Japan may have been late to the music-streaming party, but it’s been making up for lost time.
According to industry body the RIAJ, streaming revenues in Japan grew by 25% to ¥92.8bn in 2022 (around $674m), including 19% growth for subscription streaming revenues to ¥75.62bn.
There was also a 129% increase in ad-supported audio music revenues to ¥5.99bn and a 29% increase in ad-supported video music revenues to ¥6.57bn.
Overall, Japan’s digital music revenues grew by 17% to ¥105bn ($763.1m), which the RIAA hailed as “the highest amount since statistics began in 2005, exceeding 100 billion yen for the first time”.
Streaming is steadily growing its share of the overall Japanese music market. In 2021, according to the IFPI’s trade-value figures, streaming accounted for 28.6% of overall recorded music revenues in Japan, although CD sales were still 40.8%.
We’ll see how those percentages have shifted when the IFPI’s latest Global Music Report is published later this month.
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