Production of music software in 2011 rose 1 percent from the year before to 259.67 million copies, marking the first rise in six years, an industry group said.
Much of the rise came from hit CD singles by all-girl pop group AKB48 that each sold more than 5 million copies, the Record Industry Association of Japan said Friday.
Production of CD singles jumped 23 percent to 62.38 million copies, the association said.
By value, however, production of music software fell 1 percent to ¥281.8 billion, mainly because of a dearth of hit CD albums that are relatively more expensive, it said.