Japanese Companies Set to Compete with iTunes

psiph writes "'Japan's two major online music distributors said [Thursday] they have agreed to tie up to push the distribution business... The tie-up accord was reached in the wake of the Aug. 4 launch of Apple's Latest News about Apple iTunes in Japan.'"

Re:nothing like the...

[madaxe42]

Except for the arrival of a 600 pound gorilla.

Re:nothing like the...

[Anonymous Coward]

Except for maybe the arrival of Godzilla.

iTunes Japan Failing Engrish Quota

[vertinox]

Sony later described the main reason they decided to compete was because the iTunes slogans had a sensible grasp of the English language and would not fly with the Japanese public [engrish.com]. Sony PR Manager was quoted saying their slogan would be "Music Sample Download in You!"

Re:iTunes Japan Failing Engrish Quota

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I would think that this should have been moderated "funny" not "informative".

Re:iTunes Japan Failing Engrish Quota

[vertinox]

I was about to say myself. It's one thing to get modded Troll or Flamebait when trying to be funny... And interesting I could understand... But informative just makes me scratch my head and wonder if someone believed what I said to be real life and not comedy.

Re:iTunes Japan Failing Engrish Quota

[MouseR]

It reminds them too much of their own "What you say!" and "Move 'Zig' For Great Justice".

why are they

[VolciMaster]

tying up accords? Didn't know Honda had anything to do with music sales...

Re:why are they

[twotommylong]

You obviously haven't seen japanese Pr0N. They love to tie up everything...

eh

[larry bagina]

sophisticated purveyors of music know that the Japanese release of many US albums contain additional tracks. It would be nice to get ahold of them individually, but it looks like these companies are only selling in sony's (retarded) ATRAC format and something else that looks even more obscure and attrocious, DRM wise. Too bad - they fail it.

Guess I'll just have to keep buying import CDs (wink wink)

New name

[mkiwi]

Soon the Japanese will be referring to "Steve-sama"- Lord Steve

Here's hopin'...

[Moofie]

I bet they'll take marketing lessons from that guy over at Creative. He's been making big headway...

Twice the price, twice the DRM

[camperslo]

All Sony needs to do now is leverage their video expertise into audio. I'm thinking they'll do something along the lines of an audible FBI warning and promos playing before the start of every song...

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Number of comments on story correlates strongly...

[javaxman]

to the ability of anyone to care about these companies selling music online. They're about to make as much money as Napster.

I'm no iTMS user, but it's pretty obvious that if these companies had any clue whatsoever, they'd have been selling tons of song online for years in Japan, building a solid user base and market dominance without competition. Suddenly, now that they have Apple to compete with, they're finally 'working' on it? Given the overwhelming popularity of the iPod in Japan, why not save their investor's money and focus on something that won't be a complete waste of money ?

Re:Number of comments on story correlates strongly

[superpulpsicle]

If there is one thing I learned about my trip to Asia not that long ago.... They love their mainstream artists.

Their pop culture revolves around a small number of top 10 artists. All the school girls worship them. The US is the exact opposite with lousy mainstream artists that can't sing or make music period. With a majority of the talent underground. That's why iTunes work here, and might not in Japan.

Re:Number of comments on story correlates strongly

[Durf]

The US is the exact opposite with lousy mainstream artists that can't sing or make music period.

Yeah, that's exactly why nobody in the US listens to those . . . wait a minute. Um, there's a reason they're called "mainstream," and that reason has to do with the fact that they have more listeners than anyone else. That's true on both sides of the pond.

Re:Number of comments on story correlates strongly

[Durf]

You can replace "iTMS user" and "song[s] online" with "CD listener" and "music discs," or hey, even "rice eater" and "grain." This has always been a place where domestic players enjoy a stranglehold on the consumer until that day when the market cracks open and they get spanked by a foreign competitor.

The consumers like this process, for the most part. Except in the case of rice . . . Most people prefer to spend 10 times as much on something grown in Niigata rather than settle for California-grown stuff (

iTunes?

[shawnce]

I assume they are going after iTunes Music Store (iTMS) if they are talking about distribution of music.

Anyways this stories response is... well like one hand clapping.

If they can compete with the 50 yen album price...

[ShyGuy91284]

Might be possible if they can beat the 50 yen per album price Apple was doing as their initial "promotion [asahi.com]".