Music Marketing in Japan

Japanese Music Marketing

Many music consumers that live in Japan prefer to purchase their music digitally. Instead of going to the store to putchase CDs some choose to quickly download it on their technological devices.

"Today, consumers do not visit a physical store to purchase music—instead they use their mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, computers, and other portable devices to buy CD's, digital content and music subscription services." Even though many people buy music online it's important to sell physical CDs to promote the artist and get press. By presenting CDs in a creative way and adding extra items to them, like a poster with stickers, can increase the sales of an album. "A unique, value-added product may even sway consumers to pay more for a full physical album rather than just a single song download." It is important to have a balance between physical and digital sales. Many consumers in asia buy CDs but digital sales have been increasing. In 2011 80% of downloads were made on mobile devices.

URL:

http://japanmusicmarketing.com/japan_distribution.htm

Article Title:

Japan Music Marketing - Distribution in Japan for Foreign Record Labels Bands Artists

Website Title:

Japan Music Marketing - Distribution in Japan for Foreign Record Labels Bands Artists

Asian Pop Saving Physical Music Sales

How K-Pop & J-Pop Are Saving Physical Music Sales

Lindvell presents some information regarding the success and increased distribution of Korean Pop Music in this article. An important trend that was found was the surprising escalation of the sales of physical CD copies. This can be accounted to one solely Korean trend. " the fact that K-Pop music companies, the biggest being SM Entertainment, don’t release them in ordinary CD cases; they are all produced in glossy luxury packaging." An important part of the success is definitely the packaging as seen though the statistics. Physical CD sales are seventy-four percent of all the music revenue.

Japan also participates in this distribution method where they make CDs that include multiple extra things that don't come with a digital download. The article states, "Japanese companies sell CD singles bundled with promotional content, such as photos and tickets for handshake events.  You don’t get that with a digital download." CD sales increase when these companies take successful groups and replicate albums but in different languages. This can be seen for example with the K-pop group TVXQ who sells albums in Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

Overall, getting creative with CD packaging can cause a dramatic increase in music sales.

URL:
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/04/10/kpopjpop
Article Title:
How K-Pop & J-Pop Are Saving Physical Music Sales... - Digital Music News
Website Title:
Digital Music News How KPop JPop Are Saving Physical Music Sales Comments
Publisher/Sponsor: Helienne Lindvall
Publication Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2013