CD single sales jump in 2011, thanks to AKB48

This is great! I really wanted to read something about AKB48 today! My wish is granted!

I'd say it's more thanks to idiots than the idiots in the band themselves -- all 100 or so of them! Who buys CDs these days? It's all iTunes, baby!

i really don't have any idea on the concept of cuteness in japan. why here sexiness and cuteness have always been associated with school uniform? do life is so boring after high school?

@smithinjapan: If you are happy buying compressed music without a cd cover/notes etc and you DON'T own a high end hi-fi like I do, then I guess itunes is the way forward.

AKB48 = marketing overworked girls on fixed salary's.

In other words, every 2nd person in Japan did buy 1 single. I didn't. Did you?

typical. That's why print newspapers are still in business in this country. The Japanese are so unbelievably slow to adopt new technology - especially stuff that does not come from within Japan. It took 3 years before people started using mp3 players here - and then it was all iPods. People outside Japan still think people here are technologically superior, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is now such an archaic, analog & out-of-date society, THAT's why they are still buying CD's here... I mean, Tower Records is STILL in business here. pathetic.

AKB48 is good for the economy! And easy on the eyes!

You know, I did not care that much about AKB48, but it is interesting to watch some people tear their own eyes out over the group, as if they mark the end of civilization or something. So now I sort of like AKB48, because they let us know who has serious tolerance issues. I just saw Jessica Alba in panties in the movie Idle Hands. She was 17, similar in age to a just a few AKB48 members, who you never saw in panties once. But for some, Japan and AKB48 are agents of the Devil!

mikemiro, it all depends on what you are looking at. When MD players were popular here, they were almost unheard of elsewhere. And if we are going to talk about tech, the humble vinyl record is still claimed by many have better fuller sound quality than digital. Cell phones are still ahead here though the gap is closing. Japanese adopt plenty of tech quickly. You just suffer from cultural bias.

without a cd cover

Oooh a Cd cover! Now I can read who the 2nd engineer was! Wow!

Cell phones are still ahead here though the gap is closing

Not quite. Japan is not called the technology Galapagos for nothing. If you want an interface that is completely confusing and an MP3 player you will never learn how to use or games that are only entertaining of you have been lobotomised - Japanese phones are all good.

@Spettatori - MD players were being pushed in Japan when mp3 players were already adopted widely by consumers in the US & elsewhere - at the same time, Sony & Panasonic were flogging MD players abroad (circa 1998/1999) - with no success. My point was, folks here don't adopt foreign-produced technology until it is manufactured in Japan - hence why people here still play CD's. Not because the sound quality is better (check FLAC & OGG about lossless digital audio formats that match CD quality) but because people here have blinders on about what is available unless it is being flogged by local mfrs. And cell phones? What planet are you on? Top Smart phone mfrs were Apple (American), Samsung (Korean), Nokia (Finland) & HTC (Taiwan) in 2Q 2011 - not one Japanese mfr anywhere. Check your stats before you post egregious comments mate. unfortunately, you seem to suffer from tunnel vision & appear unable to see beyond your blinders, like your friends here, mate

In other words, every 2nd person in Japan did buy 1 single. I didn't. Did you?

Your logic is flawed. Fans will buy more than one album from a given group and even multiples of the same album for gifts.

CDs actually make sense for us "old farts". I'll cruise the local Best Buy from time to time looking for a "Greatest Hits" CD from some group I like, find one, buy it, and take it home to rip to my Zune. Then the Zune is plugged into my car so I can drive around without annoying commercials interrupting my music. (The Sirius/XM people were seriously bummed when I told them I didn't need their subscription service.) If anything ever happens to my Zune or computer, the CDs are still there for reload. And best of all, Apple gets NONE of my money.

Very well said Fadamor - Its all very well talking about Lossless formats, but they are very limited commercially online and the downloads much bigger. As you say, i have my CD, I burn to itunes, I now have itunes match so I don't have to worry about losing that, BUT I still have my physical CD to look at, to display and most importantly to play through my very nice hi-fi that I actually enjoy! mikemiro: Its all very well what say, some of which I agree with, but it is all about choice. NOT suffering from tunnel vision, thats frankly insulting. Have you paused to consider that some people might actually like collecting CD's? Vinyl, for your guide, is experiencing a comeback.

...as far as I'm concerned, it's all cout being able to embrace the old and the new and use them to your advantage. You..(mikemiro) are clearlyt quite happy to follow the collective digital only herd, most of whom don't eben appreciate music.

15.5% of Y314.1 billion is about Y50 billion, not Y60 billion. It's still an astonishingly large fraction of the music market occupied by one group though. I suppose people buy CDs rather than MP3s as they get a picture or two with the CDs to leer over. Plus, you can make your own MP3s if you have the CD.

People buy those CDs for the bonuses, photos, limited editions, etc.

My point was, folks here don't adopt foreign-produced technology until it is manufactured in Japan

That tends to cut both ways. One reason is simply the language barrier. Foreign producers do not always provide adequate manuals or service in the target country's language.

But point taken about the cell phone market and the smart phones. But you are aware that they are not manufactured in Japan, yet, they were adopted quickly here.

hence why people here still play CD's.

I would say people still buy CDs because its inconvenient to acquire MP3s, transfer them and all that. I suspect a lot of people get their MP3s illegally, and Japanese tend not to go there.

Yes, I remember the early years of MP3. I found the MD far more convenient at the time. It was loads easier to record a CD to MD than to make my own MP3s and tranfer them to anything useful, especially as most of my listening is limited to the car.

And therein lies another cultural difference. Japanese are not cranking it up at home from their computers. They tend to listen outside the house. MD was better for that than MP3. But even now with solid state portable mp3 players, the problem remains of acquiring the MP3s legally and conveniently in their own language. I suspect a lot of Japanese are going to balk at punching in their credit card numbers just to get some MP3s.

only a few otaku people have bought those the same CDs to get additional gift that is contained in the packages. after they got those gifts then the packages with CDs are sold at BookOff or just thrown them away..