What is it with metal and Japan?

[Red In The Sky]

Just a mild rant, but why do they always release stuff for Japan only?

Most recently Children Of Bodom, Arch Enemy, In Flames etc. They all release albums in Japan only, plus Japan gets exclusive tracks on the albums (ATG did this a few times), demos, covers etc. All which is missing from the UK releases, and yet costs us more

It wouldn't be so bad if the singles and extra songs which feature on these albums were actually released in the UK as singles. But 99% of the time they are released as singles only in their native countries, or you guessed it, in Japan.

I find it strange that immensely popular albums like Tokyo Warhearts aren't released at all anywhere else, and the only option is to import it for £30 and get raped by customs.

 

[Vim Fuego]

I can get most of those things in Korea no problem.

 

[JJPLANO]

In Argentina most of that could be get in razonable prices (in stores). that is before all that is happend now here. and non of them are edited here, they came from Europe and USA. the price for a single cd of those was 20-22 american dollars.

 

[JJPLANO]

In Argentina most of that could be get in razonable prices (in stores). that is before all that is happend now here. and non of them are edited here, they came from Europe and USA. the price for a single cd of those was 20-22 american dollars.

 

[jimbobhickville]

From what I understand, the Japanese government controls alot of the marketing of music. They work out deals with record labels so they get things first and with extra tracks, then they market it really hard for a month or so, generating a lot of sales, then they drop it and move on to the next one. They do this because CDs are more expensive there and they want to prevent people from importing from the US because it is usually cheaper than buying locally. If the label's don't do that, they usually cannot sell their catalog locally in Japan. That's what I've read about it, but I obviously am not speaking from firsthand knowledge. Pretty shitty deal; I think the labels should just tell them to piss off and that they're getting the same CDs everyone else is. If they don't like it, they can live without all the extra money from record sales. It won't ever happen though, 'cause labels are too greedy.

 

[The Wanderer]

the bonus track thing for japanese releases are there to make it worht the money. domestic releases are more expensive than imports there so they need extra stuff to make it worth the money.

 

[Vim Fuego]

CDs here (Korea) are exactly the same price for legitimate releases as they are at home (New Zealand), which is considerably cheaper than both the US and UK. If discs were sold at higher prices, or without the bonus tracks you often get here, they'd be copied, pirated and ripped off something chronic. As it is, recordings by Korean artists are a lot cheaper than international acts.

Internatonal: 16,000 - 18,000 won
Korean: 10,000 - 13,000 won
"Download" Korean: 6,000 - 8,000 won (Download music is stuff ripped off the internet, repackaged and sold on just about any street corner. Kids buy tapes for as little as 2,000 won)

 

[stringskipping]

It's simple. The Japanese market is affected by a parrallel import policy that allows cheap imports to sit up on the shelf next the the local release. Packaging an album with an extra track and a Japanese booklet gives the Japanese fans something to a)support the local economy though and b) wait for, in instances where the imports hit the stores first (this is becoming a little more rare).

It's a value added policy that provides something extra for the slightly more expensive local releases, rather than make no money for the industry by competeing with the substandard wages paid in some other countries that can afford to make the CDs cheaper.

 

[SculptedCold]

Thanks guys, that was very informative....i've been curious about that for some time now also.