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 and Western music. 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.

Quick Facts Company type, Traded as ...
Oricon Inc.
株式会社オリコン
Company typeHolding company, owner of Oricon Entertainment Inc.[1]
TYO: 4800
IndustryBroadcast of music entertainment (from Japan, North America and Europe)
FoundedNovember 1967 (as Original Confidence)[1]
October 1, 1999 (as Oricon Direct Digital)[2]
June 2001 (as Oricon Global Entertainment)
July 2002[2]
HeadquartersRoppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
Soko Koike: CEO
Ownersee List of Oricon's shareholders
Number of employees
198 (full-time workers, as of September 30, 2016)[3]
ParentOricon Entertainment Inc. (October 1999 – June 2001)
SubsidiariesOricon Entertainment Inc. (June 2001 – present)
WebsiteOfficial site of Oricon Inc.
Official site of Oricon Charts
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The charts are compiled from 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.[4] 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.[5]

Oricon started publishing Combined Chart, which includes CD sales, digital sales, and streaming together, on December 19, 2018.[6]

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, 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,[7] early Original Confidence was an exclusive information magazine only for the people who worked in the music industry. In the 1970s, Koike advertised his company's charts to make its existence prevail among the Japanese public. Thanks to his intensive promotional efforts through 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.

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 Saizo (or Cyso) magazine article as suggesting that Oricon was manipulating 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.[8] The lawsuit, filed by Oricon on November 17, 2006, accused Ugaya of "mendacious comments" and demanded 50 million yen (318,000 euros) in damages. In the interview, Ugaya questioned the validity of Oricon's hit chart on the grounds that its statistical methods were not transparent. Many NGOs, including Reporters Without Borders, denounced the lawsuit as a violation of free expression. A Tokyo District Court initially ordered Ugaya to pay one million yen in damages, but Ugaya appealed to the Tokyo high court. Oricon later dropped the charges, after a 33-month battle.[9] A settlement was reached under which the publisher of Saizo magazine, who intervened in the lawsuit from the High Court, apologized to Ugaya for "publishing inaccurate comments without permission" and paid him 5 million yen, and also apologized to Oricon for discrediting the chart. Oricon waived its claim for damages and Ugaya, who had also filed a counterclaim for damages, waived his counterclaim.[10] No criminal charge was laid against the journalist.

Dropping a lawsuit is rare in Japan; for example, only 0.1% of cases that ended in 2007 being done by the plaintiff ceasing the case.[11]

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 (January 4, 1968 present)
  • Albums Chart (October 5, 1987 present)
  • Karaoke Chart (December 26, 1994 present)
  • DVD Chart (April 5, 1999 present)
  • Book Chart (April 7, 2008 present)
  • Comic Chart (February 6, 1995 March 26, 2001; April 7, 2008 present)
  • Bunkobon Chart (April 7, 2008 present)
  • Blu-ray Disc Chart (September 7, 2008 present)
  • Music DVD & Blu-ray Disc Chart (October 14, 2013 present)
  • Long Hit Album Catalogue Chart (April 2, 2001 present)
  • Digital Albums Chart (November 14, 2016 present)[12]
  • Digital Singles Chart (December 25, 2017 present)[13]
  • Streaming Chart (December 24, 2018 present)[14]
  • Combined Albums Chart (December 24, 2018 present)[14]
  • Combined Singles Chart (December 24, 2018 present)[14]

Past charts

  • LP Chart (January 5, 1970 November 27, 1989)
  • CT Chart (December 2, 1974 April 24, 1978)
  • Cartridges Chart (December 2, 1974 April 24, 1978)
  • CD Chart (February 6, 1984 April 21, 1997)
  • LD Chart (February 6, 1984 January 31, 2000)
  • Sell-Video Chart (February 6, 1984 May 30, 2005)
  • VHD Chart (February 6, 1984 November 27, 1989)
  • MD Chart (1994)
  • Game Software Chart (February 20, 1995 November 28, 2005)
  • All-Genre Formats Ranking (May 24, 1984 April 2, 2001)
  • New Media Chart (January 2004 2005)
  • Tracks Chart (September 6, 2004 August 31, 2008)

Top Artists' total sales revenue by year

More information Year, Artist ...
Year Artist
1974 Yōsui Inoue[15]
1975
1976 Yumi Arai[16]
1977 Pink Lady[17][18]
1978
1979 Alice[19]
1980 Yellow Magic Orchestra[20]
1981 Akira Terao[21]
1982 Off Course[22]
1983 Akina Nakamori[23]
1984 Seiko Matsuda[24]
1985 Akina Nakamori[25][26][27]
1986
1987
1988 Hikaru Genji[28]
1989 Yumi Matsutoya
1990 Southern All Stars
1991 B'z
1992 CHAGE and ASKA
1993 ZARD
1994 TRF
1995
1996 Namie Amuro[29]
1997 GLAY[30][31]
1998 B'z[31][32]
1999 Hikaru Utada[33][34]
2000 Ayumi Hamasaki[35][36][37]
2001
2002 Hikaru Utada[34][38]
2003 Ayumi Hamasaki[39][40]
2004 Hikaru Utada[41][42]
2005 ORANGE RANGE[43][44]
2006 Kumi Koda[45][46][47][48]
2007
2008 EXILE[49][50]
2009 Arashi[15][51][52]
2010
2011 AKB48[53][54]
2012
2013 Arashi[55][56][57][58][59]
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018 Namie Amuro[60]
2019 Arashi[61][62]
2020
2021 BTS[63][64]
2022
2023 King & Prince[65]
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See also

References

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