Oricon

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 39,700 retail outlets (as of April 2011) 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]

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 1970s.

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. In 2004, Hirakawachi 1-chome made Oricon history by reaching the 7th spot, making their debut, Enpitsu de tsukuru uta, the youngest j-pop male artists' album charted in the top 10.

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 completely 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, specifically Johnny and Associates. Ugaya condemned the lawsuit as an example of a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) in Japan.^[5]

Oricon does not include download sales. In Japan, single sales decreased sharply in the 2000s, while download sales hit three to four times the amount of single sales.^[6]

Shareholders

(as of March 31, 2012)

• LitruPond LLC – 29.34%
• Yoshiaki Yoshida (DHC Corp. president) - 8.94%
• Hikari Tsushin, Inc. – 4.94%
• Ko Koike (CEO) – 2.75%
• Lawson, Inc. - 1.98%
• Hidekō Koike - 1.89%
• Naoko Koike - 1.87%
• DHC Corp. – 1.59%
• Yumi Koike - 1.55%

Charts

Current charts

• Singles Chart (1967-11-02 – present)
• Albums Chart (1987-10-05 – present)
• Karaoke Chart (1987-12-26 – present)
• Tracks Chart (2004-06-06 – present)
• DVD Chart (1999-04-05 – present)
• Long Hit Album Catalogue Chart (2001-04-02 – present)

Past charts

• LP Chart (1970-01-05 – 1989-11-27)
• CT Chart (1974-12-02 – 1989-11-27)
• MD Chart (Unknown)
• LD Chart (Unknown – 2000-02-07)
• VHD Chart (Unknown – 1989-11-27)
• Cartridges Chart (1974-12-02 – 1978-04-24)
• Sell-Video Chart (1974-02-06 – 2005-05-30)
• All-Genre Formats Ranking (1984-05-24 – 2001-04-02)
• Game Soft Chart (1995-02-20 – 2005-11-28)
• Comics Chart (1995-02-06 – 2001-03-26)
• New Media Chart (January 2004 – 2005)

Artists' total sales revenue by year

See also

• Oricon Singles Chart
• Oricon Albums Chart
• List of Oricon number-one singles
• List of Oricon number-one albums
• List of best-selling singles in Japan
• List of best-selling albums in Japan

References

External links

• Oricon website (Japanese)
• Oricon on Facebook
• Oricon on Twitter

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