As introduced in the article below, the Japanese music industry is steadily declining. There is a reason for this, but I think many Japanese listeners have stopped listening to music these days. We will make inferences from various aspects.
The reason why the Japanese music industry is so poor
The Japanese music industry entered a period of decline after the 1990s. This is clear from the guru lag below, which has been in a constant downward trend since the 2000s. There are some years when sales increase, but this is temporary and the overall trend is in decline. The United States is number one in the world, but it is said that it is only a matter of time before it is overtaken by Germany and the United Kingdom. So why is the Japanese music industry only in decline?
Source : Yahoo News
Domestic business model
The Japanese music industry has completely abandoned global expansion. This is due to the fact that there is not a single artist who can be recognized internationally, and all attempts to expand internationally have failed. As a result, the Japanese music industry operates only within a narrow country. However, today’s world has become a global society, and it is no longer easy for the music industry to function only domestically. Among the developed countries, Japan is the only country where the music industry is in decline.
Western music is also selling well in Japan.
It is said that about 40% of sales in Japan’s music market come from Western music. The American influence is particularly strong, and the field of Western music may be even more mainstream than J-POP. The Japanese market is not a J-POP market, as the demand for Western music remains strong. This may be the same in other countries, but Japan is said to have a particularly strong boom in foreign music.
Aging of the Japanese population
The aging of the Japanese population is also contributing to the decline of the Japanese music industry. When people are young, they want to listen to fresh music and have a strong desire to buy it, but as they get older, their desire to buy it inevitably declines, and the number of people who go to live concerts decreases. The average age of Japanese people is now 47 years old, and the median age is 50 years old. This is largely due to the Liberal Democratic Party’s mismanagement, but it is also a huge blow to the industry.
artists don’t grow
AKB has appeared in the Japanese music industry since the 2000s. AKB48, started by Yasushi Akimoto in 2006, became a hit in 2010, and since then idols with similar concepts have been mass-produced. The music industry has invested so much capital into this industry that no more serious artists are born. As a result of the situation continuing to make it difficult for other artists to debut, musicians have disappeared from the industry.
Created a boom using otaku
It’s the same story as above, but since the idol boom came, the Japanese music industry has invested in ways to exploit otakus and get them to buy lots of products. This was because the traditional CD business collapsed when Apple developed a music download service, so they switched to a method of getting otakus to buy large quantities of CDs. It worked for a while, but it didn’t last long and sales were always on a downward trend.
Money stopped flowing
This is just a general review, but if you take the above trends into account, the number of young people aspiring to enter the music industry has shrunk to less than half of what it was in the 1990s. Talent began to flow to other industries, and money stopped flowing as well. As a result, returns to creators are insufficient, making it difficult for artists to develop. Furthermore, manufacturers are unable to develop artists due to lack of funds. It’s truly a negative spiral.
A future in which the industry only shrinks
Although Japan currently ranks second in the global music market, there are fewer people aiming to enter the music industry. The negative spiral of a smaller target population, less competition, and lower quality continues, and it is predicted that the country will be overtaken by the UK and Germany in the future. Although the global music market is on the rise, Japan continues to be in a critical situation where it is the only country in decline, and there is a growing possibility that Japan will no longer be an attractive market. There are no new songs coming out, and it seems that the lyrics of Japanese music are no longer available overseas. Even those listeners who have been listening to music since its heyday are leaving us. The current situation is that it no longer makes the news and is no longer talked about on the internet.
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