Wednesday, June 22, 2011

KARA bags triple platinum, Big Bang scores gold in Japan

By JONATHAN M. HICAP
MANILA, Philippines - K-pop groups KARA, Big Bang and Girls Generation continued their rise in the Japanese music market.
The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) released its latest certifications for May on mobile phone and PC downloads showing KARA achieving two feats.   



KARA achieved the highest ranking, getting triple platinum status for their first Japanese single “Mister” on the “Chaku-Uta” ranking, or full-song downloads for mobile phones. “Mister”, which was released in Japan in August last year, got the status after being downloaded and purchased 750,000 times.
Nelly’s “Dilemma” was certified platinum for selling 250,000.
On the other hand, Girls Generation’s “Mr. Taxi” and “Run Devil Run” achieved gold status for being downloaded 100,000 times. The girl group was awarded the status along with Japanese artists Amuro Namie, AKB48, Shimizu Shota, Kaoru to Tomoki, Tamani Mook, the GazettE, Sonar Pocket, Takahashi Yoko, day after tomorrow, Nakashima Mika, Rake, WISE and Earth, Wind & Fire.
In the mobile phone ringtones category, Japanese pop rock band Ikimono-gakari achieved double platinum status for their song “Sakura” by being downloaded 500,000 times.
In the PC download ranking for singles, Girls Generation’s “Gee” was certified platinum after being downloaded 250,000 times. “Jet Coaster Love”, KARA”s third Japanese single, was certified gold for selling 100,000 copies along with Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling”.  
KARA is currently in Japan to promote their new single “Go Go Summer”, which will be released on June 29.
In Oricon chart’s annual ranking for 2010, KARA was awarded as the No. 1 rookie group in album sales, earning $15.4 million for selling 493,000 copies of their albums that were released last year.
In the PC download ranking for albums, “Songs for Japan”, which featured artists Justin Bieber, Madonna, Katy Perry and 35 other singers, achieved gold status.
Boy band Big Bang also scored gold status after their “Big Bang 2” album sold 100,000 copies in May, according to RIAJ data.
The album sales for May was topped by Japanese group EXILE whose “Tower of Wishes” album sold one million copies to bag the million status.
The group was followed by Namie Amuro whose album “Checkmate” sold 500,000 copies and was awarded the double platinum status. Japanese pop group Zard achieved triple feats after their three albums were awarded platinum status for selling 250,000 copies each. 

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