Japanese Soap Opera V.S. JP Music

In japan, some singers can become very famous just because his/ her song is used as the theme song for a soap opera. The phenomenon is common in Taiwan, too. However, in Japan, it is more evident than other asian countries.

For example,

流星花園: 黃冠的秘密 - Arashi ~One Love~
(This single, One Love, has been sold out more than 500,000 pieces)

Code Blue - Mr. Children ~HANABI~
(The single, HANABI, has been sold out more than 440,000 pieces)

Last Friends - 宇多田ヒカル ~Prisoner Of Love~

(The album, HEART STATION, has been sold out more than 1,000,000 pieces)

求婚大作戰 - 桑田佳祐 <明日晴れるかな>
(The song, 明日晴れるかな, rewarded
1.第53 回カデミー賞 最佳作品
2.第53 回カデミー賞 最佳歌曲
3.第53 回カデミー賞 特別賞)

Actually, JSO(Japanese Soap Opera) is popular in other asian countries as well, so the theme song can be heard by more people. Of course, the single or album which contains the theme song always can be sold out many pieces.

Because of the effect, many singers try hard to sing for the JSO. However,  not every JSO can become a popular one. If the JSO is not popular, and even bad, the theme song will be affected, either.

Take the most popular one, 求婚大作戰, for example. Its TV rating was always above 16, and it was really a big number!! Here are some data about the top 10 TV rating in Japan, and the data is from http://www.videor.co.jp/data/ratedata/junre/01drama.htm

美麗人生 B'z ~今夜在看見月亮的山丘上~





You can find that the top 10 are almost before 2000. It is because that the internet TV was not so popular at that time, and there were not so many illegal copies at that time. People's liked to watch soap opera to kill time. However, now, the internet is convenient and people would prefer downloading the episodes. Because of it, the rating above 15 is really a big number and you can imagine how great affects of the theme song brings.

Here are some theme songs which I mentioned:

Arashi ~One Love~


宇多田光 ~Prisoner Of Love~


桑田佳祐 ~明日晴れるかな~

Busy December

This December will be very busy for fans and singers, because the two top singers of AVEX, Ayumi Hamasaki and Namie Amuro, will release their new single and album.

Namie Amuro was very popular within recent years, although she had vanished for years. Her latest album, BEST FICTION (7/30 2008) has been sold out 1,534,404 pieces, and recently, she just finished her tour concert in Japan, Taiwan and Shanghai, which was joined by about 500,000 people.



Every her fan and reporter are expecting the new album (its name isn't released yet) for the unbelievable achivement of BEST FICTION. However, Namie Amuro said that the new album is going to a brand new level, she doesn't care the sales volume so much.

For her fame, she was also rewared some awards, such as The Best Female Singer, The Most Fashionable Queen and so on. Also, Vidal Sassoon hired her to take the new ad continually.

Ayu, who has been popular for 10 more years. Her new single, You were.../ BALLAD, is also expected very much. Although her CD's sales volume is gradually going down, she is still the top female singer in AVEX.

Today, she just finished her NEXT LEVEL tour in Japan, and the news of new to be released single had been poblished, either. Her latest single, Sunrise/ Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~ (8/12 2009) sold out 109,918 pieces. In Japan's CD market, it is a great grade actually.

(NEXT LEVEL Tour)

(NEXT LEVEL Tour)

(NEXT LEVEL Tour)

(NEXT LEVEL Tour)

Ayu has debuted for 11 years, but her fascination does not decline at all. She is still the top 2 female singer in Japanese's mind (The top one is Namie Amuro). However, her sales volume is continually going down. Some fans said it is because that there are too many popular male groups to compete with Ayu. For me, regardless of the sales volume, loving her music and voice is the most important thing.

Next, let me sow you the album and single top 5 ranking of last week (10/26 2009)

>> B'z become the top one in last week as soon as the new single released.

>> YUI is still the queen of romantic songs. The sales volume is gorgeous.

>> The album, ayaka's History 2006-2009, is really great!! What a pity that she will retire from her singing buisness career.

>> It's not a great sales volume for M-F10 -10th Anniversary Best.

(The two pics are made by Eiger, and the data are from Oricon Style)

Male Groups Are "Hot" in Japan

Nowadays, the market of J-POP music seemed to be occupied by male groups, such as Arashi.

The album, All the BEST! 1999-2009, is their latest work, which has been sold 1,307,760 pieces. It's really a marvelous number for nowadays J-POP market is declining gradually.

The other example, Tohoshinki (東方神起), which is also a famous male group in Asia. However, the group is formed by 5 young Korean men.

It is their latest album, The Secret Code, which has been sold 286,920 pieces. Although their selling number is not as well as Arashi's, their high popularity is overwhelming the whole Asia.

The reason why I talk about the two male groups is I'm confused of their high popularity. Arashi, actually, they have formed over than 10 years; however, they were not so famous untill recent years. These years, their albums and singles selling number really surprised many people. To take their album, All the BEST! 1999-2009, for example, 1,307,760 is undoutedly a big number for the record market in Japan is under the depression.

From this graph (from http://blog.yam.com/user/vilya0106.html), you can see the curve climbed up from 2006, but before the year, their album selling numbers was not so surprising.

Tohoshinki, they became famous within recent years, too. Although I had heard of them 4 or 5 years ago, they were not so popular at that time. Furthermore, they made their debut in Korea, so did BoA. However, they didn't make efforts in Korea record market but put their ambitious hearts in Japan. The deed really made them successful not only in Japan but also in Taiwan and China.

The DVD, 4th LIVE TOUR 2009～The Secret Code～Final in TOKYO DOME, has made a new record, 170,847 pieces. They are the first foreign singers whose DVD ranking become the first in Oricon and in the first week.

Actually, these two male groups are not the most famous ones in Japan nowadays, but I think their succeed is really unbelievable. Below, I show you the records' ranking top 10 in 2009 Jan-March (copy from PTT),

1. EXILE ( 54.816億円 )
2. 嵐 ( 44.329億円 )
3. Mr.Children ( 41.757億円 )
4. 濱崎あゆみ ( 30.906億円 )
5. B'z ( 28.738億円 )
6. KAT-TUN ( 28.541億円 )
7. DREAMS COME TRUE ( 26.059億円 )
8. 東方神起 ( 24.929億円 )
9. SMAP ( 22.760億円)
10. 倖田來未 (19.955億円)
 
and the DVD ranking Top 10 in 2009 Jan-Mar (copy from PTT).
 
1.　355,253　嵐「ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008 in TOKYO」
2.　313,504　EXILE「EXILE LIVE TOUR 「EXILE PERFECT LIVE 2008」　
3.　269,021　SMAP「SMAP 2008 super.modern.artistic.performance tour」
4.　209,604　KAT-TUN「KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES」
5.　181,584　B'z「B』z LIVE－GYM Pleasure 2008 GLORY DAYS」
6.　179,020　B'z「B』z LIVE－GYM Hidden Pleasure～Typhoon No.20～」
7.　123,193　桑田佳佑「桑田佳佑 Act Against AIDS 2008「昭和八十三年度！ひとり紅白歌合戰」
8.　121,829　ヘキサゴンオールスターズ「ヘキサゴンファミリーコンサート 2008 WE LIVE■ヘキサゴン」
9.　  93,730　Hey!Say!JUMP「Hey！Say！Jump-ing Tour '08-'09」
10.   87,973　Perfume「Perfume『BUDOUKaaaaaaaaaaN!!!!!』」
 
Actually, the top 5 menbers in records' ranking top 10 in 2009 Jan-March are all groups, except Ayumi Hamasaki, and some of them have debuted for a long time, such as EXILE, SMAP, B'Z and Mr, Children. It's an interesting phenomenon because it proved that male groups in Japana can "hot" for years!

Here are some videos you can take a look: