Sales Of Music For Smartphones, PCs Rose 43% In '12

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sales of music downloaded to smartphones and personal computers soared 43% to roughly 18 billion yen in 2012, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. began providing Japanese music to Apple Inc.'s Japanese unit in November, contributing to the strong sales. Sony Music's songs dominated the iTunes store sales ranking at one point.

Moreover, music companies have come out with attractive distribution services.

EMI Music Japan Inc., for instance, is distributing music for smartphones and PCs for 16 popular artists through 500 yen mini-albums that contain three hit songs. The albums are more than 30% cheaper than if the songs were purchased individually.

The overall music distribution market shrank 25% to 54.2 billion yen.

(The Nikkei, Feb. 23 morning edition)

• 
• 
•