News
Japanese Music Sales Revenue Increases by 10% in 2023
posted on by Alex Mateo
Audio Sales
According to the report, the combined revenue acquired through sales of music software in Japan increased by 10% in 2023 compared to the previous year for a total of 337.2 billion yen (about US$2.178 billion). Total production volume of recorded music (analog music and videos-on-disc) increased by 9% to 159.90 million units, and total production value increased by 9% to 220.7 billion yen (about US$1.425 billion). Sales of digital music amounted to 116.5 billion yen (about US$752 million), a new record and an 11% increase year-on-year. This is the 10th consecutive year that sales have increased. The total production value of recorded music and digital music sales was 337.2 billion yen (about US$2.17 billion), an increase of 10%. This is also the second consecutive year this amount has surpassed 300 billion yen (about US$1.94 billion).
CD sales in Japan rose by 7% to 139.095 billion yen (about US$881 million). Vinyl records rose 45% to 6.267 billion yen (about US$40 million). Cassette tapes rose 241% to 212 million yen (about US$1.37 million). Blu-ray Disc/DVD sales of music amounted to 74.469 billion yen (about US$471 million), an increase of 10% year-on-year.
Digital music downloads fell in Japan to 10.224 billion yen (about US$65 million), a decrease of 11% from 2022. Streaming music revenue went up 14% to 105.617 billion yen (about US$669 million).
Last year saw the release of 465 anime-related CDs, which was about 6.5% of all new Japanese music from 2023.
Awards
Male idol group Snow Man (Black Clover) won the Artist of the Year award for Japanese artist, while The Beatles won for Western artist. Mina Okabe (A Condition Called Love) and LE SSERAFIM (Sexy Tanaka-san), along with Travis Japan, won New Artist of the Year.
King & Prince's Mr.5 and Peace albums, SixTONES' KOE, Snow Man's i DO ME, and Naniwa Danshi's POPMALL won the Best 5 Albums (in Japan) award.
Composer Joe Hisaishi's A Symphonic Celebration - Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki album won Classic Album of the Year. Hiromi's soundtrack for the Blue Giant anime film won Jazz Album of the Year. The soundtrack for The First Slam Dunk anime film earned Animation Album of the Year. Ado's Utattemita Album won Concept Album of the Year.
In the singles category, King & Prince's "Life goes on / We are young" took the Single of the Year award. The Best 5 Singles include: Stray Kids' "Social Path (feat. LiSA) / Super Bowl -Japanese ver.-," Snow Man's "Tapestry / W" and "Dangerholic," and Nogizaka46's "Ohitorisamatengoku."
Snow Man's "Snow Man 1st DOME tour 2023 i DO ME" video won Music Video of the Year. YOASOBI's "Idol," the opening theme song to the Oshi no Ko anime had the largest combined digital downloads and the largest number of streaming plays. YOASOBI's "Idol," MAN WITH A MISSION×milet's "Kizuna no Kiseki" from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc, and Ado's "Show" were the top three songs with the highest number of digital downloads. The other top streaming songs were Ado's "Show," Spitz's "Beautiful Fin," Mrs. Green Apple's "Que Sera Sera," and Yuuri's "Billimillion."
Special awards went to Atarashii Gakkō! (SNS Police), King Gnu (Jujutsu Kaisen), and Vaundy (Chainsaw Man, Spy×Family).
The RIAJ publishes reports on the Japanese music industry annually.
Source: RIAJ (link 2), Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)
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