look so much better. Some of you said that you really don't trust Billboard Japan but how is Oricon any better (especially since they don't count all the stores in Japan where the item is sold)? I mean, Oricon has had it's share of scandals. I'm not saying Oricon can't be trusted but it has it's share of faults.

Some of you should read more about the Billboard charts to get a better idea/understanding of how that rank artists. IIRC, all Billboard Japan does is add the artist's airplay(released songs only), physical sales, and digital sales (itunes-only I think) together to get a collection points or something of the sort. That is nothing bad compared to Oricon, who just base an artist's sales on one thing.

And sorry, I don't believe the "radio is dead media" in Japan especially since artists still go on the radio to promote their releases. =/ If it was that DEAD, I doubt record companies/artists would waste their time trying to promote. Plus most releases are heard through radio.