Subscribe RSSIn terms of tot up financial gains for the music industry, the level was just about the same as last year. While 2010 was characterized by the "silence before the storm," this year was more like the "calmness in the eye of a typhoon."
AKB48's activities, above all, were spectacular this year. The group topped the rankings in seven separate divisions, including total sales (16.2 billion yen), tally of singles sold (1.58 million CDs for "Flying Get" and sales figures of 2.1 billion yen for "Everyday, Katyusha"), and outright single sales, estimated at 9.5 billion yen.
Furthermore, AKB48 also managed to break seven "historic" records, including a monopoly of all top five singles in 2011, five singles selling more than a million copies each in the year, and sales of 7.35 million solitary CDs.
The all-girl group easily broke all-time records set by "idol" bands such as Pink Lady in the 1970s and became a "documented" pop music group.
However, what do these chievements really symbolize? Is the general public really in admiration of this style of music?
