<br>===============================================================<br> J@pan Inc Magazine Presents:<br> M U S I C M E D I A W A T C H<br> Commentary on Japan's music technology news<br>================================================================
<br><br> Issue No. 117<br> Thursday, January 17 2008<br> Tokyo<br>*************************************************<br>MIDEMNET FORUM: MUSIC BUSINESS IN THE DIGITAL AGE <br><br>26/27 January 2008 - Cannes - France - at MIDEM, the world's
<br>music market.<br><br>MidemNet Forum brings you an invaluable update on how digital is <br>driving the music business forward, changing it rapidly and <br>radically. <br><br>Over 2 days of intense conference sessions and serious
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<br>Nation Recordings - Prof. Lawrence Lessig, CEO, Creative <br>Commons - Jim O'Mahony, CEO EMEA, Asia, Australasia & Latin <br>America, Saatchi & Saatchi - Janus Friis, Co-Founder, Joost, <br>Kazaa and Skype - Jean-Bernard L?vy, CEO, Vivendi -
<br>Tero Ojanpera, EVP & CTO, Nokia.<br><br>The earlier you register, the less you pay. Hurry, seats are <br>limited!<br><a href="http://www.midem.com">www.midem.com</a><br><br> ----------------------------------------------------------
<br><br>CONTENTS<br><br>++ FEATURE: Music Publishing in Japan<br><br>++ NOTEWORTHY NEWS: <br><br> ** RIAJ announces results of latest mobile piracy survey<br> ** 'Hatsune Miku' boom continues<br> ** Rittor releases new version of online guitar learning
<br> application<br> ** Yahoo Japan adds DoCoMo, KDDI to mobile music search<br> ** New version of BeatJam from Just System<br><br>++ FEATURE: Music Publishing in Japan<br><br>Japan's music publishers - the companies who create and
<br>distribute music books, magazines, and other music-related <br>media - are an impressively busy lot. Whether it's a magazine <br>devoted to jazz guitar or a how-to book about learning chromatic <br>harmonica, the Japanese have assembled one of the world's
<br>largest and most diverse selection of music learning resources. <br>There is also a certain depth - a clarity of explanation and <br>attention to detail - in most of these publications that I have <br>yet to find anywhere else.
<br><br>The Japanese music publishing industry - also known as the <br>'music media' industry here - is largely driven by four <br>companies, who between them account for an estimated total of <br>US$150 million in sales each year. Like many other content
<br>providers, these companies are all starting to make the <br>transition to digital, and each of them have so far taken <br>slightly different approaches to the rapidly changing technology <br>that is reshaping their market. Here is a brief overview of
<br>these four major players, and a description of their recent <br>digital/mobile initiatives:<br><br>1. Yamaha Music Media (YMM)<br><br>This company is the publishing arm of Yamaha Corporation, and <br>many of their past publications have been designed primarily to
<br>promote the sales of Yamaha instruments - especially keyboards <br>and guitars. Last year, however, the digital content division of <br>Yamaha Corporation was merged with YMM, with the head of that <br>division taking over as president and several of his managers
<br>assigned to director-level positions. <br><br>This realignment brings all of Yamaha's highly lucrative mobile <br>content businesses under the YMM umbrella. In particular, the <br>ringtone component of this business - which Yamaha helped to
<br>pioneer - still accounts for massive revenues, possibly as much <br>as three or four times what YMM had been earning previously. <br>Although ringtone revenue will continue to decrease, it <br>nonetheless provides the company with a substantial amount of
<br>cash as it works out the plan for its future direction.<br><br>2. Rittor Music<br><br>Rittor is Japan's most prolific publisher of magazines and <br>instructional mini-books (known as 'mooks' in Japan) for
<br>practicing musicians. The company publishes 11 different music- <br>and instrument-related magazines, including Guitar Magazine, <br>which boasts a circulation of over 250,000. Rittor was the first <br>publisher to start selling its products through a mobile site,
<br>and the company now creates separate mobile content for several <br>of its magazines. Rittor Music is a subsidiary of Impress <br>Holdings, which is one of Japan's major publishers of content <br>for the IT industry.
<br><br>3. Shinko Music Entertainment Co.<br><br>Founded in 1932 and still privately held, Shinko Music is one <br>of Japan's oldest independent music publishers. Like Rittor, <br>Shinko also publishes a wide array of music-related magazines,
<br>including the popular Young Guitar Magazine, which <br>differentiates itself by focusing on hard rock and metal genres <br>that appeal more to younger guitarists. Shinko also imports and <br>distributes more music books from the west than any other
<br>Japanese publisher, and has brought much of the Hal Leonard <br>catalog to Japan. Shinko has not been as quick as the other <br>publishers to tap into the mobile sector, but the company did <br>partner with Vibe on GuitarHeadz - Japan's first mobile site for
<br>guitarists.<br><br>4. Doremi Music Publishing Co.<br><br>Doremi is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year, and like <br>Shinko, is independent and privately held. The company has built <br>a huge catalog of over 2,000 titles, including instructional
<br>books for nearly every instrument and genre. The company <br>publishes only one magazine, a monthly publication called 'songs<br>for guitarists.' Last year, Doremi launched its own mobile site <br>in Japan and now offers much of its catalog through this site.
<br><br>Over the next few years, it will be interesting to watch the <br>effect of changing technology on Japan's music publishing <br>industry. Seen by many in the industry as highly conservative <br>and traditional, none of these companies have been particularly
<br>quick to embrace new digital formats that might threaten their <br>current print business. Recently, though, Rittor and Doremi have <br>begun to include some instructional Flash content for guitarists <br>on their web sites.
<br><br>In the past year, digital sheet music has begun to gain <br>recognition in Japan, and companies such as FreeHand Systems <br>(which makes the MusicPad sheet music reader) are also starting <br>to sell their products here. In addition, more Japanese are
<br>becoming aware of the vast amount of instructional video content <br>that can be found on YouTube and through new services such as <br>the Multiplayer from <a href="http://Showmehowtoplay.com">Showmehowtoplay.com</a>. These challenges will
<br>have to be addressed by the larger music media companies if they <br>hope to maintain their current level of business. As an <br>executive from one of these companies puts it, 'we can keep <br>going as we are for a little while, but there are some big
<br>changes on the way.'<br><br><br>++ NOTEWORTHY NEWS<br><br>** RIAJ announces results of latest mobile piracy survey<br>In brief: The RIAJ has released a report detailing its findings <br>from a survey on mobile piracy conducted last November.
<br>According to the report, of the 1,054 people surveyed, 37.1% <br>said they use illegal sites for mobile music downloads, and <br>14% said they also upload files to the sites. The RIAJ estimates <br>that more than 399 million mobile tracks were illegally
<br>downloaded in Japan last year.<br>Source:<br><a href="http://www.riaj.or.jp/release/2007/pr071225.html">http://www.riaj.or.jp/release/2007/pr071225.html</a><br><br>** 'Hatsune Miku' boom continues<br>In brief: Hatsune Miku - the best known of the 'virtual singer'
<br>characters which began appearing as software packages last year <br>- continues to ride a wave of popularity. DTM magazine devoted <br>an entire issue to the character, while popular online game <br>'Tsuri Paradise' has started a 'Hatsune Miku' campaign until
<br>Jan. 25 in which the character sings the background music <br>appearing in the game. Hatsune Miku uses Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 <br>technology, which produces a synthesized vocal rendering of <br>lyrics and melody, allowing songwriters to hear their
<br>compositions 'sung' through the software. <br>Source:<br><a href="http://www.turi-paradise.jp/news/index.php?type=0&id=81">http://www.turi-paradise.jp/news/index.php?type=0&id=81</a><br><br>** Rittor releases new version of online guitar learning
<br>application<br>In brief: Rittor Music announced the release of version 0.9.6 of <br>its new 'Shibanzu-kun' online guitar learning application, which <br>utilizes an animated fretboard for learning chords and chord
<br>progressions. The new version includes features for automatic <br>playback, preset chord charts, and tablature display.<br>Source:<br><a href="http://guitar.digimart.net/shibanzukun/">http://guitar.digimart.net/shibanzukun/
</a><br><br>** Yahoo Japan adds DoCoMo, KDDI to mobile music search<br>In brief: Yahoo Japan has added a function to its Japanese <br>portal allowing users to search directly for chaku-uta and <br>chaku-uta full songs that are available on NTT DoCoMo and
<br>KDDI/au, in addition to the existing search feature for <br>Softbank Mobile.<br>Source:<br><a href="http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20071225-00000000-sh_mar-sci">http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20071225-00000000-sh_mar-sci
</a><br><br>** New version of BeatJam from Just System<br>In brief: Just System announced the release of BeatJam 2008, the <br>company's software package for digital audio editing and <br>conversion. The new release includes features that integrate the
<br>application with JustSystem's 'Music@Life' site.<br>Source:<br><a href="http://beatjam.justsystem.co.jp/app/static/beatjam/index.html">http://beatjam.justsystem.co.jp/app/static/beatjam/index.html</a><br><br>
----------------------------------------------------------<br>STAFF<br>Written by: Steve Myers (<a href="mailto:steve@thetamusic.com">steve@thetamusic.com</a>)<br>Steve Myers is president and chief enthusiast of Theta Music
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