WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.600 OK, so I want you to take a second and just transport 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:06.940 yourself back to May 2011. Oh, wow. Taking it 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:08.800 back a bit. Yeah. I mean, think about where you 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:10.679 were. What were you listening to? Because if 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:14.400 you were in the US or Europe at the time, the 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:16.739 music industry felt like it was basically in 00:00:16.739 --> 00:00:20.420 a free fall. It really was. It was. an absolute 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:23.179 funeral procession for the plastic disc. Everyone 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:25.420 knew the future was digital. Right. iTunes was 00:00:25.420 --> 00:00:27.839 totally dominating. Spotify was just kind of 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:29.899 starting to stretch its legs in Europe. And the 00:00:29.899 --> 00:00:32.960 physical CD, it was essentially on life support. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:35.299 Exactly. If you looked at the sales curves for 00:00:35.299 --> 00:00:38.200 CDs in the West, I mean, they were pointing straight 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:40.759 down. The idea of buying a physical album felt 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:43.020 almost quaint. Like buying a vinyl record in 00:00:43.020 --> 00:00:45.539 the 90s. Yeah, exactly like that. The headline 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:48.159 in basically every trade magazine was all about 00:00:48.409 --> 00:00:51.549 the death of physical media. It was inescapable. 00:00:51.890 --> 00:00:54.189 But then you look at one specific archipelago. 00:00:54.429 --> 00:00:57.030 If you pull up the data from Japan on May 25th, 00:00:57.090 --> 00:01:00.929 2011, reality just, it kind of breaks. It absolutely 00:01:00.929 --> 00:01:04.290 breaks. On that single day, one CD single released 00:01:04.290 --> 00:01:07.849 by a girl group didn't just sell well. It sold 00:01:07.849 --> 00:01:13.510 942 ,475 copies. Nearly a million physical discs. 00:01:13.730 --> 00:01:17.840 Right. in 24 hours. It's wild. That is a staggering 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:20.640 statistic. I mean, it defies gravity. It completely 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.840 defies the market trends of the entire world 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:25.120 at that moment. It really does. And the song 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.780 responsible for that anomaly is what we are digging 00:01:27.780 --> 00:01:31.439 into today for our deep dive. It's the 21st single 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:35.400 from the Japanese idol juggernaut AKB48, and 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:38.790 it's titled Every Day, Katusha. And I'm really 00:01:38.790 --> 00:01:40.730 glad we have the full production notes and the 00:01:40.730 --> 00:01:42.769 Orican sales charts for this source material. 00:01:43.290 --> 00:01:44.989 Because our mission today isn't really to review 00:01:44.989 --> 00:01:47.230 a pop song. No, not at all. We aren't here to 00:01:47.230 --> 00:01:49.609 critique the melody or the choreography or anything 00:01:49.609 --> 00:01:51.890 like that. We are dissecting a cultural engine. 00:01:52.049 --> 00:01:53.829 That's a great way to put it. When you look at 00:01:53.829 --> 00:01:55.930 the logistics behind this release, you realize 00:01:55.930 --> 00:01:58.909 this wasn't just a song. It was a master class 00:01:58.909 --> 00:02:02.150 in crown psychology, strategic marketing, and 00:02:02.150 --> 00:02:04.590 as we'll see, crisis management, all wrapped 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:07.060 up in cellophane. It really is like the moneyball 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:09.500 of pop music, but just with way more sequins. 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:12.080 So we have the spreadsheets. We have the history. 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:15.719 Let's unpack how this actually happened, because 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:18.439 every day, Katusha didn't just buck the trend. 00:02:18.699 --> 00:02:21.620 It obliterated history. It did. And to really 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:23.520 understand the scale here, we have to look past 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:26.939 that first day. You mentioned the 942 ,000 figure, 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:28.840 which is mind blowing on its own. It's totally 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:31.240 bonkers. But by the end of the debut week, The 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:36.280 single had shifted 1 .334 million copies. 1 .334 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:38.340 million. Just to give you some context listening 00:02:38.340 --> 00:02:42.319 at home, in 2011, a gold record in the US was 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:45.360 500 ,000 units. Right. They did nearly triple 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:48.080 that in one week. And here's the comparison that 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.439 really matters to the Japanese industry watchers. 00:02:51.219 --> 00:02:53.960 That figure set a brand new all time sales record 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:56.729 for singles in Japan. A brand new record. Yes. 00:02:57.050 --> 00:02:59.090 And the previous record holder was the legendary 00:02:59.090 --> 00:03:01.830 rock band, Mr. Children, with their song Namanaki 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:04.550 Uta. And Mr. Children are essentially royalty 00:03:04.550 --> 00:03:06.169 in Japan. I mean, they aren't an idol group. 00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:08.949 They're a serious rock band. Absolutely. They 00:03:08.949 --> 00:03:12.169 are the organic rock gods over there. And their 00:03:12.169 --> 00:03:16.289 record had stood since February 1996. Wow. 1996. 00:03:16.689 --> 00:03:19.849 Think about that date. 1996 was the absolute 00:03:19.849 --> 00:03:23.539 peak of the CD era globally. You had those huge 00:03:23.539 --> 00:03:25.900 tower record stores. People were buying physical 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:28.060 media because there was literally no other option. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:30.300 Right. Streaming wasn't a thing. Mr. Children 00:03:30.300 --> 00:03:32.680 set the record when the wind was completely at 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:36.280 their backs. And then AKB48 comes along 15 years 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:38.939 later in 2011 when the wind was blowing strictly 00:03:38.939 --> 00:03:41.340 in the other direction streaming piracy digital 00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:44.340 downloads. And they just smashed it. Exactly. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:46.560 It's a total outlier. It's like seeing a steam 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:49.039 engine outrun a Tesla. It just shouldn't happen 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:51.159 based on the market trend. No, it shouldn't. 00:03:51.229 --> 00:03:54.409 And for AKB48, this wasn't even a fluke. By this 00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:56.349 point, they were operating on a completely different 00:03:56.349 --> 00:03:59.530 industrial scale. Every day, Katusha became their 00:03:59.530 --> 00:04:01.870 third million -selling single, joining Sakura 00:04:01.870 --> 00:04:05.069 Nokin, Ninarshu, and Beginner. So they had already 00:04:05.069 --> 00:04:06.650 cracked the code. They knew exactly what they 00:04:06.650 --> 00:04:09.210 were doing. They had. But this track put the 00:04:09.210 --> 00:04:12.590 code on steroids. It crossed the 1 .5 million 00:04:12.590 --> 00:04:15.069 sales mark incredibly fast. It was the first 00:04:15.069 --> 00:04:18.850 single to hit 1 .5 million since 2005. Wow. And 00:04:18.850 --> 00:04:22.439 it made AKB48. only the fifth female group in 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:25.339 history to reach that milestone. So it represents 00:04:25.339 --> 00:04:27.899 the absolute peak of the idol genre in terms 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:30.500 of physical muscle. But this is where I get a 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:32.899 little skeptical. I listen to the song and it's 00:04:32.899 --> 00:04:35.759 a banger. It's a catchy summer pop tune, very 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:39.360 high energy. But is it 1 .3 million copies good? 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:41.660 That is exactly the right question to ask. How 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:44.079 does a CD sell a million copies in a day? Is 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.379 the music just that undeniable or is there some 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:48.079 mechanic under the hood that we aren't seeing 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:50.360 right away? Because normal people don't buy CDs 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.199 in 2011. There is absolutely a mechanic. The 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:55.480 music is the vehicle. But the engine driving 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:57.560 those sales is something else entirely. If you 00:04:57.560 --> 00:04:59.339 look at the release information in our sources, 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:01.939 the answer is hidden in the phrase first press 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:04.139 limited edition. The first press bonus. What 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:06.279 was inside the jewel case? A ballot, a ballot, 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:10.220 specifically a ticket to vote in the AKB48 22nd 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:13.600 single Senbatsu election. OK, we need to stop 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:16.779 and really explain the Senbatsu election or Sosenkyo 00:05:16.779 --> 00:05:18.980 because this is the genius part of the whole 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:21.160 operation. This isn't just a fan club poll where 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:23.759 you click a button on a website, is it? No, it's 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:27.000 a democratic process. or perhaps a highly capitalist 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.699 democratic process that determines the actual 00:05:29.699 --> 00:05:32.300 career trajectory of the performers. Right. See, 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:35.060 AKB48 isn't a static group like the Spice Girls 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:37.339 or Destiny's Child where you have three or four 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:39.439 members and that's it forever. Right. It's a 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:41.879 massive roster. Exactly. Dozens and dozens of 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:44.180 girls. But for the next single, the one coming 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:47.040 out in the summer, only a select few get to be 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:49.199 on the cover. Only a few get to be in the music 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:51.550 video. And usually, in the traditional music 00:05:51.550 --> 00:05:54.230 industry, a producer or a label exec decides 00:05:54.230 --> 00:05:56.430 who the star is. They pick the face of the group, 00:05:56.509 --> 00:05:59.470 and that's that. Right. But in this system, the 00:05:59.470 --> 00:06:02.790 fans decide. The word senbatsu literally translates 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:05.870 to selection. And it is decided by the number 00:06:05.870 --> 00:06:08.649 of votes a member receives. OK. And the way you 00:06:08.649 --> 00:06:11.050 cast a vote is by entering a serial number found 00:06:11.050 --> 00:06:15.379 inside the everyday So let me maximize this logic 00:06:15.379 --> 00:06:18.379 so I understand it completely. If I am a die 00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:21.199 -hard fan of a specific member, let's say she's 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:23.279 a rookie, she's sitting on the back bench, she 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:25.300 doesn't get any TV time, and I want her to be 00:06:25.300 --> 00:06:31.259 a star, I need to vote for her. And if I want 00:06:31.259 --> 00:06:34.220 to guarantee she beats her rival, I can't just 00:06:34.220 --> 00:06:38.449 vote once, can I? If you want to cast 10 votes, 00:06:38.569 --> 00:06:40.829 you buy 10 CDs. If you want to cast a thousand 00:06:40.829 --> 00:06:44.110 votes, you buy a thousand CDs. That completely 00:06:44.110 --> 00:06:46.509 changes the value proposition. You aren't really 00:06:46.509 --> 00:06:48.790 buying music anymore, you're buying influence. 00:06:49.089 --> 00:06:51.649 Precisely. It's the ultimate gamification of 00:06:51.649 --> 00:06:54.209 consumption. You are not just a listener, you 00:06:54.209 --> 00:06:56.769 are a stakeholder. You essentially become a campaign 00:06:56.769 --> 00:06:59.230 manager. A campaign manager, wow. The purchase 00:06:59.230 --> 00:07:01.370 of the music is tied directly to the hierarchy 00:07:01.370 --> 00:07:04.170 of the group. The fans feel a profound sense 00:07:04.170 --> 00:07:07.560 of responsibility. Like, if I don't buy this 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:09.759 CD, my favorite member might drop in the rankings. 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:12.860 That perfectly explains the explosion in sales. 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:15.680 It explains why one person might walk out of 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:18.240 a store with a box full of the exact same CD. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:21.579 The disc itself is almost irrelevant at that 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:24.019 point. It's just the container for the ballot. 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:26.519 Yes, exactly. It's like buying a chocolate bar 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:28.819 just to get the golden ticket inside. It's a 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:31.939 brilliant economic model. But it only works if 00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:34.399 you have a roster big enough to generate that 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:36.899 kind of fierce competition. You need rivalries. 00:07:37.100 --> 00:07:39.040 Right. You need different factions to root for. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.839 And looking at the credits for every day, Katusha, 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:45.079 this isn't a quartet. It's practically an army. 00:07:45.459 --> 00:07:47.959 It really reads like a corporate organizational 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:49.980 chart. I was looking at the contributing members 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:52.139 list and the source notes and the sheer scale 00:07:52.139 --> 00:07:54.540 is overwhelming. Break down the structure for 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:56.300 us. Who are these people? So at the very top 00:07:56.300 --> 00:07:58.319 of the pyramid, you have the center. For this 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.939 specific title track, the center position was 00:08:00.939 --> 00:08:04.040 held by Atsuka Maeda. The absolute face of the 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.860 group at the time, the ace. She was the focal 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:09.959 point. But backing her up, you have the Senbatsu 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:13.120 team, and they are drawn from multiple internal 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:15.620 factions. You have Team A, Team K, and Team B. 00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:17.300 And these aren't just random letters, right? 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:19.560 They have different identities and vibes. They 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:22.699 definitely do. Team A was the flagship, the original 00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:25.639 team. with heavy hitters like Minami Takahashi 00:08:25.639 --> 00:08:28.939 and Mariko Shinoda. Team K was known for being 00:08:28.939 --> 00:08:32.419 more energetic, powerful, maybe a bit edgier, 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:34.700 featuring members like Yuko Ushima and Tomomi 00:08:34.700 --> 00:08:38.899 Itano. Got it. And then Team B was the more traditional, 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:42.460 idol -like, cute team with Yuki Kashiwagi and 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:44.779 Mayu Watanabe. So you already have these internal 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:47.000 tribes competing against each other, but looking 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.100 at the production notes, it actually goes way 00:08:49.100 --> 00:08:52.519 beyond just the main AKB group in Akihabara. 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:54.580 Right. This is where the real Empire expansion 00:08:54.580 --> 00:08:56.899 comes in. They brought in reinforcements from 00:08:56.899 --> 00:08:58.960 the sister groups. Sister groups. Yeah. You see 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:01.539 members from SKE48. That's the group based in 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:04.639 Sakai, Nagoya, specifically T -MAS with Jirina 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.039 Matsui and Rina Matsui. And you also have members 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:11.159 from NMB48 based in Namba, Osaka. like Sayaka 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:13.600 Yamamoto. It's basically like the Avengers assembling. 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.279 You're pulling the top talent from Tokyo, Nagoya, 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:19.500 and Osaka all onto one track. It signals to the 00:09:19.500 --> 00:09:23.240 consumer that this is a major event single. It's 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:25.600 a national festival, not just a localized Tokyo 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:28.740 release. But what I find really fascinating is 00:09:28.740 --> 00:09:32.159 the depth of the roster. How so? Well, even if 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.100 a member wasn't popular enough to make it into 00:09:34.100 --> 00:09:36.799 this Avengers group for the main song, they were 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:38.769 still working. They were still helping to sell 00:09:38.769 --> 00:09:41.370 the CD. Ah, because of the B -sides. Exactly. 00:09:41.690 --> 00:09:44.169 It's a beautifully tiered structure. The source 00:09:44.169 --> 00:09:47.210 lists a song called Hito no Chikara that wasn't 00:09:47.210 --> 00:09:50.049 performed by the stars. It was performed by a 00:09:50.049 --> 00:09:52.809 group branded as the Undergirls. Undergirls. 00:09:52.850 --> 00:09:54.830 They aren't very subtle with the naming conventions, 00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:57.350 are they? No, it's brutal honesty. It implies 00:09:57.350 --> 00:09:59.649 they are literally under the main selection fighting 00:09:59.649 --> 00:10:01.990 to get up. Right. And then you have the track 00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:05.360 Anti, which was performed by Team Kankisai. And 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.200 kinkies means trainee or research student, right? 00:10:09.019 --> 00:10:12.399 Yes. This track featured the 9th, 10th, and 11th 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:15.100 generations of trainees. So you have a single 00:10:15.100 --> 00:10:17.720 product that showcases the megastars, the mid 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:20.000 -tier idols grinding their way up, and the absolute 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:23.950 rookies all in one package. It creates this vibe 00:10:23.950 --> 00:10:27.889 of a massive living organism. If you follow the 00:10:27.889 --> 00:10:30.370 rookies, you buy the CD for the anti -track. 00:10:30.629 --> 00:10:32.889 If you love the Nagoya group, you buy it to support 00:10:32.889 --> 00:10:36.190 Jirina Matsui. It essentially covers every possible 00:10:36.190 --> 00:10:39.230 demographic within the fandom. It maximizes the 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:42.009 surface area for sales. There is zero wasted 00:10:42.009 --> 00:10:44.529 talent in the system. Everyone is monetized. 00:10:44.730 --> 00:10:46.830 Now, even with the voting system and the massive 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:49.309 roster, you still need exposure. You can't sell 00:10:49.309 --> 00:10:52.629 a million units in a vacuum. And in May 2011, 00:10:52.629 --> 00:10:54.330 you basically couldn't walk down a street in 00:10:54.330 --> 00:10:56.730 Tokyo without hearing this melody. The multimedia 00:10:56.730 --> 00:10:59.669 tie -ins were incredibly aggressive. This is 00:10:59.669 --> 00:11:01.610 what the industry calls a media mix strategy. 00:11:01.769 --> 00:11:03.909 Okay, tell me about that. The song was attached 00:11:03.909 --> 00:11:06.450 to major visual media releases that created a 00:11:06.450 --> 00:11:10.590 constant feedback loop. First, every day, Katusha 00:11:10.590 --> 00:11:13.450 was the theme song for the film Moshi Dora. Moshi 00:11:13.450 --> 00:11:15.549 Dora, that's the movie with the incredibly long 00:11:15.549 --> 00:11:17.669 title, right? Something like, what if a female 00:11:17.669 --> 00:11:20.049 manager of a high school baseball team read Drucker's 00:11:20.049 --> 00:11:23.090 management? That's the one. It was a huge pop 00:11:23.090 --> 00:11:25.929 culture moment all by itself, mixing high school 00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:29.009 baseball with corporate management theory. And 00:11:29.009 --> 00:11:31.429 crucially, it starred Atsuka Maeda and Minami 00:11:31.429 --> 00:11:34.129 Yamagishi. Oh, I see. So the movie promotes the 00:11:34.129 --> 00:11:36.590 song, and the song promotes the movie. It's a 00:11:36.590 --> 00:11:38.509 perfect loop. And it wasn't just the cinema either. 00:11:38.529 --> 00:11:41.809 There was a TV drama tie -in too, right? Yes, 00:11:41.809 --> 00:11:45.289 for one of the B -sides. The track, Yankee Soul, 00:11:45.590 --> 00:11:48.529 served as the opening theme for Majisuka Gakumen 00:11:48.529 --> 00:11:52.309 2 on TV Tokyo. Which is a drama about delinquent 00:11:52.309 --> 00:11:55.070 schoolgirls fighting for supremacy cast almost 00:11:55.070 --> 00:11:57.590 entirely with AKB members. Exactly. So if you 00:11:57.590 --> 00:11:59.610 watch TV, you heard the songs. If you went to 00:11:59.610 --> 00:12:01.970 the movies, you heard the songs. And the quality 00:12:01.970 --> 00:12:04.230 control was incredibly high throughout all of 00:12:04.230 --> 00:12:06.450 this. The lyrics for all these tracks were written 00:12:06.450 --> 00:12:09.389 by the producer, Yasushi Akimoto. The mastermind 00:12:09.389 --> 00:12:11.470 behind the whole project. And the music for the 00:12:11.470 --> 00:12:14.549 title track was composed by Yoshimasa Inoue, 00:12:14.970 --> 00:12:17.950 who really defined that high energy, orchestral 00:12:17.950 --> 00:12:20.789 pop sound that AKB is known for. It was designed 00:12:20.789 --> 00:12:23.009 from the ground up to be an earworm. It wasn't 00:12:23.009 --> 00:12:25.769 thrown together. It was meticulously crafted 00:12:25.769 --> 00:12:27.870 to stick in your head. We also need to talk about 00:12:27.870 --> 00:12:30.169 the physical packaging again. Because it wasn't 00:12:30.169 --> 00:12:32.750 just about the voting ticket hidden inside, the 00:12:32.750 --> 00:12:36.070 actual product on the shelf had variations. This 00:12:36.070 --> 00:12:38.289 is pretty standard practice now in K -pop and 00:12:38.289 --> 00:12:41.269 J -pop, but it was executed perfectly here. You 00:12:41.269 --> 00:12:43.789 had type A and type B versions of the single. 00:12:43.889 --> 00:12:46.370 So if I'm standing in a record store in Shibuya, 00:12:46.750 --> 00:12:48.629 what's the difference? Why do I pick one over 00:12:48.629 --> 00:12:51.539 the other? Well, Type A included a DVD with the 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:54.539 music clips and a special drama version of the 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:58.179 everyday Katusha music video. Okay. Type B had 00:12:58.179 --> 00:13:00.919 a dance version of the video focusing heavily 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:03.259 on the choreography and a completely different 00:13:03.259 --> 00:13:05.340 audio track, which was Hito no Chikara. So if 00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:07.399 I'm a hardcore fan and I want the drama video 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:09.600 and the dance video. You have to buy both. And 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:11.620 if I want the undergirl song and the trainee 00:13:11.620 --> 00:13:14.320 song we talked about. You need to go find the 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.899 theater edition. which included the track, Anti. 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:19.759 So to get every song and every piece of video 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:22.519 content, a fan is heavily incentivized to buy 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:25.240 at least three distinct copies. And that's before 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:27.700 you even factor in buying extra copies for the 00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:30.460 voting tickets. It's a machine designed to multiply 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:32.940 the transaction value of every single customer. 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:36.879 It really is. But. And I think this is a really 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:39.500 important pivot we need to make here. If we just 00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:42.200 view this as cold, calculated capitalism, we 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:45.580 kind of miss the emotional reality of the time. 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:48.240 We have to look at the date again, May 2011. 00:13:48.379 --> 00:13:50.779 Right. This is only two months after March 11th, 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:52.940 the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. 00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:56.220 The country was in a state of deep national trauma. 00:13:56.759 --> 00:14:01.120 There was this mood called jishoku or self -restraint 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:03.340 that was completely dominant. What did that look 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:06.179 like? People felt guilty about having fun. Concerts 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:08.539 were canceled left and right. The lights in Tokyo 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:11.440 were literally dimmed to save power. The recovery 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.000 was just barely beginning. That is an incredibly 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.879 heavy context for a bubbly, upbeat pop song about 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:18.960 summer and headbands. Did the release acknowledge 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.139 that reality at all, or did they just ignore 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:22.980 it and push forward? It did acknowledge it, and 00:14:22.980 --> 00:14:25.179 this is crucial. The sources note that it was 00:14:25.179 --> 00:14:26.759 announced that a portion of the proceeds from 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:29.279 this album would be donated to help victims of 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:33.100 the disaster. Oh, wow. AKB48 had launched the 00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:37.179 no tame knee or for some unsake project. That 00:14:37.179 --> 00:14:39.500 adds a completely different layer to those massive 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:42.259 sales figures. It really does. When you see 1 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:45.220 .3 million copies sold, yes it's about the voting, 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:48.519 yes it's about the catchy tune, but there is 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:51.059 also an element of collective effort there. Fans 00:14:51.059 --> 00:14:53.659 knew that their purchase was contributing in 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:56.779 some small way to the relief efforts. It bridges 00:14:56.779 --> 00:14:59.100 that gap between a commercial product and social 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:01.639 responsibility. It almost gives people permission 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:04.700 to enjoy something fun and pop -oriented during 00:15:04.700 --> 00:15:07.039 a really dark time because they know it's also 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.500 helping. Preficely. It allowed the idol genre 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:11.460 to be an active part of the recovery narrative. 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:13.960 It signaled to the public that it was okay to 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.519 be energetic again, that Genki energy and health 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:18.769 was needed for the country to bounce back. So 00:15:18.769 --> 00:15:21.129 we have the brilliant sales strategy, the Avengers 00:15:21.129 --> 00:15:23.450 -style roster, the multimedia dominance, and 00:15:23.450 --> 00:15:26.269 this very specific historical moment of national 00:15:26.269 --> 00:15:28.850 recovery. Given all that, it's no surprise that 00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:30.870 the industry critics and the award shows had 00:15:30.870 --> 00:15:33.610 to pay attention. You can't just ignore a cultural 00:15:33.610 --> 00:15:36.289 object this big, even if it is manufactured pop. 00:15:36.450 --> 00:15:38.690 You really can't. The trophy cabinet for this 00:15:38.690 --> 00:15:41.549 single is pretty full. Run us through the accolades. 00:15:41.690 --> 00:15:44.149 Did it get actual respect from the industry or 00:15:44.149 --> 00:15:46.429 just raw sales numbers? It got both, actually. 00:15:46.830 --> 00:15:49.289 At the Billboard Japan Music Awards in 2011, 00:15:49.870 --> 00:15:52.129 it completely cleaned up. It won Hot 100 of the 00:15:52.129 --> 00:15:54.909 year and Hot 100 single sales of the year. A 00:15:54.909 --> 00:15:57.950 double win. And Billboard uses a complex metric, 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:00.330 right? It's not just CD sales. It incorporates 00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:02.850 Airplay and other data. Exactly. So it wasn't 00:16:02.850 --> 00:16:05.250 just super fans buying boxes of CDs to vote. 00:16:05.470 --> 00:16:07.610 the song was genuinely being played everywhere. 00:16:07.970 --> 00:16:11.029 Right. Then moving into 2012, it took single 00:16:11.029 --> 00:16:14.590 of the year at the Japan Gold Disc Awards. And 00:16:14.590 --> 00:16:17.690 significantly as late as 2013, it won the bronze 00:16:17.690 --> 00:16:20.529 award at the J's Rack Awards. J's Rack tracks 00:16:20.529 --> 00:16:23.009 royalties and copyright usage. So that means 00:16:23.009 --> 00:16:26.169 the song was being used in karaoke, on TV, in 00:16:26.169 --> 00:16:28.429 local businesses. It shows serious longevity. 00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:30.879 A quick sales burst doesn't win you a J's Rack 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.379 Award two years after release. And if we look 00:16:33.379 --> 00:16:35.039 at the charts summarized in the source material, 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:37.419 it's just a solid wall of number ones. Let's 00:16:37.419 --> 00:16:39.639 hear them. Number one on Oricon Daily. Number 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:41.980 one on Oricon Weekly. Number one on Oricon Monthly. 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:45.440 Number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. What 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.139 about digital? Because we said physical media 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:51.120 was the focus of the voting, but were everyday 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.580 people downloading it too? Yes, they were. It 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:57.250 hit number one on the RIAJ digital track chart. 00:16:57.629 --> 00:16:59.149 So people were definitely downloading it too, 00:16:59.409 --> 00:17:01.909 not just buying the CD for the ticket. The song 00:17:01.909 --> 00:17:05.009 had real legs. It really was total domination 00:17:05.009 --> 00:17:08.049 across every metric. And impressively, on the 00:17:08.049 --> 00:17:11.170 Oricon yearly singles chart for 2011, it held 00:17:11.170 --> 00:17:13.410 the number two spot. Wait, if it was number two, 00:17:13.450 --> 00:17:16.980 who was number one? Another AKB48 single. Flying 00:17:16.980 --> 00:17:19.579 Get, which came out later that year. And that 00:17:19.579 --> 00:17:21.279 one was actually driven by the results of the 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:23.019 election we just talked about. So they were literally 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:24.660 just competing with themselves at the top of 00:17:24.660 --> 00:17:26.460 the charts. They owned the podium. They didn't 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:28.059 just participate in the market. They were the 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:30.339 market. So when we step back and look at every 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:33.839 day, Katusha as a whole, it really feels like 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:36.500 a perfect storm. It is the absolute convergence 00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:39.200 of several powerful forces. You have the idol 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.859 culture reaching its peak mass appeal. You have 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:45.000 the strategic brilliance of the Senbatsu election, 00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:47.539 turning passive fans into active participants. 00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:50.920 You have the multimedia synergy with the movies 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:53.880 and dramas, keeping the song in the public consciousness. 00:17:54.099 --> 00:17:56.539 And the somber reality of the 2011 earthquake 00:17:56.539 --> 00:17:59.339 providing a backdrop where people perhaps needed 00:17:59.339 --> 00:18:01.799 that collective connection and a way to donate 00:18:01.799 --> 00:18:04.359 while also needing an escape from the news. all 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:07.200 anchored by Atsuko Maeda, and a roster of talent 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:10.440 that was, frankly, unmatched in size and scope 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:12.740 anywhere else in the world. It proves that in 00:18:12.740 --> 00:18:15.240 this specific industry, the CD became something 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:18.059 far more than just a music delivery format. It 00:18:18.059 --> 00:18:20.960 became a key. A key to a community, a key to 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.660 voting power, and a key to exclusive content. 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.519 That's the big takeaway for me. The music is 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:28.559 obviously central. It has to be catchy to work. 00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:31.319 But the true product is the experience of being 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:34.940 an AKB48 supporter. Every day, Katusha is the 00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:36.859 ultimate example of selling that experience. 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:39.240 It certainly is. And it leaves me with a thought 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:40.759 I want to throw out there for you listening. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:44.930 We so often romanticize the art of music. But 00:18:44.930 --> 00:18:47.789 when you look at Everyday, Katusha, which created 00:18:47.789 --> 00:18:50.529 such a massive economic footprint through voting 00:18:50.529 --> 00:18:52.809 tickets, multiple versions, and media tie -ins, 00:18:53.289 --> 00:18:56.130 does the music drive the sales or do the sales 00:18:56.130 --> 00:18:58.210 and the intricate system designed to generate 00:18:58.210 --> 00:19:01.789 them actually drive the music? That is the million 00:19:01.789 --> 00:19:04.369 copy question. It sure is. Thanks for joining 00:19:04.369 --> 00:19:06.930 us on this deep dive into the phenomenon of Everyday, 00:19:07.069 --> 00:19:08.869 Katusha. It was a pleasure to be here. We'll 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:09.589 catch you on the next one.