Andrea Hoffmann wrote:
>
>>4) pricing is good (said to be about 315 JPY, 3 times the price of a 30
>>sec "chaku-uta" and slightly higher
>>than web-based services which retail for about 210 JPY)
>>
>>
>Pricing may seem good when compared to other download prices in Japan. However, on iTunes I can buy full songs for 99 cent, which is about 130 Yen.
>
>
True. Japanese suffer unfortunate high prices compared to high tunes
(which is also high-priced if you consider
you only get data and no physical support nor additional goods). They
also pay higher prices for contact lenses
and cinema, among other things.
>Asahi published an article the other day about iTunes not being available in Japan. Here is a quote:
>
>"While a single download costs 99 cents (about 110 yen) at Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store site, which is not yet available in Japan, domestic services typically charge at least 200 yen per song. That's more expensive than renting a CD single, priced at about 100 yen."
>
>
True also, but the "convenience factor" allows a higher pricing, as
price is not the only issue in a service.
This is the whole business of convenience stores which charge about
50% more than normal stores on most items but enjoy tremendous success.
The "always with you", instant access and easyness to use of a music
mobile service is unbeatable,
as you do not need to
1) go to a rental shop
2) copy the CD
and maybe also 3) encode it into mp3, 4) upload it to your player
With rental you get the full CD, and it is recognized as having a big
influence on CD sales,
but at least for singles, you may pay 100 yen more, but save so much
time and trouble with a mobile service...
>Source (English)
>http://www.asahi.com/english/business/TKY200409080120.html
>
>For this and other reasons, it appears that Apple faces resistance from the local industry against the entry of iTunes into the Japanese market. Nevertheless the iPod device seems very popular here.
>
>
Thanks for the link, very interesting article.
As a handful of Record Companies have set their own online store, they
are probably reluctant to
just scrap their online plans and give a warm welcome to Apple. And as
foreign music is less than 25%
of music sales (according to Japanese Record Association figures), the
current iTunes catalog is
probably not a satisfactory offer for Japanese consumers.
Especially, Label Mobile (which more or less spun off an early and
unsuccessful Label Gate)
may be able to replicate their Chaku-Uta model on the web just as well
(after clearing some DRM issues), and an already successful indigeneous
solution would be probably favored.
As for the popularity of iPod, it has a lot to do with the design and
technical capacities, and with the fact
that local electronic companies suffered big pressures from the music
industry not to release mp3 players
without a cumbersome DRM.
Sony is the best example, as every time their lab guys come up with a
nice mp3 device the
Sony Entertainment guys say : "ATRAC only !" (this recently changed for
some overseas models).
This explains why an electronics giant like Sony has not stepped
strongly in a field in
which they could have easily been very successful.
Unfortunately, I tend to think that Japan may "swim against the tide"
until they come up with
a satisfactory DRM system for PC download. The ability to burn content
on CD-R will soon
be irrelevant as everybody will soon be always carrying a device
including memory
(flash or hard drive) like mp3 player, mobile phone, digital camera and
will not need CDs
as physical supports.
Do not hesitate to tell me if some of what I write sound too far-fetched
or like pure fabulation.
Cheers,
-- Benjamin
Received on Wed Oct 20 04:35:50 2004