Japan pop group Arashi's album becomes world's top seller in 2019

Mar 20, 2020 | News On Japan

Mar 20, 2020 (Kyodo) - Japanese boy idol band Arashi's compilation of hit singles was the world's best-selling album in 2019, becoming the first Japanese artists to claim the spot, a global music industry group said Thursday.

The pop group sold a combined 3.30 million copies of its "5x20 All the Best!! 1999-2019" album released in June and video compilation which went on sale in October, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said.

American singer Taylor Swift's "Lover" came in second, followed by South Korean boy band BTS's "Map of the Soul Persona."

According to the Recording Industry Association of Japan, over two million copies of Arashi's album commemorating the 20th year since its debut and more than 750,000 copies of the video clip collection have been shipped in Japan.

The ranking is based on sales of physical and digital albums.

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