By Emily Connor
It's amazing how the Japanese continue to support the music industry. Japan is one of the few countries on the planet where the whole pirating boom hasn't quite taken over the minds of the youth, and record shops that are long gone in the UK and the US are still bustling with customers lining up to be the first to buy so-and-so's album on it's release date. Many people have absolutely no problems with putting down 1,500 yen for a single-CD, or up to 4,500 yen for a full-length album.
I'm led to believe that this is due to the fact that high-school students and university students are really driven to support an artist or a person that they think is admirable. After all, no matter how many boy bands release an almost painstakingly similar song throughout the year with a different title, everyone will still buy it. And if a truck with an idol's face goes driving through Scramble Crossing, you'll always see girls pulling out their mobile phones in the blink of an eye to snap a photo of their favorite boy-idol singer's face. It just makes some people feel good to support an artist, or idol, that they like. People feel like they're helping out their idols by dishing out the money for albums and music DVDs, and there's nothing wrong with that.
A lot of artists include a special fan good item with their CD on the first week or so of it's release, and I also think that that helps with album sales. For example, if you buy the A and B version of the same exact single (different covers and maybe one different B-side track on one of them) sometimes fans get invitations for very limited in-store concert events, or artist meet-and-greets, or sometimes just little things like sticker sheets and posters will drive fans to buy the CD instead of just downloading it. I also feel like this is maybe why iTunes hasn't taken off in Japan as well as it has in the US.
For people who don't wish to actually buy the CD, but also don't want to illegally get it, CD rentals are available in Japan. You cannot rent video games, mind you, but music CDs are very common to rent and end up being much, much cheaper than buying the actual CD... Unfortunately no extra prizes come with rental CDs, but it's still a good way to support an artist.
No matter how you look at it, record sales are declining considerably worldwide. Unfortunately it probably won't be too long before people in Japan stop buying CDs, too... But until then, being a music artist in Japan is a great thing.
It's amazing how the Japanese continue to support the music industry. Japan is one of the few countries on the planet where the whole pirating boom hasn't quite taken over the minds of the youth, and record shops that are long gone in the UK and the US are still bustling with customers lining up to be the first to buy so-and-so's album on it's release date. Many people have absolutely no problems with putting down 1,500 yen for a single-CD, or up to 4,500 yen for a full-length album.
I'm led to believe that this is due to the fact that high-school students and university students are really driven to support an artist or a person that they think is admirable. After all, no matter how many boy bands release an almost painstakingly similar song throughout the year with a different title, everyone will still buy it. And if a truck with an idol's face goes driving through Scramble Crossing, you'll always see girls pulling out their mobile phones in the blink of an eye to snap a photo of their favorite boy-idol singer's face. It just makes some people feel good to support an artist, or idol, that they like. People feel like they're helping out their idols by dishing out the money for albums and music DVDs, and there's nothing wrong with that.
A lot of artists include a special fan good item with their CD on the first week or so of it's release, and I also think that that helps with album sales. For example, if you buy the A and B version of the same exact single (different covers and maybe one different B-side track on one of them) sometimes fans get invitations for very limited in-store concert events, or artist meet-and-greets, or sometimes just little things like sticker sheets and posters will drive fans to buy the CD instead of just downloading it. I also feel like this is maybe why iTunes hasn't taken off in Japan as well as it has in the US.
For people who don't wish to actually buy the CD, but also don't want to illegally get it, CD rentals are available in Japan. You cannot rent video games, mind you, but music CDs are very common to rent and end up being much, much cheaper than buying the actual CD... Unfortunately no extra prizes come with rental CDs, but it's still a good way to support an artist.
No matter how you look at it, record sales are declining considerably worldwide. Unfortunately it probably won't be too long before people in Japan stop buying CDs, too... But until then, being a music artist in Japan is a great thing.
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