Soundscan may not be releasing its chart publicly anymore, but it did recently release its year end report for 2015. For those who may have forgot, Soundscan counts sales at conventional points of sale only, meaning that they don’t count sales from places like company stores or websites.
Total revenue in 2015 was 198.2 billion yen, down 0.2% compared to the year before. There were 82,710,000 total units sold last year, down 2% compared to 2014.
There were some new online retailers added to what stores were counted by Soundscan in 2015, an increase of 1.4%. Online sales in general were up 3.4% from 2014. Brick and mortar store sales were down 2.4% compared to the year before. However, brick and mortar store sales still make up over 60% of the sales counted by Soundscan.
Albums sales were down 6%, while single sales grew by 476 million yen.
Even though digital downloads and streaming are growing, the vinyl market is also growing as well. A lot of the action in vinyl is happening in the worlds of idols and bands.
Sales of Japanese music grew by 3.1% compared to 2014. Sales of Western music decreased by 14.4%, in part because there wasn’t anything big like the “Frozen” soundtrack of 2014 to make an impact in Japan.
Arashi is the top selling act on Soundscan for the third year in a row. Sandaime J Soul Brothers jumped from sixth place in 2014 to second in 2015. AKB48 was in seventh place at the midyear, but finished 2015 in third place.
Artist Revenue
1. Arashi: 6.075 billion yen
2. Sandaime J Soul Brothers: 5.036 billion yen
3. AKB48: 3.429 billion yen
4. Mr.Children: 3.193 billion yen
5. DREAMS COME TRUE: 2.805 billion yen
6. SEKAI NO OWARI: 2.622 billion yen
7. Southern All Stars: 2.397 billion yen
8. B’z: 2.316 billion yen
9. Kanjani8: 2,278 billion yen
10. Masaharu Fukuyama: 1.964 billion yen
Market Share
1. Universal Music: 15.2%
2. Sony Music Entertainment: 13%
3. Avex Group: 11.4%
4. Victor Entertainment: 5.3%
5. J Storm: 5.2%
6. King Records: 4.8%
7. Toy’s Factory: 4.2%
8. Warner Music Japan: 4%
9. Nippon Columbia: 3%
10. Lantis: 2.8%
Market Share (Albums)
1. Universal Music: 17.3%
2. Sony Music Entertainment: 13.1%
3. Avex Group: 11.7%
4. Victor Entertainment: 5.8%
5. Toy’s Factory: 4.7%
6. Warner Music Japan: 4.6%
7. J Storm: 3.7%
8. King Records: 3.3%
9. Nippon Columbia: 2.8%
10. Pony Canyon: 2.3%
Market Share (Singles)
1. Sony Music Entertainment: 12.6%
2. Avex Group: 10.6%
3. J Storm: 9.9%
4. King Records: 9.8%
5. Universal Music: 8.5%
6. Lantis: 5%
7. Pony Canyon: 3.9%
8. Victor Entertainment: 3.7%
9. Nippon Columbia: 3.6%
10. Toy’s Factory: 2.6%
Top 10 Japanese Albums
1. DREAMS COME TRUE – DREAMS COME TRUE THE BEST! Watashi no Dorikamu (3CD only): 795,382
2. Arashi – Japonism (CD+DVD / Limited Edition): 552,904
3. Sandaime J Soul Brothers – PLANET SEVEN (CD+2DVD): 429,943
4. Mr.Children – REFLECTION (CD+DVD / {Drip} Limited Edition): 342,061
5. Southern All Stars – Budou (CD only / Regular Edition): 340,802
6. SEKAI NO OWARI – Tree (CD only / Regular Edition): 309,981
7. Arashi – Japonism (2CD / Limited Edition): 292,507
8. SEKAI NO OWARI – Tree (CD + DVD / Limited Edition): 242,164
9. Arashi – Japonism (2CD / Regular Edition): 199,982
10. B’z – EPIC DAY (CD+DVD / Limited Edition): 176,457
Top 10 Western Albums
1. Various Artists– Wild Speed: Sky Mission Original Soundtrack (CD only): 134,839
2. The Beatles – The Beatles: 1+ (CD+2Blu-ray / Limited Edition): 65,438
3. One Direction – Made in the A.M. (CD only / Limited Edition): 62,344
4. Maroon 5 – Singles (Limited Edition / CD only): 58,623
5. Various Artists – DJ KAORI’S BEST POP HITS (CD only): 47,365
6. MAN WITH A MISSION x ZEBRAHEAD – Out of Control (CD+DVD / Limited Edition): 46,059
7. Taylor Swift – 1989 (CD + DVD / Limited Edition): 43,671
8. Taylor Swift – 1989 (CD only / Regular Edition): 43,117
9. Sam Smith – In The Lonely Hour (CD only): 40,815
10. Adele – 25 (CD only): 40,590
Top 10 Singles
1. Arashi – Sakura (CD+DVD / Limited Edition): 442,068
2. Arashi – Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari (CD + DVD / Limited Edition): 411,821
3. Arashi – Ai wo Sakebe (CD+DVD / Limited Edition): 410,739
4. Arashi – Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari (CD only / Regular Edition): 192,632
5. B’z – Uchouten (CD+DVD / Limited Edition): 164,804
6. Arashi – Ai wo Sakebe (CD only / Regular Edition): 149,790
7. Kanjani8 – Maemuki Scream! (CD+DVD / Limited Press Edition): 140,984
8. mu’s / Hoshizora Rin, Nishikino Maki, Koizumi Hanayo – Angelic Angel / Hello, Hoshi WO Kazoete (CD only): 137,482
9. Arashi – Sakura (CD only / Regular Edition): 136,017
10. B’z – RED (CD+DVD / Limited Edition): 130,948
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