Largest pop group

The all-female theatre-based "idol" collective AKB48 (Japan, 2005-present) consisted of 88 members as of March 2013. The all-singing, all-dancing group, which can boast career sales in excess of 22 million singles and albums, is divided into four teams: Team A, Team K, Team B and "kenkyūsei" ("trainees"). Membership is based on auditions and the girls – aged between 13 and the mid-20s – “graduate” when they get older, to be replaced by new members.

AKB48 was the brainchild of producer/lyricist Yasushi Akimoto (Japan). The ‘48’ in the group’s name refers to the ’48 Project’, a nationwide musical theatre initiative led by Akimoto that was expanded to include a number of other ‘48’ groups, including SKE48 (who hold the record for the most music videos on one album - see record ID 81105). Both AKB48 and SKE48 have their own home theatres, where they perform regularly for their fans. AKB48's is in Akihabara, a district of Tokyo, after which the group is named (AKihaBara).

As of 29 March 2013, AKB48 had set a host of sales and chart records for a female group in their homeland, including biggest-selling female group (singles) (approximately 20,000,000, excluding digital sales), biggest-selling female group (singles and albums) (approximately 22,600,000, excluding digital sales), most No.1 singles (17), most consecutive No.1 singles (17), most million-selling singles (12) and most consecutive million-selling singles (11).

The AKB48 franchise includes TV shows, cartoons and a videogame.