[Charts & Rankings] The Official Oricon Thread of Winter diary ~A7 Classical~

[Aderianu]

Originally Posted by Corvina

Digital sales are important, but they were stronger some years ago. At least if you look at digital certifications. There were much more of those around 2006-2007 than there are now. And higher as well. It's pretty hard for most artists to go over 100k now. Also digital album sales are really a lot smaller than those for single songs.

Oh you are right, I forgot about that

[KarenPang]

Winter diary has charted another week on Oricon , bringing it to 3 weeks

http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/246497/products/1157012/1/

[pimenta]

3rd Week
Position: #147
Sales: 490

Total sales: 10.375

[spanishfan]

Great! +10k

If they release something about the PV, maybe it'll chart one week more (why make a christmas theme pv and release it in mid-January or later? It's avex/ayu...)

[Next_Level29]

id like to see a single next. i do think that she needs some rest, but i guess a single wouldnt be that hard to publish. She isnt promoting anymore so a little bit of music that keeps us satisfied will be totally satsifying to me

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by js_surrealism

All of this, so much.

For a market with so much potential and talent, it's really appalling how backward the Japanese pop music industry is in so many aspects.

What's sad is how RIGHT the Japanese music industry got music. Release singles BEFORE the album? Unheard of in the US. And it reflected in massive sales for Ayu, Namie, Utada, etc. The fact that Japan, even today, has a fraction of the population of the US or many European countries, but that Japanese artists still chart in the top 10 weekly global sales for all music is a testament to how smart businessmen were when commercializing music in Japan in the 80s.

It makes me sad because even as recent as 6 years ago, it was worth checking the charts every day to see how Ayu was doing. Today, for all we know A ONE sold 500,000 copies between all the digital, international, and physical sales. All I know is that Seiko, at a relative time in her career, was still selling 300,000 or more per record. If the industry would restructure and make music more valuable than a cheap can of air freshener, we would see more interest from consumers. But when I can spend the same amount of money on Ayu that I spend buying a single roll of toilet paper at the store, that's not supporting Ayu at all.

[oaristos]

I'm so glad it surpassed 10,000 copies!

[Next_Level29]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

It makes me sad because even as recent as 6 years ago, it was worth checking the charts every day to see how Ayu was doing. Today, for all we know A ONE sold 500,000 copies between all the digital, international, and physical sales.

500k ?????

[pimenta]

^ He was just giving an example with a random stipulation, it's not an actual data.

In an ideal world Oricon would publish physical sales, digital sales and overseas sales, so we could track much more precisely how much an album sold and the popularity in and outside Japan...
I stopped caring as much about Oricon the moment they stopped counting sales shipped overseas.

[Andrenekoi]

^Well, if their goal is to trace an artist impact in Japan, it actually makes sense... There are several v-kei acts that are virtually unknown in Japan but that have good sales worldwide, for example... Adding them would give a fake image of who is actually impacting the japanese public. Not that AKB48 anttics doesn't do the same, but still...

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

^Well, if their goal is to trace an artist impact in Japan, it actually makes sense... There are several v-kei acts that are virtually unknown in Japan but that have good sales worldwide, for example... Adding them would give a fake image of who is actually impacting the japanese public. Not that AKB48 anttics doesn't do the same, but still...

I don't think Oricon intends to measure the number of adult male ephebophiliacs. But that's certainly all the use its come to the last six years.

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

I don't think Oricon intends to measure the number of adult male ephebophiliacs. But that's certainly all the use its come to the last six years.

That sadly describes it very well.

[Ryusei]

I'd be interested in overseas figures, would also maybe show me that I might one day find someone to spazz about japanese music about lol I literally know 0 people in switzerland that actively follow japanese music. only k-pop fans ://

[kotora]

If Utada comeback and has a song with ayu, that single may have over 100,000. I guess the whole music industry is not making big money now.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by kotora

If Utada comeback and has a song with ayu, that single may have over 100,000. I guess the whole music industry is not making big money now.

I imagine a part of why Utada went on hiatus was record sales plunging as much as they did. She was always higher than average for female soloists, but even for her the drop was enormous. HS sold 1 million, TITO sold only 250k, and then her singles collection barely hit 450k. I can't imagine she doesn't know that Ayu, Koda, MIKA, Ai Otsuka, and even Namie have lost a ton of steam to groups like AKB48. Their peak peak began in 2008/2009, just before Utada announced hiatus.

I don't think a Utada comeback would be like some Japanese Adele. She wasn't selling more than 80k on her last two solo singles, and unless she could get massive promo that every other female soloist isn't getting, I don't think she'd get enough attention to sell even 50k.

And the industry is making big money, it's just all concentrated on groups like AKB48 and NMB48, who had 14 of the top 20 selling singles last year, and have held the top 4 or 5 in sales every year since 2009. Last year was the first year since 2009 that AKB48 had at least one single not sell more than one million copies in its first week. But even with that, they had the entire top 5. And keep in mind, ONE MAN is making all that money. One man apparently writes all the lyrics, does all the production, and collects all the royalties. (Which I don't believe at all. I think he has lyricists and producers working for him, but he puts his name as the sole credit for everything.)

[KarenPang]

Winter diary ~A7 Classical~ is still charting on Oricon , 4 weeks & counting

http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/246497/products/1157012/1/

It has now tied with LOVE CLASSICS , chart life wise . It will be great if Winter diary ~A7 Classical~ can chart 1 more week

[LONJJONG]

#226 with 285 copies sold, total 10,660.

time to release the music video

[JEWELian]

Originally Posted by orbitalaspect

The fact that Japan, even today, has a fraction of the population of the US or many European countries, but that Japanese artists still chart in the top 10 weekly global sales for all music is a testament to how smart businessmen were when commercializing music in Japan in the 80s

Quick fact check:

Japan is the 10th most populous country in the world with 126 million inhabitants. It is the 2nd most populous developed country behind the USA (with 322 million). These figures alone indicate that it's not surprising Japan has the 2nd largest music industry in the world.

That said, I do agree that the way the industry worked traditionally was an immense factor in its success, however it has failed to keep up with modern times and technologies and is hence waning, which is a shame - but we all know that the record labels know this and instead of exploring digital options that are going to last, are choosing to simply invest in live concerts as a revenue raiser.

[oaristos]

It's amazing that A7 is still charting. I could barely listen to the entire thing once, I'm glad Japanese people are somehow enjoying it.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by JEWELian

Quick fact check:

Japan is the 10th most populous country in the world with 126 million inhabitants. It is the 2nd most populous developed country behind the USA (with 322 million). These figures alone indicate that it's not surprising Japan has the 2nd largest music industry in the world.

Not to circlejerk this, but China, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, and Nigeria are all more populous countries but have nowhere near the domestic or export music sales like the US or Japan. Indonesia's economy, for example, isn't much less active than Japan's economy. What I have noticed is the higher per capita PPP (income + purchasing power), the more likely people are to pay for entertainment.

I actually half-wonder if Japan's music industry is so large because of Japan-US relations post-WWII. We have had A LOT of economic interaction since the 1960s, and the Japanese music industry did grow quite rapidly during that time...?

Originally Posted by JEWELian

That said, I do agree that the way the industry worked traditionally was an immense factor in its success, however it has failed to keep up with modern times and technologies and is hence waning, which is a shame - but we all know that the record labels know this and instead of exploring digital options that are going to last, are choosing to simply invest in live concerts as a revenue raiser.

I wanted to reply to this too. I strongly believe that record labels do not sell artists as an experience now. As I mentioned, being a fan of Taylor Swift isn't just buying a single Taylor Swift song on iTunes, it's treated like being part of a club. The same with Adele. But what's changed so much in the last fifteen years is that almost every single artist on the radio comes around once every two to four years, drops a few songs then disappears for another two to four years. I remember Britney Spears' first few years of her career were non-stop Britney everywhere. Madonna was the same way in the 1980s. Janet Jackson was everywhere after Control. Maybe it's over-saturation, maybe that artists can too easily make something radio-friendly, be there for a hot minute, then disappear? It certainly seems like the Wiki lists of One-Hit Wonders have tripled compared to past years.