Why is it that digital releases are not used that often by Japanese bands?

[accede 3]

I'm more drifting this towards the metal[core]/hardcore genre, but this can apply to VK/Punk/JRock/whatever as well.

 

I know in America most bands want to focus first and foremost on making sure their new album is available for digital download, whether that be on iTunes or Bandcamp. I'm aware the process for getting your music on iTunes is fairly difficult (as well as fees), but Bandcamp can easily be used anywhere across the world. So why do you think Japanese bands do not use these options for their Western fans, or for those who don't like importing? If you're a band, you know you have friends outside of your county so it's not like they think only people in Japan are going to listen to their music.

[Seimeisen 4406]

I know this topic is not exclusively about Visual Kei, but I'm still going to answer from a non-Japanese VK fan perspective.

When it comes to the overseas fans, I believe the most common argument on MH is this: "VK bands have little to no concern about their overseas fans" -- their primary focus is the Japanese fans, who I'm sure mostly buy physical copies of CDs. Domestic VK fans do buy digitally as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if physical CD sales brought in the most revenue.

Also, I get the feeling that Japanese bands who know about overseas fans probably think "oh, if they're resourceful enough to discover our music, they're resourceful enough to obtain it all, as well!" which is not always true.

I did not know that it costed money to distribute music on iTunes or similar sites. But I still think that it is ridiculous for bands to not even bother with distributing music digitally. Especially when bands live distribute their releases; even more especially when they give those songs away for FREE! It's like, you're going to pay for all the distribution and production costs for a CD and give it away at a live show for free? And not make it accessible outside of the venue at any point ever? That's pretty stupid.

An example: DIAURA has given out at least four free songs (at venues, as bonuses, magazine freebies, whatever): If, Judgement, melt, and DOGMA. The band's official Facebook page has 4,743 likes. Let's assume they will all buy these four songs if they were put up on iTunes for ¥200. That's about ¥3.8 million ($38,000). Even if only 1,000 people downloaded each song, that would still yield ¥800,000 ($8,000).

But I think another reason digital downloads in Japan aren't as popular as they are in Europe or North America is stubbornness, or insane fear of piracy, from the Japanese music industry.

[stylelover 1086]

i already wrote that in another thread, but one of the reasons is the cd price law. if you have any japanese cds you should look at the cds. the price is always inprinted into the cd case not just a price tag on the cd like in the US and europe. theres a law thats protecting cd prices.

so given the high cd prices they have right now, its really common that many japanese labels dont really want to put the stuff at amazon.co.jp, bandcamp , itunes etc. because the price between digital purchases and the real cd prices are so different.

in US thats not really important as albums are usually like 8,99 or 9,99 digitally and the physical copy just a bit more.

so as they cant change the price of digital purchases (250 at itunes for example) they would lose money if people (especially japanese people) only buy from amazon or itunes instead of buying the real copies. a album is usually around 2400 yen at itunes and more than 3000 physically

[Thedane 176]

As said above, there's a law that makes CD's worth more than digital music.
We're not their targeted audience, if we buy something, great, but their focus in on Japan.

 

But I don't see the appeal of digital releases, sure it's cheaper, but that's it. There's no fun in having some files on a computer, so I'm happy they're keeping it to CD's.

However...

 

When a release is sold out, I don't see why they just don't make it available digitally, to me.. that seems like a pretty neat idea.

[Guest Magatsu]

even in Japan to buy CD digital if you buy an album you it's kinda 400yen cheaper then buying the real CD. somehow idiotic too. then why should you buy it digital oO. since most songs cost 200 yen.

Also most Japanese artist who use itunes don't put them online for oversea fans. they just keep it in the Japanese itunes store only.  What's still stupid too.

For us it's makes a big different if we buy at digital store or normal japanese store because we save lot's of shipping costs

But for someone living in Japan it all doesn't matter.

And it's mostly only for us who want to have a printed lyric to find out the meaning behind the song if we can't understand Japanese that good.

For English songs it doesn't really matter if you have a booklet. and also lyrics appear kinda always on the internet. so it's way more easy to find lyrics so buying at a digital store is most cheap and most useful.

[seikun 317]

What percentage does a band receive from CD sales approximately in Japan?

[Guest Magatsu]

I think around 100 yen.

 

 

over here it's kinda 40 cent.

[kissapuu 4]

But I don't see the appeal of digital releases, sure it's cheaper, but that's it. There's no fun in having some files on a computer, so I'm happy they're keeping it to CD's.

 

Good quality, properly tagged albums you don't need to spend time hunting for? Supporting the artists (though if they're major, this might or might not be such a strong point) without having to give an arm and a leg.

 

Of course, I'm only talking for myself, but I buy digital music if it's of good quality and of reasonable price. I buy physical copies and I probably always will, but with the price of a new, not previously owned CD being what it is, I only really buy the ones that I consider really good albums that I absolutely want to own. Digital is a nice middle ground for stuff that might not be "best of the best", but still good enough that I want to support the artists and add the music to my collection.

[accede 3]

Good quality, properly tagged albums you don't need to spend time hunting for? Supporting the artists (though if they're major, this might or might not be such a strong point) without having to give an arm and a leg.

 

Of course, I'm only talking for myself, but I buy digital music if it's of good quality and of reasonable price. I buy physical copies and I probably always will, but with the price of a new, not previously owned CD being what it is, I only really buy the ones that I consider really good albums that I absolutely want to own. Digital is a nice middle ground for stuff that might not be "best of the best", but still good enough that I want to support the artists and add the music to my collection.

 

All of this. I personally dont like physical CDs at all. I'm always a bit scared to buy an album from Japan since they cost so much, and I only have an idea of one/maybe two songs sound like on it. Like I said earlier, Japanese bands probably don't want to deal with the extra fees in the digital age, but every single band in America doesn't mind due to ease of access for all.

 

I'm really supportive of digital downloads. I have 406 different artist's music, and only own four physical CDs (all which are imported from Japan because I couldn't buy them digitally). It took a while for digital music to be big in the US years and years ago, but it did. Who knows, years down the road we might see the same happen in Japan.

[PIZAZ 238]

Japanese economy is risk averse because they've been in recession since the beginning of the 90's.

Plus it doesn't help that historically they are a very xenophobic country and from what I've noticed paying attention to anime/jpop culture over the years they also hate change.

[Mr Bacon 106]

I know this topic is not exclusively about Visual Kei, but I'm still going to answer from a non-Japanese VK fan perspective.

When it comes to the overseas fans, I believe the most common argument on MH is this: "VK bands have little to no concern about their overseas fans" -- their primary focus is the Japanese fans, who I'm sure mostly buy physical copies of CDs. Domestic VK fans do buy digitally as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if physical CD sales brought in the most revenue.

Also, I get the feeling that Japanese bands who know about overseas fans probably think "oh, if they're resourceful enough to discover our music, they're resourceful enough to obtain it all, as well!" which is not always true.

I did not know that it costed money to distribute music on iTunes or similar sites. But I still think that it is ridiculous for bands to not even bother with distributing music digitally. Especially when bands live distribute their releases; even more especially when they give those songs away for FREE! It's like, you're going to pay for all the distribution and production costs for a CD and give it away at a live show for free? And not make it accessible outside of the venue at any point ever? That's pretty stupid.

An example: DIAURA has given out at least four free songs (at venues, as bonuses, magazine freebies, whatever): If, Judgement, melt, and DOGMA. The band's official Facebook page has 4,743 likes. Let's assume they will all buy these four songs if they were put up on iTunes for ¥200. That's about ¥3.8 million ($38,000). Even if only 1,000 people downloaded each song, that would still yield ¥800,000 ($8,000).

But I think another reason digital downloads in Japan aren't as popular as they are in Europe or North America is stubbornness, or insane fear of piracy, from the Japanese music industry.

The giving out CDs is because it's exclusive: "If you don't go to this live, you'll never get this song". 

Live distributed/sold CDs are the main source of music income for small VK bands, as they get paid for the amount of people coming to see them - and more people will show up when there's a live dist.

[Ito 2438]

i already wrote that in another thread, but one of the reasons is the cd price law. if you have any japanese cds you should look at the cds. the price is always inprinted into the cd case not just a price tag on the cd like in the US and europe. theres a law thats protecting cd prices.

so given the high cd prices they have right now, its really common that many japanese labels dont really want to put the stuff at amazon.co.jp, bandcamp , itunes etc. because the price between digital purchases and the real cd prices are so different.

in US thats not really important as albums are usually like 8,99 or 9,99 digitally and the physical copy just a bit more.

so as they cant change the price of digital purchases (250 at itunes for example) they would lose money if people (especially japanese people) only buy from amazon or itunes instead of buying the real copies. a album is usually around 2400 yen at itunes and more than 3000 physically

 

To be honest, I never knew about this. Time to do some research...because this seems just so damn bonkers. But it does put in perspective CD prices...man, some times I really think Japan is fucked unless it wakes up and realizes the world is changing.

 

I have always found Japan's music industry to be frustratingly (and stupidly) exclusionary. With every passing year, the music industry is massively changing. There used to be a time where I only wanted the physical copy, but now I could care less (I think this has something to do with maturity as well - a realization that the music is what is important and not the packaging so many people seem to cling to). Most of my music purchases over the past year have been digital. I can guarantee you that I would have bought a hell of a lot more Japanese releases if I could buy them for $10 digitally.

[sai 868]

I guess Japan truly is a land of tradition. They are pretty stale when it comes to this type of marketing but as style also stated, it isn't just tradition, it's profit. Hell, if I could decide my own CD prices, charge 30 bucks for a CD and still have people buy it I'd definitely not put the same CD up on iTunes for 10 bucks less. People who want the physical copy will buy the physical copy anyway, but for people who are only interested in having the files and not the package around it, they will most certainly switch to digital purchases.

 

The thing with VK bands (even though there is an increase when it comes to iTunes) is their multiple types policy. If fans want to have all the tracks on their new single release when each type out of three has a different b-side, they will have to buy all three types. Say that two of these types are 1,800yen (Type A and B limited) and one is 1,200yen (the regular edition), which is together 4,800yen (basic single prices of a major band/artist). Now, imagine this same single to be put on iTunes. All songs would be under the name of the initial single, meaning all 4 tracks will be listed under the same release. A single song costs 250yen, the entire single of those 4 tracks is therefore 1,000yen. If you buy all types to get the bonus content, this theory doesn't matter. If you do it to get all the tracks, it certainly does. It saves you 3,800yen! Unless you actually want a physical copy, you'd be bonkers to buy all three types. I guess most VK bands (or more like, their labels are) are too afraid to lose cash on these digital releases when they can just milk everyone with these 3-4 types.

 

Also if my math or price check is incorrect please notify me of said mistake.

[LIDL 692]

because VK fans wants their precious obi to brag about.

[Ito 2438]

I guess Japan truly is a land of tradition. They are pretty stale when it comes to this type of marketing but as style also stated, it isn't just tradition, it's profit. Hell, if I could decide my own CD prices, charge 30 bucks for a CD and still have people buy it I'd definitely not put the same CD up on iTunes for 10 bucks less. People who want the physical copy will buy the physical copy anyway, but for people who are only interested in having the files and not the package around it, they will most certainly switch to digital purchases.

 

The thing with VK bands (even though there is an increase when it comes to iTunes) is their multiple types policy. If fans want to have all the tracks on their new single release when each type out of three has a different b-side, they will have to buy all three types. Say that two of these types are 1,800yen (Type A and B limited) and one is 1,200yen (the regular edition), which is together 4,800yen (basic single prices of a major band/artist). Now, imagine this same single to be put on iTunes. All songs would be under the name of the initial single, meaning all 4 tracks will be listed under the same release. A single song costs 250yen, the entire single of those 4 tracks is therefore 1,000yen. If you buy all types to get the bonus content, this theory doesn't matter. If you do it to get all the tracks, it certainly does. It saves you 3,800yen! Unless you actually want a physical copy, you'd be bonkers to buy all three types. I guess most VK bands (or more like, their labels are) are too afraid to lose cash on these digital releases when they can just milk everyone with these 3-4 types.

 

Also if my math or price check is incorrect please notify me of said mistake.

I think it just a case of Japan marketing towards the collectors. I feel like in Japan, if you want something you need to be a hardcore fan, because they price everything way too high if you are not. So obviously, if they change their approach, they will obviously get less money from the collectors. But they also stand to gain more from the passive fans. The question is how much? Maybe in VK there just not enough people in the wider audience to benefit from opening it up to that. I also think that it stand to reason that you could correctly market to both the collector and the wider audience at the same time if you really try.

[Flame-X 441]

I came across from AnimeNewsNetwork about this issue and I think this editorial sums it up.

 

 

You can find anime cover songs on iTunes pretty easily (and even some theme songs, albeit completely divorced from their anime of origin), but why are so few actual anime soundtracks on there? They're not even on the Japanese iTunes store, I checked.

 

If there's one place where Japanese and American media are completely divergent, it's music. Japan's music industry is a bizarre, frustrating collection of old-school publishers, talent agencies, yakuza, talent agencies that act like yakuza, and all sorts of other characters that often don't play nice with each other, let alone foreign companies. They move slowly, don't adapt to internet culture well (or at all), and attach themselves onto inane rules that seem to have no basis in reality, and won't bend for anyone. It's one of many reasons why so few Japanese musical acts have ever hit outside of Asia.

 

In the case of iTunes, its overwhelming success in the American market, and subsequently the rest of the world, was partially due to timing. Apple approached record labels when they were running scared. It was the peak of the Kazaa and Limewire age, music piracy was everywhere with seemingly no end in sight, and Apple's hot new iPod was making the playback of physical CDs completely irrelevant. With the record labels having had their legendary arrogance beaten out of them, Apple was able to negotiate an inordinate amount of control over pricing, availability, and usage of the files. Eventually, they were even able to get rid of DRM. Between Apple and later competition from Amazon and other companies, that very consumer-friendly model became the standard over the last decade.

That little consumer revolution didn't really happen in Japan the same way it did here. Japan has had its issues with piracy, but it never completely took over the market like it did here. Japanese publishers relied more on collectors than casual music consumers, and simply didn't need a savior. While the iPod was popular (and the iPhone is VERY popular), some of the record labels, including the behemoth Sony Music Japan, held out and never put their songs on the service. Sony, of course, also has a floundering consumer electronics division, and likely didn't want to help another division's competition.

 

And so, things haven't changed over there nearly as much. People still buy a LOT of CDs, and as evidence, there are still quite a few CD stores, including chains like Tower Records and HMV that have long since died out on this side of the Pacific. Japanese record labels and talent agencies still hold tightly onto business practices and rules that seem to ignore the very existence of the internet.

Smaller Japanese music publishers publishers, however, have embraced new technology and have started selling their music online, on iTunes and other places. But those publishers are trying to promote their artists, and not the anime or game tie-ins that are used for promotion in Japan. As such, they're not really catering their offerings to Western otaku, and anime songs are incredibly hard to find. Given how much exposure Japanese artists get from American anime conventions one would think that they'd catch on sooner or later that THIS is their market, but I've always gotten the feeling that to the music industry over there, American otaku are an unfamiliar, confusing market that they really don't know how to approach, or even if it's worth the trouble.