Everything about Oricon totally explained
, 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, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its
music charts. 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. 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.
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 (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, 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.
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 doesn't 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.
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.
Charts
Current charts
Past charts
Weekly LP Chart (1970-01-05–1989-11-27)
Weekly CT Chart (1974-12-02–1989-11-27)
Weekly MD Chart (Unknown)
Weekly LD Chart (Unknown–2000-02-07)
Weekly VHD Chart (Unknown–1989-11-27)
Weekly Cartridges Chart (1974-12-02–1978-04-24)
Weekly Sell-Video Chart (1974-02-06–2005-05-30)
All-Genre Formats Ranking (1984-05-24–2001-04-02)
Weekly Game Soft Chart (1995-02-20–2005-11-28)
Weekly Comics Chart (1995-02-06–2001-03-26)
Weekly New Media Chart (January 2004–2005)
Latest Yearly Charts
The year-end charts that shows the sales of albums and singles in Japan.
2007 Oricon Yearly Album Chart - Top 10
| |
Artist |
Album |
Sales |
| 1 |
Mr.Children |
Home |
1,179,863 |
| 2 |
Koda Kumi |
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:
Best Selling Singles Of All Time
Best Selling Albums of All Time
| Rank |
Year |
Title |
Artist |
Sales |
| 1 |
1999 |
First Love |
Utada Hikaru |
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 |
Utada Hikaru |
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 |
Utada Hikaru |
3,604,588 |
| 9 |
2000 |
Delicious Way |
Mai Kuraki |
3,530,000 |
| 10 |
1998 |
Time to Destination |
Every Little Thing |
3,520,330 |
Source: Further Information
Get more info on 'Oricon'.
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