I'd like to start my series of topics related to the Japanese music industry with a basic introduction of the format in which music is sold. Although, just like in the rest of the world,
In the US and Canada, album sales make up the majority of physical CD sales (2) and I had never even seen a single in music stores until I was in my mid-teens. Even then, they only had one shelf dedicated to singles while the rest of the entire store was for albums. The Japanese music industry is generally more single driven than that of the US. For example, according to Oricon, THE source for information on music rankings and sales in Japan, the number one album in Japan for 2011, Beautiful World by 嵐 (Arashi), sold 907,589 copies. The number one single for the same year, フライング・ゲット (Flying Get) by AKB48, sold 1,587,229 copies. I wonder what a flying 'get' is anyway....
As an incentive to buy singles, often they include things called omake (or freebies) that come along with the first press of a CD. You can kind of think of omake as the toy that used to come along with the cereal box. It works kind of in the same way too, because, admit it, sometimes you used to buy the cereal just for the toy. The kinds of omake included with CDs are often things like buttons, posters, keychains, t-shirts, toys, etc. made specifically for the promotion of the single. I know these things used to always hook me in. I would always make sure to pre-order by copy of my favourite band's new single just to get the bonus item that came along. I actually used to run out of wall space for posters because I had so many.
Don't believe me? Then see for yourself.
All these posters came with CDs bought from Japan..
Here's another example of omake:
This was a cardboard cut-out that you could assemble yourself and was the mascot for the above artist, ENDLICHERI☆ENDLICHERI.
Singles also often have several versions, sometimes one of these versions include a limited edition DVD with either the music video for the single or some additional footage of the artist. If you're a fan, these kinds of bonuses are pretty irresistible and will make you shell out the thousand yen or so it costs for one of them.
Singles also usually include other tracks beside the single itself, which sometimes consist of B-side tracks or karaoke versions of the song. Although the single itself will usually appear on the next album the artist releases, these additional tracks usually do not, making this another bonus only available to those who purchase the single.
Incentives like these really seem to target one crowd more than anything else: the fans. Casually listeners might not be as interested in little extras like these, but they become close to necessity for the fans of an artist. It is often the case when someone is a fan of something, they want everything they can get their hands on that is related to the things that they are a fan of. The music industry in Japan seems to understand this and uses this to their advantage through clever marketing.
So, to those of you who were unfamiliar to this bright, shiny thing called the CD single, I hope you now understand its purpose and allure. I know I've heard a lot of people say, "What the point in buying a CD with only 2 tracks on it?" Well, the above is your answer and the Japanese music industry very effectively uses them to keep physical CD sales from flat-lining.
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For further reading:
(1) See: http://ameblo.jp/edo2010/entry-10808522826.html
(2) This not only very blatantly shows the difference between album and single sales, but also give you a look at the history of the music industry in the US. I found it pretty amusing.
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/021711disruption
