I don't think anyone was going to bet against iTunes Japan. Japan is the second largest music market worldwide, with a music fanbase that is both wide and deep.
That said, to reach 1 million songs in just 4 days is very impressive no matter what yardstick you use. By their own yardstick, Apple says that the Japan store is doing twice the volume of all the other online download stores in Japan.
Japan, the 20th country, was the quickest to reach 1 million downloads. By doing so, Apple said it had doubled the average monthly total of all current online stores run by other companies in Japan combined.
...
"We've known that about (400,000 to 500,000 songs) per month is what all the other online music stores in Japan have been doing. The majority of that being Mora," Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of applications, told Reuters in a phone interview.
"So the fact that we've already done two times that in the first four days is something that we are very, very pleased with." - Apple iTunes Japan sells 1 mln songs in four days [reuters.com]
So, is it any wonder that the Japanese artists who are not represented in the iTunes Japan store want to be in there, even if it means breaching their contracts? As an artist, to stand on the side with Sony is to shoot yourself in the foot. iTunes has launched in 18 countries before Japan and has been basically a smash hit with consumers worldwide, even if it isn't a big moneymaker for Apple. There was no reason to believe that Japan would have been any different.
So those companies (Japan Victor, Sony, etc.) who chose not to negotiate in advance now have a harder negotiation because it's clear that the platform is successful and that music customers want to buy their music on iTunes Japan. Anyone looking at the history of iTunes would have seen that.
Japanese musicians under contract with Sony and other labels that haven't joined Apple's iTunes Music Store are starting to defy their recording companies and trying to get their music on the popular download service launched last week in Japan.
At least one artist has already gone against his label to offer his songs on iTunes. And a major agency that manages Japanese musicians said Wednesday it was interested in a possible deal with Apple Computer Inc., regardless of the recording companies' positions.
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Rock musician Motoharu Sano, who has a recording contract with Sony, is making some of his songs available on iTunes, according to his official Web page.
"It is an individual's freedom where that person chooses to listen to music. I want to deliver my music wherever my listeners are," Sano was quoted as saying by Japan's top business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun Wednesday.
Sony Music spokesman Yasushi Ide said Sano is no longer considered "a Sony artist," although negotiations will decide whether his recordings under the Sony label will be offered at iTunes or not. The outcome will depend on each contract, and talks are continuing, he said.
Amuse Inc., an agent for some of Japan's most popular artists, is also thinking about joining iTunes. The company, which pushes musicians signed not only with Sony but also others, had initially decided against signing with iTunes.
"But we are considering joining in the future," Amuse spokeswoman Kyoko Ijichi said Wednesday. "We want to do what users want." - Japanese Musicians Trying to Join ITunes [sfgate.com]
This may have been a no-win situation for Sony Music Entertainment from the very beginning, but they clearly kept their heads in the sand, or so it seems.
As it stands now for Sony Music Entertainment, it's all bad:
It's bad for Sony the corporation because of the bad PR and the fact that music customers would rather shop at iTunes than at Mora.
It's bad for the Sony music artist because they cannot have their music available at the most popular site online for downloading legal music. They are seen as a puppet of Sony, without their own will or control. Not good.
It's bad for the music fan because they can't get the music that they want at the site that they want to purchase it at. Yet another reason to turn to a P2P network for that Sony music that they might have bought at iTunes if it was available.
Lose, lose, lose.
Technorati Tags: Apple, iTunes, Japan, Sony
