15 of the Top 20 best-selling Oricon singles of 2015 were...

[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.

[NintendoHTF1242]

Literally no solo acts made it lmao

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by NintendoHTF1242

Literally no solo acts made it lmao

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)
21. Maemuki Scream! - Kanjani8 (315,682)
22. Shekarashika! feat. Kishidan - HKT48 (292,670)
23. O.R.I.O.N. - Sandaime J soul Brothers (237,295)
24. Summer Madness - Sandaime J Soul Brothers (234,022)
25. Kimi Attraction - Hey! Say! JUMP (226,602)
26. Cup no Naka no Komorebi - Love Crescendo (213,090)
27. AAO - Kis-My-Ft2 (211,946)
28. Hello, world! / Colony - BUMP OF CHICKEN (208,845)
29. Saigo mo Yappari Kimi - Kis-My-Ft2 (205,635)
30. Dead or Alive - KAT-TUN (205,500)
31. Unfair World - Sandaime J Soul Brothers (204,148)
32. RED - B'z (195,527)
33. I am a HERO - Masaharu Fukuyama (193,825)
34. Love Me Right ~romantic universe~ - EXO (187,260)
35. Karei Naru Gyakushu / Humor Shichau yo - SMAP (184,296)
36. Tsuyoku Tsuyoku Tsuyoku - Kanjani8 (173,795)
37. Uchouten - B'z (170,694)
38. Chau# / Wo I Need You - Hey! Say! JUMP (170,489)
39. Yume wo Mireba Kizutsuku Koto mo Aru - Kinki Kids (169,975)
40. Otherside / Ai ga Tomaru Made wa - SMAP (169,200)
41. KISS KISS KISS - KAT-TUN (166,122)
42. Sakura Michi - TVXQ (158,131)
43. ALL FOR YOU - GENERATIONS (157,684)
44. Samurai Song - Kanjani8 (157,403)
45. KAGUYA - NEWS (156,862)
46. WAKE ME TONIGHT - JYJ (155,271)
47. Yacchatta!! - Busaiku (151,611)
48. Oh my wish! / Sukatto My Heart / Imasugu Tobikomu Yuuki - Morning Musume (149,309)
49. GENKIDANE☆ - Kamen Joshi (139,064)
50. HIGHER - 2PM (137,238)

Fukuyama is the only soloist in the entire Top 50.

[Pieces_of_SEVEN]

I am disgusted. This is the exact opposite of everything that made me fall in love with ayu AND Jpop. Honest and raw lyrics, being relatable, not sounding like so much other basic shit out there, and having amazing talent in general.

I feel like these groups should just be classified into some fetish category and not even be allowed on oricon. Actually, no, because who gives a shit about oricon anymore? If you can't even manage to figure in digital sales when gathering sales figures, in 2016, you're basically useless...but I digress.

I miss the days when you didn't need a "THING" to gain popularity. Or maybe it has always been like that, and it just used to be more subtle. Just the number of girls in these groups is laughable. I do wonder when the next female soloist will come along and amaze me like these women have.

But for AKB48 to be the ones breaking some of ayu's oricon records is just...I don't even know how to describe it. It's like having a Honda take the title of most luxurious, powerful, innovative car from Rolls Royce. I guess that would mean that Oricon rankings also rank the amount of talent from these groups and artists, which is obviously not the case.

But I think my analogy sums it up perfectly. These fad, fetish girl groups are Hondas. Ayu and the other legends are Bentleys...or Rolls Royces, pick whichever luxury car you like. lol

[Uknow!]

Handshake tickets FOR THE WIN. And buying 1000 copies per fan jk.

If you see soundscan charts you will see that they don't sell a lot but the principal problem of japanese industry now is not AKB (who have her sales with "tricks" and big fanbase) it's that people have lost the interest in buying music. Idols can be the trend now but Japan need to take her industry in another direction to increase physical sales again.

Maybe when the trend change then the industry change will arrive. People need again the good J-pop, the music who was always creating good pieces and being original, innovating. They need a boom of new artists. New groups and soloist who can make good music and take risks.

Japan need to increase Music Shows too, at the same time they expose music with more originality and give opportunities to new artists.

Edit: For me digital sales are not the way because it is irrelevant. For example, Ayu took 2nd position with A BEST (and 3rd last year) but it didn't get certified. That's a proof of low sales in digital industry.

[LONJJONG]

Not this discussion again.

[Bigtop]

That talk once again. I just hope someday we see a resurgence of solo artists, but that could take a long time to fruition...

It's really tiring to hear AKB/Nogizaka (just about anything Akimoto girl idol) and Johnny's groups to dominate the charts these days, and EXILE TRIBE isn't going to help much either...

I mean, how can new artists these days break through the barrier today? Streaming??? Isn't that a bit of a hot topic recently?

[Mirrorcle Monster]

Sometimes it gets tiring to hear all of you bash idol groups, when the real problem is that soloists are not bringing anything new to the table and the old queens are releasing remakes of their past hits over and over again. As someone mentioned we need new and innovative soloists. Even if Nogizaka46 is currently my fav J-Pop artist, if an original soloist comes I will be happy to see her/him succeed. My hopes were on Kana Nishino, but sadly she chose to be public-friendly rereleasing the same ballads over and over.

[YukiUsagi]

Leo Ieiri is my favourite now!!! Kana's voice is so annoying.
I don't care about idols, but sometimes I play some their songs for my niece

[Mirrorcle Monster]

Leo Ieiri is amazing indeed. But truth is that she is kinda the new YUI, someone needs to show up and change the direction of pop, like Hikki, Ayu and Namie did back in the day.

[adantatu2]

There are music shows, but every week there are a lot of groups of idols, lol. If there are more music shows there will be more space for idols.
And what are the actual music shows nowadays ?
I only know Music Station, CDTV and Music Fair. Another one ?

[YukiUsagi]

MUSIC JAPAN, Love music, Hey! Hey! Hey!, Full chorus, KANJAM, J-MELO, FNS Kayousai, LIVE MONSTER, Buzz Rhythm, premium MelodiX!, Ongaku no Hi ...

[Coelacanth]

This crap is merely a symptom of Japan's numerous societal maladies —People not having sex, hikikomori, karoshi, Shinzo Abe's pathetic embrace of neoliberalism and American foreign policy. Japan operates like a developed Western nation, also meaning they are addicted to vital kitsch and corporate scitech consumerism, much like the average American and Western European. Only difference is that their feudal past remains somewhat ingrained in their culture-- which I would say makes their society even more neurotic and schizophrenic in many ways.

[pimenta]

Well, that shows that good promotion strategies (or gimmicks? feels more accurate on this case...) does make a difference. I mean, I do know people who honestly loves AKB48 and buy the singles and all, but they only buy ONE copy (sometimes more than one version, but only one copy of each like a normal consumer), however those fans that get 20 copies of each release? Of the exact same CD? That's just not normal... Or maybe it is now a days, idk. If you look at kpop, the more popular groups have people bulk buying the albums and many people get multiple copies to help the artist in charts (many people get more than one copy for the random members' photocards as well), so it's not an isolated thing.

[Corvina]

Originally Posted by YukiUsagi

MUSIC JAPAN, Love music, Hey! Hey! Hey!, Full chorus, KANJAM, J-MELO, FNS Kayousai, LIVE MONSTER, Buzz Rhythm, premium MelodiX!, Ongaku no Hi ...

Hey! Hey! Hey! doesn't exist anymore. They stopped in 2012. Still sad as it was one of my favourites with their comedy duo as hosts.

Apart from H!H!H! the only relevant regular music show is
Music Station as it 's airing on prime time (and being old enough to be somehow traditional - started 1986).

[voltron]

Originally Posted by Pieces_of_SEVEN

I miss the days when you didn't need a "THING" to gain popularity. Or maybe it has always been like that, and it just used to be more subtle. Just the number of girls in these groups is laughable. I do wonder when the next female soloist will come along and amaze me like these women have.

There has always been a "thing" -- but I do think there was much more variety in what that could be.

I remember when Morning Musume was in their heyday with Maki Goto, etc. and they got up to 13 members and that was outrageous. *sigh*

[adantatu2]

Originally Posted by YukiUsagi

MUSIC JAPAN, Love music, Hey! Hey! Hey!, Full chorus, KANJAM, J-MELO, FNS Kayousai, LIVE MONSTER, Buzz Rhythm, premium MelodiX!, Ongaku no Hi ...

A lot of music shows