Inside Tower Records As Girl-Group Handshake Fans Push Japan Music Sales Past U.S

Music CDs and DVDs by "AKB48", a Japanese girl group, are displayed on a shelf at a Tower Records Japan Inc. store in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, July 1, 2013. Music sales in the country rose for the first time in five years, led by tunes delivered on CDs and other physical media, bucking the trend in developed markets as cheaper downloads gain ground. Physical media made up 82 percent of Japanese music sales last year, versus 37 percent in the U.S., said the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg via Getty Images