Oricon

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Oricon Inc.
株式会社オリコン
Type Holding company, owner of Oricon Entertainment Inc.[1]
Founded November 1967 (as Original Confidence)[1]
October 1, 1999 (as Oricon Direct Digital)[2]
June, 2001 (as Oricon Global Entertainment)
July, 2002[2]
Headquarters Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Key people Ko Koike: CEO
Industry Broadcast of music entertainment
Employees 222 (except part time workers, As of March 31, 2007)[2]
Parent Oricon Entertainment Inc. (October 1999–June, 2001)
Subsidiaries Oricon Entertainment Inc. (June 2001–present)
Website Official Site of Oricon Inc.
Official Site of Oricon Charts

Oricon Inc. (株式会社オリコン Kabushiki-gaisha Orikon?), established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as Original Confidence Inc. (株式会社オリジナルコンフィデンス Kabushiki-gaisha Orijinaru Konfidensu?), which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts.[1] Oricon Inc. was originally set up as a subsidiary of Original Confidence and took over the latter’s Oricon record charts in April 2002.

They are compiled using data drawn from some 3,020 retail outlets (as of January 2008) and provide sales rankings of music CDs, DVDs, electronic games, and other entertainment products based on weekly tabulations.[3] Results are announced every Tuesday and published in Oricon Style by subsidiary Oricon Entertainment Inc. The group also lists panel survey-based popularity ratings for television commercials on its official website.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

Original Confidence Inc., the original Oricon company, was founded by the former Snow Brand Milk Products promoter Sōkō Koike in 1967. That November, the company began publishing a singles chart on an experimental basis. Entitled Sōgō Geinō Shijō Chōsa (総合芸能市場調査?) (it means "surveys of total entertainment markets"), this went official on January 4, 1968.

Like the preceding Japanese music charts provided by Tokushin Music Report which was started in 1962[4], early Original Confidence was an exclusive information magazine only for the people who worked in the music industry. However, in the 1970s, Koike willingly advertised his company's charts to make its existence prevail among Japanese public. Thanks to his intensive promotional efforts on the multiple media including television programs, the hit parade became known by its abbreviation "Oricon" by the late 70's.

The company shortened its name to Oricon in 1992 and was split into a holding company and several subsidiaries in 1999. Since Sōkō Koike's death, Oricon has been managed by the founder’s relatives.

[edit] Policy

Oricon monitors and reports on sales of CDs, DVDs, video games, and entertainment content in several other formats; manga and book sales were also formerly covered. Charts are published every Tuesday in Oricon Style and on Oricon’s official website. Every Monday, Oricon receives data from outlets, but data on merchandise sold through certain channels does not make it into the charts. For example, the debut single of News, a pop group, was released only through 7-Eleven stores, which are not covered by Oricon, and its sales were not reflected in the Oricon charts. Oricon’s rankings of record sales are therefore not totally accurate. Before data was collected electronically, the charts were compiled on the basis of faxes that were sent from record shops.

[edit] Controversy

In 2006, Oricon sued journalist Hiro Ugaya when he was quoted in a Cyzo magazine article suggesting that Oricon was fiddling its statistics to benefit certain management companies and labels.[5]

[edit] Charts

[edit] Current charts

[edit] Past charts

[edit] Latest Yearly Charts

The year-end charts that shows the sales of albums and singles in Japan.

[edit] 2007 Oricon Yearly Album Chart - Top 10

Artist Album Sales
1 Mr.Children Home 1,179,863
2 Kumi Koda Black Cherry 1,021,504
3 Avril Lavigne The Best Damn Thing 850,000
4 Kobukuro All Singles Best 828,953
5 Ayumi Hamasaki A Best 2 -White- 717,908
6 Ai Otsuka Ai am Best 707,179
7 Ayumi Hamasaki A Best 2 -Black- 700,000
8 Yui Can't Buy My Love 640,537
9 Exile Exile Evolution 624,309
10 Sukima Switch Greatest Hits 528,408

Source: [6]

[edit] Best Selling Singles Of All Time

Rank Year Title Artist Sales
1 1975 Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun Masato Shimon 4.547m
2 1972 Onna no michi Miya Shiro 3.256m
3 2000 Tsunami Southern All Stars 2.934m
4 1999 Dango 3 Kyoudai Kentarou Hayami, Ayumi Shigemori,
Himawari Kids, Dango Gasshoudan		 2.918m
5 1992 Kimi ga Iru Dake de Kome Kome Club 2.895m
6 1991 Say Yes Chage & Aska 2.822m
7 1994 Tomorrow Never Knows Mr. Children 2.766m
8 1991 Oh! Yeah!/Love Story wa Totsuzen ni Kazumasa Oda 2.587m
9 2003 Sekai ni Hitotsu dake no Hana SMAP 2.573m
10 1995 Love Love Love/Arashi ga Kuru Dreams Come True 2.488m

[edit] Best Selling Albums of All Time

Rank Year Title Artist Sales
1 1999 First Love Hikaru Utada 7,650,215
2 1998 B'z The Best "Pleasure" B'z 5,135,922
3 1997 Review Glay 4,875,980
4 2001 Distance Hikaru Utada 4,469,135
5 1998 B'z The Best "Treasure" B'z 4,438,742
6 2001 A Best Ayumi Hamasaki 4,295,353
7 1996 Globe Globe 4,136,460
8 2002 Deep River Hikaru Utada 3,604,588
9 2000 Delicious Way Mai Kuraki 3,530,000
10 1998 Time to Destination Every Little Thing 3,520,330

Source: [7]


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c 日本音楽スタジオ協会. Japan Association of Professional Recording Studios.. Retrieved on 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Overview of Oricon.Inc. Oricon Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-03.
  3. ^ a b Policy of the Oricon Weekly Charts. oricon.co.jp. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  4. ^ 会社案内 - tokushin music report. Tokushin Music Report. Retrieved on 2008.
  5. ^ Libel suit attacks free speech: defendant | The Japan Times Online
  6. ^ The First Half-Rank Big Announcement in 2007 (Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
  7. ^ 動画:oricon TOP40-無料動画-ORICON STYLE

[edit] External links

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