Perspective questions
SNSD is undoubtedly the top girlgroup in Korea right now. Apparently they're also the top artist period in Korea in terms of sales, beating out even megastars Rain and Lee Hyori. We'll see if they can hold on to that lead as Suju continues to sell and Big Bang comes back, but it might be safe to say that any further sales of Oh or RDR will be largely insignificant.
And how large are those sales?
Source
Oh!: over 117,077 copies since January 28th
RDR: ~47,455 copies since March 16th
That's the first place and third place album sales in Korea right now.
Now for a little perspective.
EDIT 6/2/10: as askbask pointed out below, these number most likely are Korean sales only and only from stores that Hanteo recognizes. If we assume that, then including foreign and online sales we may be able to assume 300K for Oh+RDR's sales combined.
Source
Let me be honest about this: Ponytail to Shushu reaching the number one in Oricon doesn't surprise me, neither does the fact of the first day sales number surpassing by far the sales of Sakura no Shiori's first five days combined.
354,403 copies sold
As a reference Sakura no Shiori sold more or less 378,696 copies in total (although it keeps selling). So, yea, we can totally expect PonyShushu passes the 400,000 copies on its second day (or the third one if the sales drop drastically tomorrow).
According to day-by-day addition over sales since it was released not even a week ago yet Ponytail to Shushu has sold 509952 copies. Source
Let's pad those numbers even more, shall we?
Source
Starting September 1 2009, Oricon has implemented a new rule in their chart system: Each time a single is release, only 30% of the copies sold at non-Oricon vendors (for example, like in a handshake event) will be counted towards the chart. This means, that if an artist sells 10,000 copies via non-Oricon vendors, Oricon will only count 3,000 of those copies
I have no real meta for this because this is fucking bewildering to me. All I have are issues. But still, AKB48's newest single fucking outsold Oh and RDR's total sales combined on it's first day.
1. Ponytail no Shushu included 3 songs, their instrumentals, and a 3-PV DVD. AKB48 also recently released a best-of album (4/7) containing 16 tracks, of which all but 2 were from previous singles, and a 3-PV DVD. It sold 294,627 copies its first week. (Then again the individual teams release Stage Albums containing up to 16 tracks with only a couple single tracks too. I can't find numbers on those though since they aren't released proper for charting consumption)
Why does the singles market in Japan sell so much more than their albums? Getting the DVD with the single isn't something that happens with most singles, and usually there's only two songs on it (sometimes without the instrumentals and if the single is really shitty the B-side will be just a remix of the A-side), yet without fail the single sells better than the album. Yeah, B-sides usually don't appear on albums unlike the A-sides, but the price difference between the singles and albums in no way justifies buying the single.
2. PnS was released in 2 editions, each with a different C-side (thus the third PV on each was also different). Each edition also has a different cover. There was also a version that could only be bought in the AKB48 theatre that contained all four songs. Not only that, but each bought single had a code that would let you vote for which girl you wanted to appear in the next single(they split the girls into 16 member groups, with the top ranked doing the promoted A-side, the next 16 doing the B-side, etc.) Other ways of getting people to buy multiple copies include tickets to meet-and-greet/handshake events, or if the producers feel extra douchebaggy a lottery for tickets to such events, randomized covers, cards, or posters of individual members, so on and so forth. Collectionist nightmare, but the numbers are still way too high for even the majority of sales to be wota-bought. Yes, a big chunk of the first day's sales would be wota-inflated, but if you take the sales for the rest of the days it's been released(all 5 of them) that's still about the total sales of Oh+RDR combined. Which makes up only half the number of first day sales. It's safe to assume that the mainstream public that didn't buy multiple editions still contributed a large chunk to the first day sales of PnS.
3. Lolwut who needs international sales? Oricon doesn't count the numbers from the cheapest shipping service to the US.(So foreign fans that want to contribute to the numbers have to shell out even more, joy) I doubt they count the sales to the rest of Asia either. SUCK IT WONDER GIRLS.
On a more serious note, this really shows that Japan's music market can be as insular as it wants and still generate the $$$$. Kpop takes such pains to have a high quality of styling, talent, and appeal to as many demographics as possible including the foreign market. We have so many articles celebrating this or that Kpop group topping the charts in China or Southern Asia. Yet Jpop can sweep away those sales numbers without taking a step out of Tokyo to promote.
When AKB48 performed at MAMA I felt second-hand embarrassment for them, and I think the Kpop idols watching did too. It was so messy and while I think River as a song is pretty great, it is nothing like the pure-dance, pure-hook songs permeating Kpop. Even Kpop's cute period 2007-2008 isn't as melodic and old-fashioned sounding as most of AKB48's offerings. Hell, even DBSK's Rising Sun era is less melodic than River. Jpop is guilty pleasure dirty secret super-niche music. You either get it or you don't. Yet these sales numbers indicate that Jpop is the guilty pleasure that everyone indulges.* Most of the Japanese general public that buy idol CDs will never admit it to their social circle.(There is a stigma attached to the 'wota' label, so public profession of idol-love in Japan is social suicide unless you want to hang out with wota only. Kind of like how I've seen some indirect friends squee over Kpop but I keep my trap shut about it because they are super-weeaboos that like Twilight. XP)
4. BIKINEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZ
More more more! (Those are just the CD covers, BTW)
Sorry Cabi wuuuut? But yeah, so if Kpop wants to sell even more maybe they should throw away those pesky moral hangups and set free those repressed desires. :P Seriously, where is my Bikinishidae.
The only PV I've seen from this single is Majio Teppen Blues, and that only because its storyline is like a mini-continuation of the drama Majisuka Gakuen which I liked. The song was awful. I haven't heard the other songs either.
Discuss! Please?
*Kyoko Koizumi. "Popular Music, Gender and High School Pupils in Japan: Personal Music in School and Leisure Sites". Popular Music, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Jan., 2002), pp. 107-125
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/853589
In the above article Koizumi interviewed several kids, and found that in the presence of their peers they tended to name-drop J-rock stars, American artists, and indie bands, and it wasn't until they were interviewed alone that they would reveal more mainstream artists.(No mention of Morning Musume at all in this article and this was during the peak of their Golden Age) I like to call this the "Anti-Britney Complex" in that Britney Spears is your go-to artist to bash(at least in the social circles I've seen) and yet she managed to spearhead the mainstream music market every time she came back, as well as getting tons of play at dances, on radio, etc. So it probably is with Jpop. I guess in this day and age you can update it to "Anti-Gaga Complex"
And how large are those sales?
Source
Oh!: over 117,077 copies since January 28th
RDR: ~47,455 copies since March 16th
That's the first place and third place album sales in Korea right now.
Now for a little perspective.
EDIT 6/2/10: as askbask pointed out below, these number most likely are Korean sales only and only from stores that Hanteo recognizes. If we assume that, then including foreign and online sales we may be able to assume 300K for Oh+RDR's sales combined.
Source
Let me be honest about this: Ponytail to Shushu reaching the number one in Oricon doesn't surprise me, neither does the fact of the first day sales number surpassing by far the sales of Sakura no Shiori's first five days combined.
354,403 copies sold
As a reference Sakura no Shiori sold more or less 378,696 copies in total (although it keeps selling). So, yea, we can totally expect PonyShushu passes the 400,000 copies on its second day (or the third one if the sales drop drastically tomorrow).
According to day-by-day addition over sales since it was released not even a week ago yet Ponytail to Shushu has sold 509952 copies. Source
Let's pad those numbers even more, shall we?
Source
Starting September 1 2009, Oricon has implemented a new rule in their chart system: Each time a single is release, only 30% of the copies sold at non-Oricon vendors (for example, like in a handshake event) will be counted towards the chart. This means, that if an artist sells 10,000 copies via non-Oricon vendors, Oricon will only count 3,000 of those copies
I have no real meta for this because this is fucking bewildering to me. All I have are issues. But still, AKB48's newest single fucking outsold Oh and RDR's total sales combined on it's first day.
1. Ponytail no Shushu included 3 songs, their instrumentals, and a 3-PV DVD. AKB48 also recently released a best-of album (4/7) containing 16 tracks, of which all but 2 were from previous singles, and a 3-PV DVD. It sold 294,627 copies its first week. (Then again the individual teams release Stage Albums containing up to 16 tracks with only a couple single tracks too. I can't find numbers on those though since they aren't released proper for charting consumption)
Why does the singles market in Japan sell so much more than their albums? Getting the DVD with the single isn't something that happens with most singles, and usually there's only two songs on it (sometimes without the instrumentals and if the single is really shitty the B-side will be just a remix of the A-side), yet without fail the single sells better than the album. Yeah, B-sides usually don't appear on albums unlike the A-sides, but the price difference between the singles and albums in no way justifies buying the single.
2. PnS was released in 2 editions, each with a different C-side (thus the third PV on each was also different). Each edition also has a different cover. There was also a version that could only be bought in the AKB48 theatre that contained all four songs. Not only that, but each bought single had a code that would let you vote for which girl you wanted to appear in the next single(they split the girls into 16 member groups, with the top ranked doing the promoted A-side, the next 16 doing the B-side, etc.) Other ways of getting people to buy multiple copies include tickets to meet-and-greet/handshake events, or if the producers feel extra douchebaggy a lottery for tickets to such events, randomized covers, cards, or posters of individual members, so on and so forth. Collectionist nightmare, but the numbers are still way too high for even the majority of sales to be wota-bought. Yes, a big chunk of the first day's sales would be wota-inflated, but if you take the sales for the rest of the days it's been released(all 5 of them) that's still about the total sales of Oh+RDR combined. Which makes up only half the number of first day sales. It's safe to assume that the mainstream public that didn't buy multiple editions still contributed a large chunk to the first day sales of PnS.
3. Lolwut who needs international sales? Oricon doesn't count the numbers from the cheapest shipping service to the US.(So foreign fans that want to contribute to the numbers have to shell out even more, joy) I doubt they count the sales to the rest of Asia either. SUCK IT WONDER GIRLS.
On a more serious note, this really shows that Japan's music market can be as insular as it wants and still generate the $$$$. Kpop takes such pains to have a high quality of styling, talent, and appeal to as many demographics as possible including the foreign market. We have so many articles celebrating this or that Kpop group topping the charts in China or Southern Asia. Yet Jpop can sweep away those sales numbers without taking a step out of Tokyo to promote.
When AKB48 performed at MAMA I felt second-hand embarrassment for them, and I think the Kpop idols watching did too. It was so messy and while I think River as a song is pretty great, it is nothing like the pure-dance, pure-hook songs permeating Kpop. Even Kpop's cute period 2007-2008 isn't as melodic and old-fashioned sounding as most of AKB48's offerings. Hell, even DBSK's Rising Sun era is less melodic than River. Jpop is guilty pleasure dirty secret super-niche music. You either get it or you don't. Yet these sales numbers indicate that Jpop is the guilty pleasure that everyone indulges.* Most of the Japanese general public that buy idol CDs will never admit it to their social circle.(There is a stigma attached to the 'wota' label, so public profession of idol-love in Japan is social suicide unless you want to hang out with wota only. Kind of like how I've seen some indirect friends squee over Kpop but I keep my trap shut about it because they are super-weeaboos that like Twilight. XP)
4. BIKINEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZ
More more more! (Those are just the CD covers, BTW)
.jpg){kind=link}
Sorry Cabi wuuuut? But yeah, so if Kpop wants to sell even more maybe they should throw away those pesky moral hangups and set free those repressed desires. :P Seriously, where is my Bikinishidae.
The only PV I've seen from this single is Majio Teppen Blues, and that only because its storyline is like a mini-continuation of the drama Majisuka Gakuen which I liked. The song was awful. I haven't heard the other songs either.
Discuss! Please?
*Kyoko Koizumi. "Popular Music, Gender and High School Pupils in Japan: Personal Music in School and Leisure Sites". Popular Music, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Jan., 2002), pp. 107-125
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/853589
In the above article Koizumi interviewed several kids, and found that in the presence of their peers they tended to name-drop J-rock stars, American artists, and indie bands, and it wasn't until they were interviewed alone that they would reveal more mainstream artists.(No mention of Morning Musume at all in this article and this was during the peak of their Golden Age) I like to call this the "Anti-Britney Complex" in that Britney Spears is your go-to artist to bash(at least in the social circles I've seen) and yet she managed to spearhead the mainstream music market every time she came back, as well as getting tons of play at dances, on radio, etc. So it probably is with Jpop. I guess in this day and age you can update it to "Anti-Gaga Complex"