Japanese pop group AKB48′s latest single, Beginner, has sold over a million copies since its release in late October – a feat which was last achieved in Japan by tenor Akikawa Masafumi’s Sen no Kaze ni Natte in 2007.
Beginner has broken a few other records, including the highest ever first day sales (~ 570,000 copies) since it’s documented by Oricon. Its first week sales of ~827,000 copies is the best since Hikaru Utada’s Addicted To You in 1999. And it’s currently the 9th all time best selling Japanese single.
Below is the dance version MV of Beginner, with a bit of behind-the-scene clips…
Just an ok song imo. AKB48 are in a roll regardless, breaking their own records one after another. The girls are also busy expanding internationally in recent months, including a concert in Singapore on Friday night in conjunction with the AFA.
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Wow, how many girls are in that group? This must be the trend now in Asian music. The market is Saturated with korean and Japanese girl groups that seem like they are 15-20 girls on average. Just get together an army of cute young girls, teach them all how to dance choreographty and they call it a singing group. Wonder how long that fad will last. With pretty girls probably a long time. One good thing in my opinion, it keep any one person from feeling like they are an idol or God. Even though there may be a leader, all the fame is shared by a large group instead. This is an interesting trend that’s developed.
48 members. Officially a Guinness world record lol.
The rise of girl group is apparent in Japan and Korea since early 2009. To be fair to some of the groups (in K-pop especially), the members were trained for number of years before making their debut… most of them are decent singers, though only very few are exceptional.
Boy bands have been ruling the J-pop & K-pop scene since late 90′s and still going strong despite the rise of the girls. So there’s no way to tell when the latest fad is going to end.
I won’t use the word saturated for J-pop; there’s still a variety of genre and public interest to keep the music scene afresh. K-pop on contrary is saturated with pop groups indeed… solo artists could hardly make it big these days, and the lack of variety could jeopardise their music industry in long run.
sex sells, but akb48 is pushing the idea too much. i used to like them a bit but i’m getting tired of this. heavy rotation is too much. this one with see through blouse also is pointless. i prefer their live performance with normal dress, they look good with it. their songs are nice, the girls are cute, no need to hard sell with sexualism.
I don’t have problem with artists using sex appeal to their advantage, it’s up to the public/fans to take it or leave it. It’s obviously working for AKB.
Besides, sexiness is a subjective thing. Heavy Rotation was obvious, but in other cases it’s hard to tell if a see-through blouse is any sexier than short pants or tight shirts (e.g SNSD). It’s up to personal preference and cultural perception.
There are so many of them and they all look the same! Lol I mean, 48 is a small village!