Wow. Tohoshinki (TVXQ / DBSK) is continuing to break records and cement their place in music history in Japan. Their Best Selection 2010 album has sold an estimated 413,000 copies for the first week, according to translated reports from Yahoo! Japan.
With this accomplishment, Tohoshinki becomes the first non-Japanese artists in history to sell that many albums in a week. According to the report, they are also the first Asian Male artists to move over 400,000 copies in the first week, outselling Bon Jovi and the Backstreet Boys.
[#2] 379,000 “G’s Days” Bon Jovi 1995/06/12
[#3] 311,000 “Greatest Hits Chapter One” Backstreet Boys 2001/10/24
Fans knew the numbers would be big because over 200,000 albums were bought on the first day. Photos of very long lines outside of stores were posted at blogs and websites all over the internet.
This news is especially bittersweet because the guys cannot promote the album freely as 5 members without worries because of the ongoing dispute between 3 members (Junsu, Jejung and Yuchun) and their Korean management company.
To sum up the dispute, in my opinion, SM thinks it’s okay to have kids (they were underaged at the time) sign 13 year contracts, to keep most of the profits and to control anything and everything their artists are involved in even if it has nothing to do with music. At least 3 members of Tohoshinki disagree with those policies.
A decision was made by the Courts siding with the 3 young men, and Seoul District Court ordered SM not to interfere with any decisions made by these 3 which have nothing to do with their activities for SM.
Since the dispute, Tohoshinki has grown wings. Just to name a tiny few accomplishments since the dispute:
(2) Jejung and Yuchun wrote and composed a song, Colors: Melody and Harmony, which went to #1 on the Oricon WEEKLY charts. It was also chosen as Hello Kitty’s 35th Anniversary song
(3) Jejung shocked critics and received high praise for his stunning performance in the movie “Heaven’s Postman”. Demands for tickets were very high despite it being released in only a small number of theaters.
(4) Junsu has received massive praise, sold record amounts of tickets, and raised the profile of the hit musical Mozart! with his participation.
(5) Break Out! debuted at #1 on the Oricon Weekly charts, giving the guys a record 7 #1 songs on the Japanese charts
(6) Every magazine they appear in is sold out. There are magazines which had to print 2nd and 3rd batches of their magazines to meet fan demand, according to various reports.
(7) Share the World was the Top Selling Anime song of 2009
And those are just the things I can name off the top of my head! Can you imagine what they could accomplish in an environment where they’re not stressed or worried about their current situation?
Moreover, they are lightning in a bottle for their Japanese management company AVEX (AVEX seems to have the group’s best interest at heart, unlike the Korean management). You would think SM would get the hint and realize that Tohoshinki (Dong Bang Shin Ki) are artists to be treasured and taken care of, instead of controlled and treated like chattel.
Anyway, congratulations to the guys on this latest accomplishment!
Source Mat:
Oricon
AVEX
Sankei News
Asahi News
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100223-00000000-maiall-ent
Trans: OneTVXQ