2015 is long gone, and at first I wasn't going to do the usual year-end-post, but I have to! A Youtube channel I've been following for a while now, put out the video seen above. It's a real interesting watch! The same channel posts a similar video weekly, so if you want to follow what's hot in Japan easily, do subscribe it!
If I understood right, these are the things measured for Billboard Japan charts: Physical sales, Digital sales, Radio airplay figures, Tweets related to the songs and the number of times a CDs has been registered as being inserted into a computer. At least according to Wikipedia.
Billboard's way, of course, is only one way to measure the popularity, so let's take Oricon's TOP 100, which only measures the physical sales, to this too, and talk about what's going on in Japanese music a bit!
So, the Billboard song chart's TOP 5:
1. Sandaime J Soul Brothers - R.Y.U.S.E.I
2. Arashi - Sakura
3. Arashi - Ai wo Sakebe
4. Arashi - Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari
5. Sekai no Owari - Dragon Night
Oricon album chart's TOP 5:
1. Arashi - Japonism
2. Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE - PLANET SEVEN
3. DREAMS COME TRUE - DREAMS COME TRUE THE BEST!
Watashi no Dream Come
Watashi no Dream Come
4. AKB48 - Koko ga Rhodes da, koko de tobe!
5. AKB48 - 0 to 1 no aida
Oricon singles chart's TOP 5:
1. AKB48 - Bokutachi ha tatakawanai
2. AKB48 - Halloween Night
3. AKB48 - Green Flash
4. AKB48 - Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby
5. SKE48 - Coquettish juutai chuu
Are you seeing the same three names all over?
To sum up this, I'll quote the uploader of the Billboard video: "A new challenger had entered to fight for the top spot which is no longer exclusive to the two 'A' groups", which of course means that Arashi and AKB48, who have been dominating the music scene for years, are facing a new challenger that is Sandaime J Soul Bothers, who did take the #1 spot on the Billboard list.
That isn't a big surprise if you've been following any charts over the past year, but compared to how Arashi topping albums and AKB48 literally ruling singles could possibly be seen coming three years ago, it's a nice refreshment to the scene.
When I started writing, I though I'd have much more to say about the subject, but none of the charts really include any big surprises, at least for me. AKB did not reach the TOP 5 of Billboard, which is on the verge of being interesting, but when you look at physical sales, they're still going strong.
A few names that have been popping up often during the year, could be mentioned. Sekai no Owari is a very popular and trendy group right now, and I think they're still growing. Nishino Kana is a name I wasn't familiar before subscribing to the Billboard channel, but she's featured in most of the videos from last year and did well in the year-end-compilation too. Johnny's groups, as well as old rock groups like Mr. Children and B'z are still as strong as ever.
The most popular Korean group by far is Tohoshinki (TVXQ), and only the biggest western hits reach the top positions of the charts. It makes me really happy that Japanese people haven't stopped listening to Japanese music. Of course they haven't - it rocks - but still.
What did you think of 2015?
Who surprised you? Or disappointed?
Do you think these charts really tell what's good music?
I'm still planning to do a second part of year-end-posts, possibly called "The best of 2015 [Me Edition]" or something. Please stay tuned!
