Oricon Explained

Oricon Inc. 株式会社オリコン
Type:	Holding company, owner of Oricon Entertainment Inc.^[1]
Foundation:	November 1967 (as Original Confidence) October 1, 1999 (as Oricon Direct Digital)^[2] June 2001 (as Oricon Global Entertainment) July 2002
Location:	Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Key People:	Soko Koike: CEO
Industry:	Broadcast of music entertainment (from Japan, North America and Europe)
Num Employees:	198 (full-time workers, as of September 30, 2016)^[3]
Owner:	see List of Oricon's shareholders
Parent:	Oricon Entertainment Inc. (October 1999 – June 2001)
Subsid:	Oricon Entertainment Inc. (June 2001 – present)
Homepage:	Official site of Oricon Inc. Official site of Oricon Charts

, 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, 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.

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, 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)
• Combined Singles Chart (December 24, 2018  - present)

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

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^[32]
1999	Hikaru Utada^[33] ^[34]
2000	Ayumi Hamasaki^[35] ^[36] ^[37]
2001
2002	Hikaru Utada^[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^[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]

See also

• 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

Notes and References

1. Web site: 日本音楽スタジオ協会 . Japan Association of Professional Recording Studios. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20050401170916/http://database.japrs.or.jp/japrs/display/company_s.jsp?studio_code=C018 . April 1, 2005 .
2. Web site: Overview of Oricon.Inc. March 1, 2007. Oricon Inc. February 6, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120206232303/http://www.oricon.jp/com/eng.html. dead.
3. Web site: 会社概要. January 4, 2017. Oricon Inc. September 19, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200919075301/https://www.oricon.jp/corporate/. live.
4. Web site: Policy of the Oricon Weekly Charts. January 5, 2008. oricon.co.jp. December 7, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141207133421/http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/about/. live.
5. Web site: Official Site of Oricon Charts . oricon.co.jp . October 28, 2006 . November 7, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061107074712/http://www.oricon.co.jp/ . live .
6. Web site: Oricon to Create Combined and Streaming Charts. Ronald. 2018-08-31. ARAMA! JAPAN. en-US. 2019-06-17. October 12, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221012094734/https://aramajapan.com/news/oricon-to-create-combined-and-streaming-charts/90920/. live.
7. Web site: 会社案内 – tokushin music report. Tokushin Music Report. February 5, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080124151858/http://www.tokushin.com/12kaisha/index.html. January 24, 2008. dead. mdy-all.
8. Web site: Libel suit attacks free speech: defendant. Eric. Prideaux. February 8, 2007. Japan Times Online.
9. Web site: Abandonment of the claim against a Japanese journalist Reporters without borders. 2009-08-06. RSF. en. 2020-05-20. October 3, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201003123817/https://rsf.org/en/news/abandonment-claim-against-japanese-journalist. live.
10. News: http://www.47news.jp/CN/200908/CN2009080301000597.html . ja:オリコン批判記事で和解　訴訟参加の雑誌社が謝罪 . Settlement over Article Criticizing Oricon; The Magazine Publisher, Which Intervened in the Lawsuit, Apologizes . August 3, 2009 . ja . 47news . . February 3, 2024 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130622130015/http://www.47news.jp/CN/200908/CN2009080301000597.html . June 22, 2013 .
11. Web site: Abandonment of the claim against a Japanese journalist - Reporters without borders. RSF. November 2, 2014. March 20, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160320133943/https://en.rsf.org/japan-abandonment-of-the-claim-against-a-06-08-2009,34102.html. dead.
12. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2081196/full/ . ja:オリコン 新ランキング発表 アルバムDL数を集計…初回首位は宇多田ヒカル . November 9, 2016 . Oricon . December 21, 2018 . ja . December 21, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181221041332/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2081196/full/ . live .
13. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2097741/full/ . ja:オリコン、12月から新ランキング発表へ DL数を楽曲ごとに集計 . September 22, 2017 . Oricon . December 21, 2018 . ja . December 20, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230302/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2097741/full/ . live .
14. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/confidence/special/51685/ . ja:オリコン、合算ランキングおよびストリーミングランキングを12月より開始 . August 29, 2018 . Oricon . December 21, 2018 . ja . August 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230831013605/https://www.oricon.co.jp/confidence/special/51685/ . live .
15. http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/83845/full/ 2010年音楽ソフト市場　嵐、いきものがかりが部門首位　メーカー別ではソニーがV2
16. コンフィデンス年鑑 1977年版. 31p.
17. コンフィデンス年鑑 1978年版. 28p.
18. コンフィデンス年鑑 1979年版. 30p.
19. オリコン年鑑 1980年版. 30p.
20. オリコン年鑑 1981年版. 31p.
21. オリコン年鑑 1982年版. 30p.
22. オリコン年鑑 1983年版. 27p.
23. オリコン年鑑 1984年版. 28p.
24. オリコン年鑑 1985年版. 28p.
25. オリコン年鑑 1986年版. 345p.
26. オリコン年鑑 1987年版. 379p.
27. オリコン年鑑 1988年版. Capital 17p.
28. オリコン年鑑 1989年版別冊 オリコン・チャート・データ'88. 28p.
29. オリコン年鑑 1997年版別冊 オリコン・チャート・データ'96. 29p.
30. オリコン年鑑 1998年版別冊 オリコン・チャート・データ'97. 23p.
31. http://www.narinari.com/log/news/200212music.html#303 オリコン、「第35回日本レコードセールス大賞」を発表。
32. オリコン年鑑 1999年版別冊 オリコン・チャート・データ'98. 23p.
33. オリコン年鑑 2000年版別冊 オリコン・チャート・データ'99. 25p.
34. http://www.musicman-net.com/cgi-bin/public/n-view.cgi?hid=07-06-0089 オリコン「第35回日本レコードセールス大賞」発表
35. オリコン年鑑 2001年版別冊 オリコン・チャート・データ2000. 26p.
36. https://web.archive.org/web/20021001152926/http://www.sanspo.com/geino/g_top/gt200112/g_top2001121408.html 浜崎あゆみ、CD売り上げ2年連続ナンバーワン
37. オリコン年鑑 2002年版 データ本. 25p.
38. オリコン年鑑 2003年版 データ本. 62p.
39. オリコン年鑑 2004年版 データ本. 60p.
40. https://web.archive.org/web/20031216172732/http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/kiji/2003/12/15/01.html あゆ２年ぶり｢セールス大賞｣
41. オリコン年鑑 2005年版 データ本. 76p.
42. http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/40468/ 倖田來未、年間セールス127億円で初の大賞!
43. オリコン年鑑 2006年版. 77p.
44. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/051219_01_3.html 2005年 アーティストトータルセールスランキング
45. オリコン年鑑 2007年版. 76p.
46. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/061221_04.html 2006年 アーティストトータルセールスランキング大発表!
47. オリコン年鑑 2008年版. 76p.
48. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/071218_01_03.html 2007年 アーティストトータルセールスランキング大発表!
49. オリコン年鑑 2009年版. 100p.
50. http://contents.oricon.co.jp/music/special/081211_01_05.html 2008年 アーティストトータルセールスランキング大発表!
51. http://contents.oricon.co.jp/music/special/091218_01_06.html 2009年 アーティストトータルセールスランキング
52. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/2010/musicrank1220/index06.html 2010年 オリコン年間ランキング アーティストトータルセールス
53. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/2011/musicrank1219/index.html 2011年 オリコン年間ランキング アーティストトータルセールス
54. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/2012/musicrank1220/index09.html#topphoto 2012年 オリコン年間ランキング アーティストトータルセールス
55. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/2013/musicrank1215/index09.html#topphoto 2013年 アーティストトータルセールスランキング
56. http://www.oricon.co.jp/special/47530/6/ 2014年 年間音楽＆映像ランキング発表
57. http://www.oricon.co.jp/special/48546/6/ 2015年 年間音楽ランキングを発表！
58. http://www.oricon.co.jp/special/49664/6/ 2016年 年間音楽＆映像ランキング 嵐が前人未到の記録達成！
59. Web site: 【第50回 オリコン年間ランキング 2017】嵐が総合売上5年連続首位、AKB48がシングル年間V8達成! . December 23, 2017 . Oricon . November 6, 2018 . July 11, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180711233241/https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/50550/6/ . live .
60. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/confidence/special/52268/6/ . ja:【第51回オリコン年間ランキング 2018】安室奈美恵さんが総合首位、AKB48がシングル9年連続1位・2位独占 . December 20, 2018 . Oricon . December 21, 2018 . ja . December 20, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230450/https://www.oricon.co.jp/confidence/special/52268/6/ . live .
61. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/confidence/special/54091/23/ . ja:【オリコン年間ランキング 2019】嵐が18年ぶり200億円超えで総合首位、米津玄師、あいみょん、髭男がデジタルシーンを席巻 . December 23, 2019 . Oricon . March 17, 2020 . ja . December 22, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191222192853/https://www.oricon.co.jp/confidence/special/54091/23/ . live .
62. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/55632/ . ja:【オリコン年間ランキング2020】嵐、総合で通算9度目の首位獲得 . December 25, 2020 . Oricon . ja .
63. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/58006/ . ja:【オリコン年間ランキング2021】BTS、年間アーティストセールストータル１位 海外アーティストで初の快挙 . December 24, 2021 . Oricon . ja .
64. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/61683/ . ja:【オリコン年間ランキング2022】BTS、海外アーティスト初の2年連続年間売上トータル1位 . December 23, 2022 . Oricon . ja .
65. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/special/66049/ . ja:【オリコン年間ランキング2023】King & Prince、期間内売上200億円超えで自身初の年間トータル1位　デジタル1位は「アイドル」がけん引したYOASOBI . December 20, 2023 . Oricon . ja .