Sales of JYJ’s DVD and Album have been excluded from Oricon Chart by AVEX

AVEX, TVXQ’s management company in Japan, has announced indefinite suspension of JYJ’s activities last year. However, AVEX still reaps profits from the three members’ work, like releasing DVDs, <Thanksgiving Live in Dome Live CD> and <Memories in 2010 DVD>, although the three has not been active.

This is not where its impudence and greed ends. The above two products has been excluded from the Oricon Chart, which is well known for public confidence and reliable sales records in Japan.

Here is the announcement of Oricon Chart Inc. on March 7, 2011.

click here to see the original announcement posted on oricon.co.jp

[Original announcement of Oricon Research Inc. in Japanese]

3 月2日に発売のJYJのDVD『Memories in 2010』とアルバム『THANKSGIVING LIVE IN DOME LIVE CD』は、権利元及び発売元であるエイベックス社側で、アーティスト活動を休止させたことからランキング公開を含む一切の宣伝・販促活動を行なわないとい う条件の元、発売が検討されていた商品です。弊社も この商品を心待ちにしているファンのため、また販売店を含む市場の活性化に繋がるであろうとの判断の元、異例ではありますが、この度、同商品をランキング 対象外とすることにいたしました。 何卒ご理解のほどよろしくお願いいたします。

2011年3月7日　オリコン・リサーチ株式会社

[Translation]

JYJ’s DVD <Memories in 2010> and album <Thanksgiving Live in Dome> were in consideration for the release on the condition that no advertisement and no promotion will be done including opening to the Oricon Chart ranking, due to the suspension of JYJ’s activities as artists by AVEX. It is It is unprecedented, but for the fans who looked forward to these in the music stores and for revitalization of the music market, DVD and album will be released but will be excluded from the Oricon Chart at this time. Thank you for your understanding.

(March 7, 2011 – Oricon Research Inc.)

Can you see the AVEX’s true intentions, wanting profits using the three members’ name while avoiding the promotion of their status or popularity in Japan? Oricon’s announcement officially stated that Avex released these products to ‘revitalize’ the market. Those of you who have purchased these products from this company, did you know that the sales of the above DVD and album were excluded from the chart? Those sales cannot do anything to prove ‘the strong position of JYJ in Japan.’ As long as DVD and albums have been officially released without infringing anyone’s copyrights, sales of DVDs and albums are fully justified in counting for Oricon Chart in Japan. For this reason, Oricon Research Inc. used the word ‘unprecedented’ in its explanation for excluding JYJ’s DVDs and album from the chart. If AVEX had planned this properly, it should have informed the customers on this matter of sales BEFORE releasing the products. (By the way, JYJ have made it official through the press that they were not informed about this release. According to their agent, there was no discussion with Avex about release of JYJ related products.)

Wouldn’t you agree that Avex is selling out JYJ’s name in greed and obtained improper gains by violating customers’ right to be informed about the products they buy? Being excluded from Oricon Chart means that there will be no reliable and correct counting of sales which leads to the problem of transparency in sales profit distribution. There’s no other way of getting an accurate number of sales unless it comes from Avex, the sales agent itself. Now knowing that Avex released these products for the ‘revitalization of the market’ (in other words, to boost its revenue) and without the consent from the artist, how much confidence can be placed in Avex that it will be transparent and honest? Avex will reveal its sales volume from its own bookkeeping but will it be reliable when it comes to the profit adjustments from the sales of products? If a company established to maximize its profits can count its numbers right, why do the music sales chart exist in the first place? Based on the fact that the fans were not informed about exclusion of JYJ’s products from the Oricon chart prior to release and sales of these products, they have more than reasonable grounds to file a complaint to the company and music store.

Oricon Chart, too, has done a tremendous job, hasn’t it? Now it has proven itself that it has been reduced to being manipulated by a management group, saying ‘yes’ when asked to exclude certain products. We wonder how long it has been since Oricon Chart has recorded and ranked music sales only to promote the products for the artists and management companies. The sales record exists as there are the products and consumers, but Oricon Chart has excluded these sales from the chart only on Avex’s request that it may promote JYJ by ranking high on the chart. From this precedent, Oricon Chart has now opened the doors for the management companies to ‘interfere’ in the records of the sales on the justification of promotion. What good is its public confidence and reliability? It is astonishing that the products are excluded from the sales chart because the products has been sold under the name of JYJ, even though that name must not be promoted.

As long as the suspension is maintained, AVEX will continue to ‘sell products but prohibit JYJ’s activities in Japan’ by using the same justification, and sales record will be excluded from Oricon Chart which is now in question of its relationship with Avex (or other giant management corporations). We cannot really understand how the fans can still purchase these products released by the company that makes a fool out of its customers and ridicule fans. Do they buy it because it is so hard to see JYJ in Japan nowadays? The money they have given to AVEX will be used to suppress and ridicule JYJ. Eventually, we are seriously worried that fans might never be able to see JYJ again in Japan. As long as AVEX knows that the fans will purchase any JYJ products that Avex releases, it will keep releasing these products while blocking JYJ’s activities in Japan until it has reaped off every drop of Yen it can get from the JYJ’s fans.

credit: dctvxqgall