TSUTAYA's 2015 annual music rankings have been announced! The top-selling single is Arashi's "Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari" and the top-selling album is SEKAI NO OWARI's "Tree."

2015.12.28 Press Releases
TSUTAYA Co., Ltd.

-This is the best-selling music at TSUTAYA in 2015!-

TSUTAYA Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo / President and CEO: Masuda Muneaki / hereinafter referred to as "TSUTAYA"), which operates approximately 1,450 TSUTAYA stores nationwide, will compile and analyze its own database and announce its annual TSUTAYA rankings at the end of the year.
TSUTAYA has compiled and analyzed the rankings from its own database, and we have also researched the gender ratio and average age of the top 5 titles, so we would like to share them with you. We will also share this year's overall review and predictions for next year from merchandisers (MDs) who listen to thousands of songs throughout the year. In addition, we will also introduce excerpts from supportive comments from customers regarding musical works and other content. These supportive comments are a part of the "Kakikome" campaign (※1) being held at TSUTAYA this winter, where customers can express and share their impressions about their favorite movies, music, books, and comics. This ranking is published on the TSUTAYA official website (http://tsutaya.jp/rank2015/).

[Album CD Sales Ranking] 1st Place: Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE "PLANET SEVEN"

2015 kicked off with the huge success of SEKAI NO OWARI and Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE. It was a spectacular year, with releases from big name artists such as Johnny's, DREAMS COME TRUE, Southern All Stars, Mr.Children, Namie Amuro, and B'z.
As a genre, J-ROCK was in full swing that year. In addition to SEKAI NO OWARI, many artists have emerged, including ONE OK ROCK, back number, Alexandros, and WANIMA, whose quality live performances and songs have spread by word of mouth among users, resulting in their rise to fame. I would like to keep an eye on this next year and beyond.

[Single CD Sales Ranking] 1st Place: Arashi "Under the Blue Sky, Next to You"

At the top of the rankings, Johnny's groups including Arashi and AKB48 are overwhelmingly strong. "365 Days of Paper Airplanes," included in AKB48's latest single "Be My Baby on Your Lips," is also the theme song for the NHK morning drama "Asaka Kita," and is expected to further expand their fan base. As for idols, next year is also set to be one to keep an eye on, with SKE48 seeing the huge success of Matsui Rena's graduation single "Mae no Meri," and Nogizaka46 seeing sales increase with each release, including "Inochi wa Utsukushii," "Taiyou Knock," and "Ima Hanashitai Dareka ga Iru."

[Album CD Rental Ranking] 1st Place: SEKAI NO OWARI (The End of the World) "Tree"

In the overall rental rankings for 2015, SEKAI NO OWARI's "Tree" took the top spot, receiving almost equal support from men and women. On the other hand, if we look at the top searched artists on the TSUTAYA search engine, which is difficult to see in the regular rankings, we see that artists such as back number, Kenshi Yonezu, and Gen Hoshino tend to always be at the top among teenagers and people in their twenties, making 2015 an interesting year in which new artists that are not visible just by rental numbers have become even more popular. I would like to keep an eye on this trend next year as well.

[Single CD Rental Ranking] 1st Place: Nishino Kana "If There's Someone Destined For Me"

This year, various tie-up works, including those by Kana Nishino and Leo Ieiri, dominated the top spots in the 2015 single rankings. Even among the titles ranked below 15th place, there were some notable titles such as Hoshino Gen's "SUN" and Sakanaction's long-awaited "Shin Takarajima."This year in particular, rock bands and other acts have been prominently featured on terrestrial music programs, resulting in music genres beyond J-POP gaining attention through the media.

・Collection period: Thursday, January 1, 2015 to Monday, November 30, 2015
・Purchase and rental survey source: DBWatch (collection period same as above)

(※1)
The "Comments" are repurposed from the "Kakikome" (written comments) that customers wrote as part of the "Kakikome" campaign currently being run at TSUTAYA stores nationwide (December 11, 2015 - January 11, 2016), in which they shared their thoughts about the works and artists they wanted to support. The "Kakikome" campaign is a campaign in which the first 1 million customers who write a "support comment" on the comment card they receive at checkout and bring it to the register will receive a free TSUTAYA brand rice "Kakikome" (packaged cooked rice). For more information, please check out the special website here.

http://tsutaya.jp/kakikome/

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Inquiries regarding this matter
TSUTAYA Co., Ltd. Public Relations Department
Noguchi/Oshita TEL: 03-6800-4764