there's no way Japan Music Industry is bigger than KPOP/Korean !!

  • like i keep seeing user mentioned about how Japan is the 2nd biggest music industry after West like how ?????

    i dont remember or even know any japanese musician that make a big impact and remake on the world like BTS and PSY ? and being super popular & viral like Blackpink ?

    if anything it should be KPOP after West. Not even Bollywood (in term of music tho)


    and tbh i only know Perfume and AKB48 lmao

    so how can Japan have bigger music industry than Korea ?

    maybe i live in an environment where Japanese music is a niche but like....is Japan bigger than Kpop in the west ? or UK or wherever ? and definitely not SEA because as an Asian, i can guarantee you KPOP is totally dominating SEA since 2011


    i might sound stupid and ignorant but i have zero idea how can Japan is the 2nd biggest music industry after USA

  • Luckily we don't need your opinion or guesses on it since the IFPI have been tracking data and reporting on the worlds biggest music markets and their valuation since the 1930's.

  • they are second biggest market but they are more of a domesticated self sufficient market where they can survive without having to venture international markets.

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  • You...live under a rock then. Cuz for the longest time, they were huge (and technically still are?) Before Asia was listening to Kpop, they were listening to Jpop/Jrock first. Even back into the 80's (maybe even 70's), Japan was ruling with their music. And if you dug a little deeper, you will see how greatly they influenced the Korean music industry and eventually Hong Kong/Chinese music industries. They were the pioneers of bringing western elements in to eastern music, then creating the basis and formula for Asian music.


    For decades, EVERYTHING has been about Japan. Their tech goods, their electronics, their games, their music, their anime, their manga, their dramas and their variety shows etc brought a new wave and impact to other countries. What we see from Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan today (their media & entertainment), was a direct result of Japan's influence. It's almost not an overstatement to say in the earlier days, Japanese media and entertainment was basically copy and pasted into the said industries; a direct replica. And then the said replicas eventually evolved into what they are today, especially Kdramas, Kpop, Cdramas (specifically Taiwanese dramas, and modern day Chinese romance dramas), Manhwa/Manhua (Korean and Chinese versions of Manga).


    Not only did they impact all of Asia but also the west as well. The fact Pokemon, Digimon, Yu Gi Oh etc can be broadcasted on TV in the U.S speaks volume. Pokemon and Digimon premiered in the late 90's on U.S television (Yu Gi Oh in the 2000's). When has any other Asian media been able to make it on U.S television? Plus, this was the 90's, a time when people's acceptance of foreign media was low. But Japan was the only one who could not only enter and but also rule the U.S market with their media and entertainment. Japan as a whole was and still is super influential.


    Basically there is a huge demographic for Japan's entertainment and media, MUSIC included. For a good while, ESPECIALLY music. There's a reason why Kpop companies have been trying to break in to the Japanese market (ever since BoA and TVXQ in the early 2000's). Don't question it. Japan is huge. Especially when it comes to entertainment and media. Let's just say this, between making it big in Japan and making it big in the U.S, Japan is where a Kpop group could make hella fucking money. Groups like TVXQ and 2PM could come back once in a blue moon in Korea but still be making $$$ because they are active in Japan. Japan alone can provide for them. THAT'S HOW BIG JAPAN IS.

  • I think this says it all... as you can see NiziU as new group with just one song did same numbers in JPN like TWICE.


    Keyakizaka46, TWICE and NiziU are the only girl groups to be certified Gold for 50,000,000 streams by RIAJ in Japan.
    TWICE as a Korean girl group and NiziU as a pre-debut girl group.


    also Japanese population is 2.5 bigger than Korean


    Don't even want to talk about Arashi etc.

    Japanese groups don't need whole world interest to have high sales, because they can have hella high sales and be rich just with support of their own nation.

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    The thing is, Japan don't need to rely on the world or the West. The world is not everything, Arashi sold like 3.3M with 5X20 All The Best 1999-2019, in 2019 alone. That was enough for them to secure the #1 spot(cmiiw), and Arashi doesn't even have a huge international fanbase.


    There's a reason KPOP groups(and some Western acts) always venture into the Japanese market and why so many people see it as viable, a strong Japanese fanbase can secure you thousands of albums. NiziU sold almost 500k iirc with their freaking debut album. Japanese acts can make alot of money and sustain on their own without the need of an international fanbase.

  • When people say japan is biggest music market, it means the market is heavily supporting music sales and streaming. It doesnt mean jpop are big cause given the supportive market, they dont need support from the west/asia like kpop

  • I don't think you understand the amount of money Japanese people spend on music or anything music-related.


    just on merch alone, TWICEJAPAN has probably made MAD BANK. outside their dome tours are tens of thousands of people trading merch, photocards. like literally they were lining up on vending machines to get qoo drink with Twice's faces on them. Imagine how much they spend on the most popular Japanese artists there.

  • Good thing you realize your stupidity in the last sentence of your thread


    Yes Japan, is the second biggest market


    And back in 2011 and 2012 when physical market plummeted in USA Japan was in the verge of surpassing USA


    But then physical sales started to decline in Japan as well. Nowadays Japan still the second biggest market, with over two times the market size of UK, the third biggest market


  • Japan's music industry is big enough to support their artists with in Japan without them looking for success elsewhere. Going to concerts is everyone's lifestyle in Japan. It's like a tradition.


    Meanwhile, Korea alone isn't enough to support Kpop. A Kpop act can't sell a million concert tickets in Korea like TVXQ do in Japan in a year.


    Japan has tons of Arenas and domes for concerts while Korea has like 2 or 3.


    Japan is a huge music market compared to Korea.

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  • It's down to revenue, it doesn't matter if kpop is more known worldwide, the Japanese music industry will still generate way more money than any other country except the USA. And the fact the majority of that revenue is upheld by a single country is kinda insane.


    As a sidenote, japan is also at the top when it comes to diversity in music and genres as well. South Korea is basically dead in comparison.

  • Damn I'm not a fan of japanese music at all except for some composers but even I wouldnt make a comment like this.


    That market is really huge, mainly because they are one of the only countries who still care about physical sales. Purchasing the real stuff is like part of their culture, you can see this even with video games where people keep purchasing physical copies for their consoles too, or even manga.


    It also helps japan has lile 130m inhabitants and is very wealthy. They are slowly transitioning to streaming but physical is still king


    The korean market is still pretty massive for how small the country is and has had more worldwide impact than japan in recent years but japan's is just bigger considering overall revenue

  • It's a super huge market, just below USA


    They dont need to expand their wings to other countries. Japan has strong buying culture when it comes to music. They are slowly transitioning to streaming but buying physical album culture is still very strong. Japanese groups such as Arashi, Johnny's, EXILE, AKBgroup, Sakamichi46, =Love, Momusu, etc are king and queens in their own country. They have solid and strong sales withough international supports. 1M sales is relatively easy for household names in Japan


    NiziU is the example, their Japanese fanbase is very strong and basically GP knows them because of their survival show was aired on prime time show "Sukkiri". Their debut album exceed 350k+ sales. Predebut single reached a lot of amazing milestones.


    Japanese artists can held a large-scale nationwide tour with more than 200k attendance. Either Dome tour or Stadium tour. No international promotion. That's why Kpop artists are expanding their wings to Japan.


    Japanese music industry is huge and wide. It is a huge market with wide variety range of genre. Jpop is way more diverse than Kpop. There are rock, heavy metal, pop (idol music and disco dance pop), hip hop, enka, theme music, game music, etc. Each genre has its own fanbase and its huge.


    Japanese market is very valuable to every artist that promoting Japan. Strong buying culture.

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