I m active there since 2009 and I wrote this 2 years ago AMERICA ? NO, JAPAN We’re all blinded so much by trying to hunt down a hit in the US or the UK that it’s easy to neglect the world’s second biggest – and arguably most stable – music market: Japan. A better name would be “Songwriter’s Dreamland” because while the Western music world struggles with low sales, Japan is selling downloads and CDs in huge numbers. One major reason for this is the fan loyalty that still exists in Japan. Japanese customers want an act they can love for the long haul, and they show their love by buying their CD, the special edition, the DVD, the concert ticket … I mean, unlike the rest of the world, the whole boy band phenomenon never faded away in Japan. A Japanese friend explained to me the reason why boy bands that started 20 years ago are still going strong today. She said that when a Japanese girl goes to her first concerts when she’s about 12, she gets stuck on a group and then remains a loyal fan forever. In the rest of the world sales numbers, particularly with albums, are being affected by the fading of such fan loyalty. I mean, do you really get proper LMFAO or Pitbull fans – fans that will remain faithful to them for life and buy everything they release? The customer of today is a general music lover. Instead of being stuck on one act, they love all kinds of music and just want the latest hit songs regardless of the artist. So LMFAO and Pitbull’s singles might work, but the albums …? I don’t think so. And will thousands of people pay money to keep seeing them live? No. They’re just not acts that generate devotion from consumers. The same goes for a lot of club and dance-based acts around the world. Meanwhile, in Japan, the survival of proper fans means high sales. That’s why I always piss my pants when I hear I’ve got a cut in Japan. What’s even better news for songwriters in the West is that it’s much easier for a good Western writer to get a cut with a major selling Japanese act than it is to get on the next Britney record. This is because the Japanese don’t give a shit about name-dropping and who you are. It wouldn’t matter if Max Martin offered them a tune, if it’s not as good as one by an unknown writer then they’ll go with the unknown. This is not meant to be in any way a slight on Max, but just to show that the Japanese value the song even above the king of songwriting himself. Unlike in the Western world, there’s no closed circles or usual suspects when they choose songs for their artists. So my advice is try to get into those markets. It’s not easy to break in first of all – you need someone who’s already established there, like a pitcher or a publisher – but it’s worth the effort when you do because this is serious. YES I SAID It
Posted on: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 08:58:01 +0000