Here is another data. Sales of digital music in Japan for year 2007 is 75,487 million yen (632 million Euros). It increased by 40% in comparison to the previous year. And of course, most of its sales (90%) come from mobile phone services.
Figures are impressive, but frankly, it seems like neighboring South Korea has progressed much more, and I haven't paid much attention so far. What's more, I have never thought about what effect that could have to the music itself.
According to a 30-minute-TV program called Closeup Gendai (meaning "Closeup Now" in Japanese), this very trend of downloading music on mobile phones is the reason why music has now a very short life expectancy. They compared how it was 20 years ago, when hit songs can stay in the chart for months; in contrast, in 2007 there were only two songs which remained in the top position for two consecutive months. So it's becoming more and more difficult to have a great song that would be listened for a long period of time than before.
The program then described of how people, in particular, teenagers select music to download. Girls on TV demonstrated by browsing tracks from their mobile phones and listened to 30-seconds free downloads prior to the final purchase. This 30 seconds, according to the program, is the cause of short-living music; most hit makers are aware of the free downloads and creates melody lines memorable and catchy within this time slot. By the time people purchase the full track, they have already consumed the best bit.
The TV program then changed the topic and discussed how Enka, Japanese folk songs, are regaining sales and appealing older generation. They say the artists are singing clearly with good lyrics that appeal to a wider audience. And as a proof, while Enka only had 4% of the entire sales eight years ago, now it occupies 10%.
Although that is an interesting trend, I believe typical Enka lyrics which talk about "broken marriage", "forbidden love", "alcohol, men, women, one night stand","women waiting for the fishermen to be back to the harbor" may sound too old for the younger generation. How to create a great hit that lasts and appealing for the keitai generation is yet to be found.
Closeup Gendai, in Japanese: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gendai/
Figures are impressive, but frankly, it seems like neighboring South Korea has progressed much more, and I haven't paid much attention so far. What's more, I have never thought about what effect that could have to the music itself.
According to a 30-minute-TV program called Closeup Gendai (meaning "Closeup Now" in Japanese), this very trend of downloading music on mobile phones is the reason why music has now a very short life expectancy. They compared how it was 20 years ago, when hit songs can stay in the chart for months; in contrast, in 2007 there were only two songs which remained in the top position for two consecutive months. So it's becoming more and more difficult to have a great song that would be listened for a long period of time than before.
The program then described of how people, in particular, teenagers select music to download. Girls on TV demonstrated by browsing tracks from their mobile phones and listened to 30-seconds free downloads prior to the final purchase. This 30 seconds, according to the program, is the cause of short-living music; most hit makers are aware of the free downloads and creates melody lines memorable and catchy within this time slot. By the time people purchase the full track, they have already consumed the best bit.
The TV program then changed the topic and discussed how Enka, Japanese folk songs, are regaining sales and appealing older generation. They say the artists are singing clearly with good lyrics that appeal to a wider audience. And as a proof, while Enka only had 4% of the entire sales eight years ago, now it occupies 10%.
Although that is an interesting trend, I believe typical Enka lyrics which talk about "broken marriage", "forbidden love", "alcohol, men, women, one night stand","women waiting for the fishermen to be back to the harbor" may sound too old for the younger generation. How to create a great hit that lasts and appealing for the keitai generation is yet to be found.
Closeup Gendai, in Japanese: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gendai/
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