Group

AKB48

From: Akihabara, Japan
Since: 2005–present
Rating: ★ 4.2 (5 votes)
Releases: 115

j-pop
pop

About

AKB48 (pronounced A.K.B. Forty-Eight) is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. The group was founded and is comprehensively produced by lyricist Yasushi Akimoto, who serves as its general producer, writes the lyrics for all of the group's songs, and oversees its creative direction and business model. Akimoto wanted to form a girl group with its own theater and performing daily so fans could always see them live (which is not the case with usual pop groups giving occasional concerts and seen on television). This "Idols You Can Meet" concept includes teams which can rotate performances and perform simultaneously at several events and "handshake" events, where fans can meet group members. Akimoto also devised participatory marketing strategies such as the annual "Senbatsu General Elections," in which fans purchased CD singles to vote for their favorite members to be featured in promotional lineups. Over its history, the group has launched the careers of numerous prominent Japanese entertainers, most notably the original "Kami 7" ("God Seven")—the seven core members who occupied the top seven spots in both the first (2009) and second (2010) general elections and defined the group's golden era: Atsuko Maeda, Yuko Oshima, Mariko Shinoda, Mayu Watanabe, Minami Takahashi, Haruna Kojima, and Tomomi Itano—as well as other highly successful members who later ranked in the top seven, such as Yuki Kashiwagi and Rino Sashihara. Furthermore, Akimoto has expanded the AKB48 concept to several sister girl groups within Japan, and internationally in China, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

AKB48 have been characterized as a social phenomenon. They are among the highest-earning musical acts in Japan, and are the sixth-best-selling girl group worldwide. For example, their 2012 sales from record and DVD/Blu-ray releases reached $226 million, earning the group the top spot in the 2012 artist ranking. By April 2019, the group had sold over 60 million records, including over 6 million albums. At least 35 of AKB48's singles have topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, with at least 30 singles selling over a million copies each, making the group the highest-selling musical act in Japan in terms of singles sold. Their highest-selling single, "Teacher Teacher", sold over 3 million copies in 2018 according to Billboard / Soundscan. Between 2010 and 2019, AKB48's singles occupied at least the top two spots of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart for ten consecutive years. As of the release of their 61st single, the group had surpassed 70 million total copies sold, and with the release of their 66th single, they achieved 53 consecutive number-one singles on the Oricon chart, a streak that began with "River" in 2009.

From AKB48 on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.