According to Stage48's FAQ:
Q: Do the girls lip-sync?Well, I thought that was a suitable answer. Yes they do but not all the time. Pretty much every musical act in Japan has lip synced. It is very uncommon for any artist to perform live in TV programs (except for Idoling and Specials). However, I'm still not satisfied. Yes, it is partly because I believe in the girls' abilities as well as their future potential. Besides that, I know that some are really strong singers (Sayaka, Takamina, Yuka, Nonti, &ct). I've looked around some forum to see if there was someone to provide more clear, concrete, and specific answer. I can't answer this, certainly, by myself because I have a weak ear for lip syncing and I haven't ever seen them in person live, which I will explain in more detail soon.
A: Yes and no. On TV shows, such as AKBingo and Music Station, majority of the time they are lip-synced. On stage, they usually start out lip-syncing if the stage has been fairly new, but as it progresses, the girls begin to sing live, most of the times in the unit songs. Same applies for majority of the large concerts. If a girl is subbing in for another member, usually the sub's part is lip-synced.
1. Difficult Dance choreography.
Team K I can see especially having this problem. This is not true for all of their songs but some require a lot of energy and or skill. This combined with the other factors can tire them out quickly so they use lip syncing to make sure the girls can provide a good performance for the whole show.
2. Long concerts and tours.
I am not familiar with the capabilities or the logistics that go with concerts and tours, just letting you know. AKB48, because they also have to perform at the theatre, often perform multiple day concerts. Basically three to four full-length concerts in one weekend. You can also consider if they are tired from the previous concert or from traveling (jet lagged from traveling overseas) it can wear them down. Health is very important for them because they can loose their voice or it can become weaker from not enough rest. Considering how busy and often they perform (stages) it might be unrealistic for them to sustain their vocal strength. Again, I do not sing, do tours of any kind, &ct so I do not know enough to give a clear answer for this.
3. Technical Difficulties.
They have to provide microphones for a large number of girls! Imagine doing sound check! They would all need to work and you would need to know which ones which girls have and if you need to turn up one more than another (or hope they can all sing loud enough). Just think about the headsets; those things do not want to sit right or stay put. I see the girls fixing those things during performances so many times. I've heard that Maeda's exploded (or just broke) once. You have to check those mics for every concert and just think about those large scale performances where AKB48, SKE48, and sometimes SDN48 are all there at the same time.
1. They Edit the Sound for Releases
I've heard quite a bit about the practice that if their vocals aren't good enough or up to the editors standards (whatever those are) they replace the vocals. This means that they did perform live but (I don't know why) they cover it up. I've heard that in the behind the scenes clips you can hear a different (definitely live) performance than what you hear on the DVD. This is at the point where I ask those who have seen them live if they heard a live performance or not.
2. Why Would they Record just for a Shuffle
Shuffle performances are only performed for one concert or tour. They only had two shuffle concert sections for their Yokohama concert. Then what about substitutes. They've happened for concerts and stages where some members have conflicts. Different members are missing for different days so there are so many different possibilities. Do you think they record for each time there is someone unavailable?
3. Most are Large Groups so...
This one I'm not sure about. (Again weak ear for lip syncing and not much knowledge on how it works.) I just thought it would be easier to hide your weaknesses if there are more singers. You would only notice during solo (or close to solo) lines.
4. Microphone Strength
I think a major consideration for them lip syncing comes from how they handle their microphones. Like they are not at the right position or something, or they come to it too late. There have been instances of that which I will not deny. I haven't seen them all so I don't know it is true for all, just hear me out for a second. I've taken film classes and have often work with microphones (DO THE FUCKING MIC CHECKS!). I haven't worked with stage work as much so I don't know too much about that. However, microphones can pick up a lot and they don't need to be right there by your mouth. Like one I could place just nearby (out of the shot) and I could pick up talking at a normal level. Even those small mics that you attach to clothing can pick up quite a bit and they are not right by your mouth. Your voice carries and their is a such thing as sound waves. So just something to consider.
5. They Lip Sync For Some Stages
Remember the FAQ excerpt? Well basically, they would perform for the first couple or for some stages but not all. For example, I thought the first performance of A6 sounded live, but scarlet fever (Glee reference sorry).
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