[orbitalaspect]

Released by idol groups produced by Akimoto Yasushi. FOURTEEN. Here is the list:

1. Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai - AKB48 (1,782,707)
2. Halloween Night - AKB48 (1,328,411)
3. Green Flash - AKB48 (1,045,492)
4. Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby - AKB48 (905,490)
5. Coquettish Juutaichuu - SKE48(702,299)
6. Ima, Hanashitai Dareka ga Iru - Nogizaka46 (686,539)
7. Taiyou Knock - Nogizaka46 (678,481)
8. Inochi wa Utsukushii - Nogizaka46 (620,555)
9. Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari - Arashi (571,597)
10. Don’t look back! - NMB48 (530,830)
11. Sakura - Arashi (521,067)
12. Ai wo Sakebe - Arashi (519,330)
13. Thank you Jian! - Kis-My-Ft2 (475,048)
14. Mae no Meri - SKE48(459,769)
15. starting over - Sandaime J Soul Brothers (456,179)
16. 12-Gatsu no Kangaroo - SKE48 (452,543)
17. Durian Shounen - NMB48 (449,148)
18. Must be now - NMB48 (386,320)
19. Kiss Damashii - Kis-My-Ft2 (384,383)
20. 12 Byou - HKT48 (337,237)

A single man, who pays over a hundred teenage girls little to nothing, has managed to incorporate Japanese music in ways worse than we thought major labels like Sony could do. O_O It's also been reported that this is the sixth consecutive year AKB48 has monopolized the top of Oricon's best-selling singles, and yet another year in which Akimoto's idol groups almost exclusively comprised the Top 10.

So, what are your thoughts? What's the word in Japan on this? How is this changing popular music? And how much longer do you think we will continue to see "product" groups marginalizing actual musicians?

EDIT: I counted wrong. lol. FOURTEEN. FOURTEEN were Akimoto idol group releases.