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

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

The Music Market in Japan - How to Make it "Big in Japan" (About Author)

Article 4:

How Much Does It Cost?

Old Business Model: 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.

New Business Model: The majority of music sales in Japan is digital via computer (internet) and mobile phone rather than physical CD's. Japan leads the world in digital song sales. Foreign artists, bands and record labels can enter the Japanese music market easier since digital distribution is quicker, easier and cheaper than CD distribution. Nevertheless, 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.

The good thing for indies is that there are now resources and services to help sell and promote music in Japan through outsourcing or 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 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).

"Radio promotion" does not exist in Japan!
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 of the 47 prefectures (i.e. states) 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 and it is only the size of California State). There are now plenty of internet and broadband radio stations, as well as podcasting. The number of internet and mobile users is far greater than 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. Charts that are reported and that people actually follow and pay attention to are charts based on unit sales NOT radio plays. Most radio stations do not even have Top 10 or Top 40 charts. Instead they just show playlists. Unlike in the West where most of the content played by radio is controlled and "programmed" by a few companies, DJ's and radio program hosts in Japan are more free to play whatever they want.
You can still try to reach the dwindling number of listeners of FM/AM radio in Japan. There is a service available where you can submit your song to a pool of directors and DJ's of Japanese FM/AM radio stations in hopes of being played but you don't have to concentrate on and spend a big part of your budget on "radio promotion" in Japan.

Getting a Japanese web+mobile site and basic promotion can cost less than $100 using TopMusic.jp. That is a good start. If you are really serious about the Japanese market and generating significant revenues then you will have to reach thousands to several million Japanese music consumers using internet and print advertising. A minimum budget of a few thousand dollars will be required. If you're on a shoestring budget, Google Japan Adwords and Facebook Japan Advertising allow you to set a budget of whatever you can afford—even $1/day. 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 (often much more) 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 the new 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 4 indie artists is $500 each and you still get good exposure in the popular Japanese magazine which would otherwise be out of your budget).

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
Facebook Japanese Ad Campaign (Setup Fee: from $99; Min. Ad Budget from $1/day) more info
Image ad in popular Japanese website (million+ page views), blog or email newsletter (Min. Ad Budget from $2,000) more info
Print ad in popular Japanese magazine/free paper (Min. Ad Budget from $2,000) more info
Ad in Hip Hop Insider Magazine - only for hip hop/rap/R&B genres (Min. Ad Budget from $500) more info
Image ad in TopMusic.jp website (Min. Ad Budget from $45) more info
Song submission to podcasters, net radio and FM/AM radio in Japan (Min. Budget from $59) 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 site

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"

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