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

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

Distribution in Japan
Physical Distribution Digital Distribution

Distribution means getting your products (digital contents and/or CD's) into shops where consumers can buy them. Today, "shops" usually means web/mobile sites for ordering CD's and for purchasing PC and mobile downloads.

As a foreign indie label or artist you can choose to go through a record label/company in Japan or DIY (do-it-yourself). Note that if you use a record company in Japan, they will take a standard 50% of net sales and give you the remaining 50%. (Net sales means the wholesale price minus taxes and other fees taken by the aggregator).

Your share of wholesale price in Japan

Although each PC or mobile download site may have different wholesale price agreements with the aggregator, most downloads wholesale for about 60 YEN ($0.66 cents) each. Your share is 50% of the net wholesale price (after taxes and fees), so $0.23 per download. Naturally, full album downloads will bring in more revenues per sale (and your share would likely be around $2.50).

If you go through a Japanese record label/company for physical products like CD's, your share is also around 50% of the net wholesale price. In Japan and other countries, the sales of CD's are declining and being replaced by downloads. Of course there are still consumers who prefer physical products.

Even if you focus on a digital sales strategy, it is still a good idea to make a few CD's for promos and press. Since your advertising/promotion will lead consumers to your Japanese website anyway, you might as well sell your CD there if you have one. It gives consumers a greater choice. But don't print a truckload of CD's. The cost of short-run manufacturing has dropped so it is possible to make 100 to 500 CD's cheaply. You can always manufacture another batch if the demand is there. If you are targeting Japan, you can even make a "Special Japanese Edition" CD (or vinyl record) with packaging in Japanese characters, or a bonus track, sticker, poster, etc. This always makes for a nice collector's item for Japanese and non-Japanese consumers. A unique, value-added product may even sway consumers to pay more for a full physical album rather than just a single song download.

Ideally, you want to find a record company that will provide and pay for both distribution and promotion for your products in Japan (i.e. a record deal, licensing, P&D deal) and give you a fair share. However, record labels only take on a few new artists every year so you may be forced to take a DIY approach to distribution and promotion. Fortunately, there are services and resources available to help you.

See below to learn how to get distribution in Japan.

Physical Distribution in Japan

How to distribute your CD in Japan

Nowadays, it is almost impossible to get your CD on store shelves in Japan unless you have a major record company pushing your products. Most indie and foreign CD's will be made available for sale through online shops and special order.

If you want to distribute your CD in Japan, you can do the following:
*First check with your current record label or distributor to see if they can distribute in Japan for you or have connections in Japan.

1. Register your CD with CDBaby.
*All the major retail shops in Japan can buy your CD wholesale from Super D which distributes the catalog of CDBaby worldwide. In theory, any customer in Japan can go to a retail store and special order your CD. You can contact Super D to let them know you are doing promotion or a live tour in Japan. Super D has a Japanese rep that may be able to push your CD to retail shops that may put your CD in their online catalogs or even on shelves at shops in places you are doing a gig in Japan. But you have to let them know you're actively marketing in Japan or else they will do nothing. Show the stores you're committed to sales promotion in Japan by establishing a Japanese web page, doing a Google Japan or Facebook Japan ad campaign, etc. Click here to read more details about CDBaby and its distribution partners Super D and Amazon, and how they can get your CD into over 2,400 retail shops worldwide.

2. Find a distributor/record label in Japan to get it into shops for you (or to license your music or give you a P&D deal).
*Even the smallest record labels in Japan can distribute your music (physical and digital) the same way as the major record companies. With a standard record company/label contract in Japan, you can expect to get around 50% of sales (net wholesale price).

3. Sell your CD (and other merch) in your own Japanese online shop using the TopMusic.jp Artist Shop Service. Since most people will visit your web site when you do promotion/advertising, it is a good idea to sell your CD and merch directly from your web site (and you get a better share without having to pay a middleman).

You can do all of the above at the same time. If you can't get #2, then doing #1 and #3 together is a good alternative.

Click here for CDBaby website
Click here for Super D website
Click here to find a distributor/record label in Japan to get your CD's/records into shops
Click here to sell your CD (record, T-shirt, poster) in TopMusic.jp Artist Shop

Digital Distribution in Japan

Digital distribution means getting your music (digital contents) in the main Japanese mobile and PC download sites.

There are 3 main forms of digital downloads in Japan:

1. Chaku-Uta downloads for Japanese mobile phones
Ringtones and Ringback Tones. These are special formats compatible with mobile phones in Japan.

2. Chaku-Uta Full or Long downloads for Japanese mobile phones
Japanese mobile phones can download complete songs in CD quality. These are not MP3 but special formats compatible with mobile phones in Japan.

3. PC Downloads (and now smartphone/iPad/iPod downloads)
These are the traditional MP3/AAC or other music files you can download from the internet to your PC (and then transfer to your portable digital music player such as an iPod). *Now we can do away with the PC and download straight to our handheld device. Read the UPDATE below.

UPDATE: iPhones (iPad and other smartphones) have been recently introduced in Japan by the big 3 carriers (NTT Docomo, au KDDI, and Softbank). Japanese iPhone, iPad, iPod and computer users can access the iTunes Japan store where they can purchase and download songs. Smartphones handle web browsing much like computers do now and will give users a wider choice and more ways of getting music (MP3, AAC files—not just Chaku-Uta anymore).

According to the data published by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, over 475 million digital downloads (about US$1 billion worth) were made in Japan in 2008. Over 90% of those digital downloads were made from mobile phones.

How to distribute your digital contents in Japan

To sell digital content in Japan, you can do the following:

1. First contact your current distributor (or record label/publisher) to see if they have relations or contacts with Japanese record companies/distributors that can digitally distribute your music in Japan.

2. You can use IOD Alliance (a US company) which has partners in Japan to digitally distribute your music. Please inquire and signup at the IOD Alliance website.

3. Find a distributor/record label in Japan to get it into download shops for you.
*Even the smallest record labels in Japan can distribute your music (physical and digital) the same way as the major record companies. With a standard record company/label contract in Japan, you can expect to get around 50% of sales (net wholesale price).

4. Or you can just sell your music in iTunes Japan. You can distribute your music to iTunes Japan yourself by using the following US companies (aggregators).

CDBaby
TuneCore
SongCast
ReverbNation

NOTE: In Japan, mobile music sales and distribution is highly regulated and restricted. All the phone makers, carriers, large record companies, and music rights administration agencies work together to control this billion dollar industry. In order to get your music distributed to the most popular and legitimate Japanese mobile download shops (Chaku-Uta, Chaku-Uta Full/Long), you need to have a Japanese sub-publisher (record label/company). *With smartphones, consumers will be able to purchase and download music from the same web shops as computer users do. This will likely negatively affect the operations of Chaku-uta download shops (which were made to cater to limited web capabilities of traditional types of mobile phones).

We recommend that you create a Japanese web page and/or mobile site and have some promotion plan if you are trying to sell your music in Japan.

Click here to set up a Japanese web+mobile page.

Quick Links

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"

Finding a traditional distributor / licensor in Japan
Access the Japan Music Marketing Members Resources Area: Do-it-yourself resources which include contact list and info on Japanese record companies and ready-to-print Japanese cover letters intended for foreign independent record labels, artists and bands who want to send their music to Japanese companies that distribute, import and license foreign music. You may want to try this first since you may find a company in Japan that will release / license your music or give you a P&D (production & distribution) deal where there is minimal risk/cost to you. It is a cost-effective resource for any indie artist, band or music business. Click for more info

Members Resources Area contains the following resources:

List of main distributors/licensors/record labels in Japan that deal with foreign artists/bands/labels
Ready-to-print Japanese cover letters
List of Music Festivals/Conferences in Japan which book and showcase foreign artists/bands
List of Japan Concert Promoters and Tour Planning Companies that specialize in booking foreign artists/bands
Other useful info/advice to help sell and promote your music in Japan

CLICK HERE TO GET MORE INFO and ACCESS THE MEMBERS RESOURCES

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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