"Voice" is a song written and recorded by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai, released February 13, 2013, by

EMI Music Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Wh ...

. Produced by Uta and Ai, the song served as the theme song for the Japanese drama '' Yakō Kanransha''. Upon its release, "Voice" became one of Ai's best selling singles of the 2010s, peaking at number 2 on the ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart and number 13 on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...

. The song was certified Platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...

(RIAJ) in 2014. Following EMI Music Japan's absorption into

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in Japan regarding music distribution. The company is responsible ...

, "Voice" was Ai's final release under the record company.

Background

In December 2012,

announced Ai's new song "Voice" would serve as the theme song for the Japanese drama '' Yakō Kanransha'' . Ai herself confirmed the announcement during her Ai Christmas Dinner Show with Choir. EMI Japan also announced "Voice" would be released digitally on January 16, 2013 while a physical CD single would be released on February 13. A physical limited edition of "Voice" was announced additionally. The B-side track of the single, "For You" was used in a television commercial advertisement for

Kubota is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Osaka. It was established in 1890. The corporation produces many products including tractors and other agricultural machinery, Heavy equipment, construction equipment, engines, vending machines, P ...

Music video

A music video was included on the limited CD of "Voice". In 2016, the music video was uploaded to Ai's

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

channel on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Commercial performance

"Voice" debuted at number 46 on the ''

for the week of January 23, 2013. For the week of January 30, it jumped to number 26 before falling the next week to number 31. On February 13, "Voice" rose to number 13. For the week of February 20, "Voice" peaked at number 2 on the ''Japan'' Hot 100 with combined physical and digital sales. On the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

charts, the physical release of "Voice" charted for 13 weeks, peaking at number 13. The song is currently Ai's fourth best selling single.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal and ''Moriagaro'' liner notes.'' Moriagaro'' (CD). Ai. EMI Records Japan/ Universal. 2013. TOCT-29178. * Ai Uemura – songwriting, lead vocals, production * Uta – production, programing, composition * Matthew "Damario" Quinney – songwriting * Joseph Macklin – songwriting * Carlos "Los" Jenkins, David "Davix" Foreman – songwriting * Dashawn "Happie" White – songwriting * Thomas "Tom Jack" Jackson – songwriting * Fifty1 Fifty – production * D.O.I – mixing * Tom Coyne – mastering

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs EMI Music Japan singles Ai (singer) songs Songs written by Ai (singer) Song recordings produced by Ai (singer)