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Originally Posted by JEWELian
Quick fact check:
Japan is the 10th most populous country in the world with 126 million inhabitants. It is the 2nd most populous developed country behind the USA (with 322 million). These figures alone indicate that it's not surprising Japan has the 2nd largest music industry in the world.
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Not to circlejerk this, but China, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, and Nigeria are all more populous countries but have nowhere near the domestic or export music sales like the US or Japan. Indonesia's economy, for example, isn't much less active than Japan's economy. What I have noticed is the higher per capita PPP (income + purchasing power), the more likely people are to pay for entertainment.
I actually half-wonder if Japan's music industry is so large because of Japan-US relations post-WWII. We have had A LOT of economic interaction since the 1960s, and the Japanese music industry did grow quite rapidly during that time...?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JEWELian
That said, I do agree that the way the industry worked traditionally was an immense factor in its success, however it has failed to keep up with modern times and technologies and is hence waning, which is a shame - but we all know that the record labels know this and instead of exploring digital options that are going to last, are choosing to simply invest in live concerts as a revenue raiser.
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I wanted to reply to this too. I strongly believe that record labels do not sell artists as an experience now. As I mentioned, being a fan of Taylor Swift isn't just buying a single Taylor Swift song on iTunes, it's treated like being part of a club. The same with Adele. But what's changed so much in the last fifteen years is that almost every single artist on the radio comes around once every two to four years, drops a few songs then disappears for another two to four years. I remember Britney Spears' first few years of her career were non-stop Britney everywhere. Madonna was the same way in the 1980s. Janet Jackson was everywhere after Control. Maybe it's over-saturation, maybe that artists can too easily make something radio-friendly, be there for a hot minute, then disappear? It certainly seems like the Wiki lists of One-Hit Wonders have tripled compared to past years.