“We are strongly pushing for the iPod tax.â€
Taizo Shinya, spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of Japan, which supports a copyright law revision to charge royalties on digital music players.
Not content with already fleecing music buyers with ludicrously high prices, Japanese recording companies are now after even more easy money. This time from anybody who has the temerity to buy a digital music player. The appropriately named ‘iPod tax’ being touted as somewhere between 2 and 5 percent of a portable player’s retail price.
Now admittedly the illegal downloading of music is still rife, but when you look at the prices of CDs in Japan, it’s hardly surprising. Take this early release from singing sensation Ayumi Hamasaki.
Nice cover and all that, but LOVEppears retails at a staggering 3,392 yen (almost 17 pound). A figure that could — generously, looking at many other CDs — be described as an averagely priced album. And when you consider that Apple’s iTunes Music Store is already a success in Japan — recently racking up a whopping 1 million sales in its first four days — the record industry’s greed appears to know no bounds. Or feel any shame for that matter.
BitTorrent beckons…
ifrit says
For all this music biz blind people: http://tinypic.com/eq56xy.jpg
Jim says
I suspect there is a relationship between raising CD prices and piracy. The more you charge, especially if other coutries don’t charge that much, the more piracy is going to occur. The less revenues record companies will get. Ironic, they may be shooting themselves in the foot.
joel says
Japanese CD prices are insane. 1,250 Yen for a CD single with 2 songs? Yeah, sure, I’ll do that. =\
Japan’s music business is bizarre in its totalitarian power, from a Western standpoint.
Whitey says
Yeah, cd prices are going down everywhere else but Japan. And targeting iPod makes no sense since they promote legally downloading music through iTunes. Silly men in suits…
Brett says
Thank god the japanese haven’t made any music worth actually listening to yet!
chris says
It is quite outrageous, really. Especially when you consider that albums by western artists typically retail in the 2000-2500 yen range, versus 3000-3500 for Japanese artists.
I may be missing something here, but surely the western albums have to be imported… in which case how come they cost so much less? Smacks of price-fixing to me. Another scheme to bilk the docile Japanese consumer out of more cash… surely not?
Lee says
Exactly Chris.
Take Stevie Wonder’s new album. The best selling album by a foreign artist on Amazon Japan now.
Imported version: 1,830 yen.
Japanese version 2,548 yen
It doesn’t even have a bonus track to (supposedly) justify the extra cost.
Hexxenn says
@ Bret:
Amen to that.
Luke K says
@ Bret and Hexxenn
Amen to both of you