Live performances keep H!P, J-pop going strong

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Contrary to popular belief, 70 percent of Japanese female idol music sales go to female fans, like these in the Harajuku district, Tokyo (January 2008), in Japan and around the world. (Photo ©2008 by G.A. Carroll)

Sales of Japanese idol music, based on CDs, has certainly fallen in raw numbers as this list on Totally Hello! Project appears to show.

It’s hard to believe sales of “Go Girl” topped more than a million in 2000, but that in subsequent years those sales appear to have dropped precipitously among the various Hello! Project groups.

But numbers don’t tell the whole story. Observations:

*** Downloading is the No. 1 problem for CD sales, and it is far more prevalent in Asia than the West.

*** Overseas sales need to be considered. They are exploding, especially on sites like YesAsia, and with region-free DVD players selling like hotcakes, this trend will grow dramatically. Why? Because US pop music is way dull in comparison.

Berryz Kobo, 2005: They made US $3.5 million in two sold-out Saitama Super Arena concerts in 2007.

*** Hello! Project has greatly increased the number and frequency of tours, and some of the junior units to Morning Musume are piling up some impressive dollar figures. The two Saitama Super Arena shows in April 2007 by Berryz Kobo were worth US $3.5 million gross alone. C-ute had three major tours in 2007. Bottom line: Japanese idol music stays alive by increasing live shows.

*** On market share, Morning Musume's core market remains 70 percent female. The male percentage is smaller overall, but dominant at live shows. Merchandising is dominated by dedicated female fans. Again, none of this is reflected in CD figures.

*** Finally, the Oricon stats from which these figures are derived are a crock. They tabulate sales from selected CD shops and mail-order sales are not counted. I went through a load of CD stores in Tokyo in January and rarely found ANY Hello! Project CDs, DVDs or anything else on display or even available, and clerks didn't even know what "Hello! Project" was. They are not on the mainstream radar screen save for Ayaya. Based on this, the sales figures shown above are miraculously high.

Ayaya is one of the few Hello! Project singers who has any kind of a mainstream public presence in Japan. (Photo ©2008 by G.A. Carroll)

The plain fact is that Sony Music controls the Japanese music business, and limits when and where Japanese idol music in particular is sold by:

*** Not allowing anything Hello! Project produces on Region 1 DVDs for distribution in the US.

*** Discouraging any serious touring in the US by any Sony-controlled groups, and that includes Hello! Project. Why? To keep Sony’s US properties protected from a superior product, that produced on the shores of Japan.

There are more reasons why music fans in the US can’t readily access Japanese music, but rest assured that sales totals are growing in the West despite the attempts to stifle that effort.

This is Rad signing off – for now.