Music: J-POP Globalization

Hello world.

So, maybe a lot of the people who end up here are like me, they listened to Japanese music through the Internet, thought it was awesome and were left wanting more, only to find out that it is not available in the local CD shops (yeah, the World Music section has a very deceiving name) and it will cost you most of your earnings to import. So, why isn't J-POP exported around the world like American music is? I'd like to explain a few of the reasons why I think this is the case.

1. I've mentioned before that Japan has the number two largest recording industry in the world and the United States has the largest. Japan has reached this position through mostly domestic sales, while the US has secured its place through its global appeal. Basically, there is a very large Japanese population to target with a very strong domestic industry, which eliminates the need to expand to foreign markets.

2. A lot of effort goes into promoting each song and album within Japan, including appearances on music shows, tours, concerts, etc. A lot of time and effort is spent on hooking the local audience, so there's not much time and effort left to try to break into foreign markets.

3. Most audiences are not very accepting of music that is in a foreign language. Some people find it difficult to relate to songs which they don't understand the lyrics and people who are unfamiliar with a particular language may not find its general sound system aesthetically pleasing. Japanese artists also tend to fall into line with the rest of the Japanese population in the sense that English is not really their strongest subject. So, producing all their songs in English could be quite a hassle and not necessarily effective.

Here's an example of a song entirely in English by a Japanese band. 

Lyrics can be found here: http://j-lyric.net/artist/a000673/l00d722.html

4. The J-POP method of marketing is very foreign to the Western world. In the States and other countries, there are actors turned singers and vice-versa, but nothing like the multimedia entertainer which is the idol. Actually, J-POP does enjoy some popularity abroad, but mostly in East and South-East Asia, where Japanese popular culture has always had a big influence, so the whole-package deal is more accessible, rather than just the music.

I'm not saying that there are no fans abroad. There are many fans of Japanese music in North American and Europe, but they make up a fairly limited sub-culture compared to the whole. I think a lot of the reasons I have provided above explain why Japanese music doesn't seem to reach out to foreign audiences as much.

Music: Foreign Music in Japan

Hello Internet!

In Japan, the domestic music industry is fairly strong and there are a lot of different artists and types of music to choose from, who sing (mostly) in Japanese, a language almost the entire population has as their native language and understands best. Looking at it this way, the music needs of Japan can mostly be satisfied by the domestic market. However, that does not mean that foreign artists, from the United States or other countries are not popular in Japan.

If you go to any music store in Japan, you will usually find the music separated into two major categories: 邦楽 hougaku (Japanese music) and 洋楽 yougaku (Western music).

The Japanese music section of one store. 

(Image source: http://www.kirakuza.co.jp/toriatsukai/index.html)

Part of the Western music section of another store.

(Image source: http://nttbj.itp.ne.jp/0523321662/index.html)

Western music is generally kept fairly separate from Japanese music in many ways. Western artists rarely appear on Japanese music programs, like Music Station or Kouhaku, and do not have as many commercial campaigns in Japan. However, certain artists, like Lady Gaga and Avril Lavigne have enjoyed great record sales and popularity in Japan and do occasionally appear on Japanese television programs to promote their music.

There is another type of foreign music that has recently enjoyed great success in Japan, which is South Korean music, or K-POP. If you look around the music stores in Japan, there is really no consistency in the way K-POP is classified. Some have it in a separate K-POP section, some have it with the Japanese music and some have it with the Western music. Official rankings and music sites are the same. Sometimes it seems that they are even classified as both. For the 2011 Japan Gold Disc Award, the Best New Artist - Japanese and Best New Artist - Western awards both went to K-POP bands, Girls' Generation and KARA respectively.

I think part of the confusion is because K-POP is so much more integrated into the Japanese music industry than Western music. These artists generally speak some Japanese, appear on Japanese music shows, TV commercials and national ad campaigns, and sing in Japanese as well. They are almost as heavily promoted and spread throughout Japanese entertainment as the idols. Yet, at the same time, they are obviously not Japanese.

KARA appearing in a commercial for the Japanese cellphone company Docomo.

Either way, one can safely say that K-POP has secured a place in the Japanese music industry that no other foreign music has been able to before. It is hard to say whether or not it will keep this position or fade in popularity over time, but for the moment, K-POP is still sticking around near the top of the charts.

It is possible that perhaps K-POP has started a movement that will blur the boundaries between foreign and Japanese music and categories like yougaku and hougaku might disappear in the future, but the strength of the domestic music industry and the tendency Japan has to separate Japanese things from foreign things might not allow this. We'll just have to watch and find out.

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For further reading:

A summary of K-POP sales in Japan: http://www.6theory.com/forum/index.php/topic/32763-kpop-on-japans-official-music-charts-oricon-singles-chart-oricon-album-chart/

An article theorizing about the reasons for K-POP's popularity in Japan:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/09/how-korean-pop-conquered-japan/244712/