Japanese Music Chart Oricon Announces New Charts That Reflect Streaming

Oricon has announced new charts which will include streaming counts.

Oricon has established the new Weekly Combined Singles Chart, Weekly Combined Album Chart, and Weekly Streaming Chart. The new charts will reflect counts from streaming services such as Apple Music, KK Box, Line Music, and more, as well as the previously used standard CD sales and digital download counts.

This has been noted as one of the biggest changes to Oricon charts since beginning the singles chart in 1968. The Japanese music market has been known for its conservative nature, with it continuing to focus on the CD market until now. Because of this, many have criticized the Japanese music market for not accurately reflecting real popularity until now.

Music charts in other countries previously added changes to reflect the trend towards streaming services. In December 2014, Billboard began utilizing Spotify, Beats Music, Google Play, Xbox Music, and other streaming services for their Billboard 200 chart, which is their main album chart.

The change in the Oricon charts may have an impact on Korean artists. A source from a large-scale agency in Korea shared, “We’ll have to observe for at least three months to get a grasp on how the charts are being operated. It’s advantageous for groups like TWICE who have high mainstream popularity and could be disadvantageous for male idols who have strong core fandoms. Like Korea, the culture of idol fandoms continuously streaming music may appear in Japan.”

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