Tower Records in Japan awards SHINee, B1A4

Japanese music retail giant Tower Records named groups SHINee and B1A4 the best K-pop groups of the year.
On Dec. 28, Tower Records revealed on its Web site that in the K-pop genre, SHINee received the Artist of the Year and K-pop Lovers! awards. The decision was based on netizens’ votes on the company’s Web site as well as the record sales for each Korean artist and group. Following SHINee’s lead, KARA came in at second place and Super Junior in third.

Meanwhile, newbie group B1A4 was named Rookie of the Year. The band’s Japanese record distributor said that the award was meaningful as the band hadn’t even released an official album in Japan.
The five-member boy band made its debut in 2011 with the EP album “Let’s Fly.” Sandeul, Baro, Jinyoung, Gongchan and Cnu make up the group that rose to fame with its hit song “Beautiful Target.”
The rookie band made its Japanese debut on Dec. 9 at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo with the showcase titled “B1A4 Japan Showcase Live 2011.”
There were 1,600 fans present at the event. The band’s official Korean album will be made available in Japan through the distributor PonyCanyon from Jan. 25.

By Carla Sunwoo [carlasunwoo@joongang.co.kr]