The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has released its annual report, detailing what happened in the music industry worldwide in 2019. Arashi is on the cover, prominently featured between Taylor Swift and Lizzo, due to having the best selling album globally of 2019.

Titled “Global Music Report: The Industry in 2020”, the report says that the worldwide music industry saw revenue grow for the fifth consecutive year, by 8.2% in 2019, totalling $20.2 billion. This is the first time the $20 billion mark has been reached since 2004.

Streaming revenue grew by 22.9%, and now makes up 56.1% of global revenue, at $11.4 billion. This was driven by a 24.1% growth in paid subscription revenue, which is the result of a 33.5% increase in the number of paid subscribers. At the end of 2019, there were 341 million users of paid streaming services worldwide, accounting for 42% of global revenue. Ad-supported streaming services make up of the remaining 14.1% of global revenue that streaming accounts for.

As a result of quarantine many celebrities have been much more active on social media, thanks to them being stuck at home. Among them is singer Miliyah Kato.

For the past few weeks she has been uploading performances on Instagram, just accompanied by just her piano or guitar, Miliyah has been singing both her original songs and covers. Some of the covers she has performed so far include “Marunouchi Sadistic” by Shiina Ringo, and “Soba ni Iru ne” by Thelma Aoyama.

For Miliyah’s latest cover, she decided to go overseas by covering American singer Lady Gaga. Miliyah covered one of Lady Gaga’s most well known songs “Bad Romance“, originally released in 2009 as the lead single from her EP “The Fame Monster”.

On May 5, BLOCK.FESTIVAL will stream on LINE LIVE. This online music festival will start at 2 PM JST and end at midnight. BLOCK.FESTIVAL is a production of block.fm, the online radio station created by m-flo‘s Taku Takahashi. The festival was created to entertain listeners during the coronavirus pandemic.

The performers for BLOCK.FESTIVAL are Mukai Taichi, SKY-HI, iri, m-flo, eill, MINMI, RIRI, SASUKE, STUTS, Mom, TAAR, YonYon, BIGYUKI, Campanella, kiki vivi lily, and NAGAN SERVER.

The link to BLOCK.FESTIVAL’s livestream and the timetable can be found below!

This week’s episode featured a mixture of new at-home performances, previously recorded performances, and old performances. This week’s guests included Koda Kumi, FAKY, THE ORAL CIGARETTES, Aoi Shota, Yasuda Rei, and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

This week, HKT48 topped the Combined Single chart with their new single “3-2”, with 162,421 points in its first week.

Akanishi Jin topped the Combined Album chart with his new best album “OUR BEST”, with 25,847 points in its first week.

HKT48 also topped the Single chart with “3-2”, selling 161,785 copies in its first week.

Jin also topped the Album chart with “OUR BEST”, selling 25,847 copies in its first week.

LiSA retook the top spot on the Digital Single chart with her single “Gurenge”, selling 16,582 copies in its 53rd week, and topping the chart for the fourth non-consecutive week.

Hi-STANDARD topped the Digital Album chart with their new live album “Live at YOKOHAMA ARENA 20181222”, selling 2,348 copies in its second week.

Official HIGE DANdism topped the Streaming chart with “I LOVE…”, with 3,642,982 streams in its 15th week, topping the chart for the 11th consecutive week.

We’re back with this week’s edition of Oricon Flashback! This is where we look back on what topped the charts this week 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years ago. Think of it as a way to reminisce and learn about the past of Japanese music.

For several weeks now, Johnny’s “Smile Up! Project” has given a lot of focus on supporting the medical institution in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. Arashi’s Aiba Masaki on behalf of the Johnnys Jimusho arrives at Japan Airlines Cargo Building at Narita Airport  to receive 10,000 protective suits procured from Beijing, China for donation to the medical staff. The total amount of relief supplies of Johnnys Jimusho has reached 330 million Yen which includes 83,000 PPEs and 730,000 masks, an amount 4x more than the originally planned 80 million Yen.

Japan Airlines has provided free transportation for the goods in support of the project. Aiba thanks JAL and says that in support of the medical institution, the supplies will be delivered to them. “Johnny’s Net” has also started accepting applications from medical institutions requesting for supplies.

AKB48, and and all of their sister groups from the 48 family (SKE48, STU48, NMB48, HKT48, and NGT48) have decided to postpone their famed handshake events since February 2020. With the repercussions of COVID-19 not going away anytime soon, their management has decided to adapt and make some temporary changes for the event.

Beginning this month in May, the groups will begin to hold Air handshake events. The groups official SNS profiles will upload videos from a fan’s preservative of attending a handshake event. It will feature a girl doing a handshake, and having a small conversation to the camera. The groups management hopes that this will help recreate the atmosphere of the real thing.