James Delahunty
5 Aug 2007 17:37
An anonymous quartet of Japanese medical students has set a new record by selling one million mobile music downloads of its third single, making the the first track to achieve the milestone. This digital music milestone belongs to Aiuta ("Love Song") by GreeeeN, a new act signed to Universal Music Japan. The track was released on May 16 as a full-track download for mobile, and its popularity spread rapidly through internet, radio and SNS exposure, and word-of-mouth.
In addition to the million-selling format, Aiuta is available as a ringtone, ring video and ringback tone. Its sales to date across all digital configurations exceed 3 million, affirming GreeeeN's status as the year's most successful new act in Japan. "We were convinced that Aiuta would have universal appeal the moment we first heard it. We are very gratified that the song has become so popular through a very personal communication tool like the mobile phone," Kazuhiko Koike, President and COO of Universal Music Japan, said.
Aiuta is also hugely popular in physical form, with sales of more than 250,000 singles to date. GreeeeN's first album, A Domo Hajimemashite ("Hi, How Do You Do?") has sold 550,000 copies since its release on June 27.
Source:
Press Release