Japanese Music Marketing - How Much Does It Cost?

Selling and Promoting Your Music in Japan
Japan Music Marketing Resources for foreign record labels, bands and artists

The Music Market in Japan - How to Make it "Big in Japan"

Article 4:

How Much Does It Cost?

The music business in Japan, like other parts of the world, is a very difficult business in which to be profitable. CD's are becoming harder to sell. However, online digital and mobile downloads are on the rise, allowing indies to get into the Japanese music market relatively easily and inexpensively. Although it is now easier to deliver music to consumers, the costs of marketing and promotion have not decreased. While larger record companies with bigger budgets may rely more on traditional marketing (videos/TV, print advertising, in-store promotion, radio promotion, tie-ups, cross-marketing), smaller independents must rely on touring and online methods to get the most out of their tiny budgets.

It is still a risky business as less than 10% of all releases are profitable and less than 1% ever sell more than 10,000 units. (This is a general statistic, but even if you think it does not apply to you, it does reflect how hard the music business is—something you probably already know!) The good thing for indies is that there are new resources to help sell and promote music in Japan using a DIY (do-it-yourself) approach. With lower overall costs for indies it means that a modest revenue may be enough to be profitable.

Regardless of approach, if you are in the business of making and selling music—be it CD's, vinyl records, downloads, or licensing—Japan should not be overlooked since it is the 2nd largest music-buying market in the world next to the USA and represents a large source of potential revenue.

The cost of (or investment in) sales promotion in Japan is probably cheaper than in the USA where there are many fragmented markets. You have to do separate promotion per region or city (i.e. west coast, east coast, major cities, etc.) whereas in Japan, everything is centered around 1 area, Metro Tokyo. Remember that Japan is only as large as the state of California. The major media are based in Tokyo and reach across the whole country. Also, there are many specialized publications in Japan so it is easier to reach your target audience. If you create a "buzz" in Tokyo it will spread across the country fairly quickly since many eyes and ears are focused here where trends and tastes are set for the rest of the country (and sometimes the world).

Unlike in the West, in Japan you do not have to pay thousands of dollars for "radio promotion". There are only 3 major FM radio network companies in Japan: JFN, JFL and Mega Net (and a few independents). Each prefecture (i.e. state) in Japan has at least one FM station under the big 3 and maybe a few independents. FM in Japan is from 76 to 90 MHz, resulting in a very limited number of possible stations (Japan's geography is very mountainous). There are now plenty of internet and broadband radio (and video) stations, as well as podcasting. In Japan, the number of internet and mobile users far outnumbers the number of listeners of FM/AM radio. In Japan, FM/AM radio does not play as big a role in the promotion of artists as it does in the West.

Getting a Japanese website and basic promotion will cost less than $100 using TopMusic.jp. If you are really serious about the Japanese market and generating significant revenues you will have to reach thousands to several million Japanese music consumers using internet and print advertising. A budget of at least a couple thousand dollars will be required. There is no magic number, but if you can spend several thousands on recording music and manufacturing CD's then you should be prepared to put at least the same into promotion. Sales is directly related to your marketing expenditure. So the more you can spend on advertising and promotion, the more sales you will likely have.

If you focus on a business model with sales from digital content rather than CD's, then you will have a larger budget for promotion. It is easier to be profitable when you don't have significant CD manufacturing and distribution costs. Great for indies!

If you are an indie artist with 1 CD and no record label supporting you then naturally the costs are higher per product/artist whereas a record label selling and promoting several products/artists at one time will have a lower cost per product/artist. Signing up for joint print advertising will allow indie artists the chance to share advertising space with other artists to help reduce individual costs (i.e. a $2,000 ad space shared by 2 indie artists is $1,000 each and you still get good exposure in the popular Japanese magazine which would otherwise be out of your budget).

Required ad budgets for various advertising/promotion in Japan:

Adwords Ad Campaign - Google Japan and Partner Sites (Setup Fee: from $199; Min. Ad Budget from $1/day) more info
Overture Ad Campaign - Yahoo Japan and Partner Sites (Setup Fee: from $199; Min. Ad Budget from $1/day) more info
Facebook Japanese Ad Campaign (Setup Fee: from $99; Min. Ad Budget from $1/day) more info
Image ad in other Japanese website, blog or email newsletter (Min. Ad Budget from $2,000) more info
Print ad in Japanese magazine/free paper (Min. Ad Budget from $2,000) more info
Classified ad in Hip Hop Insider magazine - only for hip hop/rap/R&B genres (Min. Ad Budget from $270) more info
Image ad in TopMusic.jp website (Min. Ad Budget from $45) more info

Quick Links

Get distribution in Japan

Promotion in Japan

Find a Japanese record label to release your music

Send your demo to Japanese record companies

Do a live tour in Japan

Create a Japanese web + mobile page

Links to Live Houses (Venues) in Japan

See what foreign artists are "Big in Japan"

Articles about The Music Market in Japan - How to Make it "Big in Japan"

1. Japanese Market Opportunity for Foreign Music - If you are in the business of selling music, do not forget Japan!
2. The Music Business in Japan - Indie Music Culture and Record Companies in Japan
3. Playing Gigs in Japan - Promoting your music at Japanese "Live Houses" and other venues
4. How Much Does It Cost? - The activities and related costs of selling and promoting your music in Japan
5. Useful Tips On Visiting and Doing Business in Japan - Info and advice for visiting and doing business in Japan

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