Physical music sales were worth 236.4 billion yen ($2.6 billion) on a retail basis in Japan in calendar 2009, down 27% from 2008, according to Tokyo-based music-market research company SIP.

Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) scored the biggest market share for the first time in three years, according to SIP, which operates the SoundScan Japan chart and market-data service. SMEJ’s share of physical sales in the world’s second-biggest music market was 18.6%, up 4.7 points from 2008, thanks to strong sales by domestic acts such as male vocalist Yusuke and female vocalist Miliyah Kato. Another factor was the addition of BMG Japan to the SMEJ group of companies.

Yusuke’s single Himawari sold 210,000 copies, according to SIP, while Kato's album Ring moved some 260,000 units. SMEJ’s top-selling foreign title was Michael Jackson’s This Is It, which sold 130,000 copies.

SIP said Universal Music Japan rose to No. 2 in terms of market share, with 14.6% of the Japanese market, up 0.7 of a point from 2008, while Avex Group Holdings, which ranked No. 1 in 2007 and 2008, slipped to third place as its market share fell 2.4 points to 13.7%. EMI Music Japan was No. 4, with a 7.0 % share, up 1.0 point. Warner Music Japan came fifth with a 5.9% share, down 0.3 point.