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Sound Decision - Warner Steps Up

In the meantime, it should not surprise us to see Korean artists take a good shot at America long before the Japanese ones get their acts together.

Language seems to be an obvious barrier to having a hit record in the United States for any Asian musician wanting to crack that market. There are hundreds of Asian classical music artists who release albums through major international labels, but very few in pop. In fact, one of the main points that was brought up in the New York Times' review of Rain's concert was his use of unrefined English, which often failed to connect to a mature audience. For example, the paper scorned Rain's gesture of standing up between songs and saying things like, "I'm lonely and I need a girlfriend." Jim Farber also pointed out Rain's halting English, noting his tendency to shout, "I love you" when he was at a loss for other words.
Many other critics agree that language is a major barrier for Asian musicians, saying there ultimately will be no "connection" if the English lyrics sound too forced to American audiences. But, Mr. Ebert added, "If it is good, if it is recorded in English and if it is properly promoted and marketed, there is no reason why an Asian act cannot be a hit in the west."
A more urgent issue, and one commonly cited by Western industry experts, is that there is not much originality seen in the songs of Asian pop musicians. Many of those industry insiders are doubtful that K-pop music is an experience that's something new and different for audiences who look for non-mainstream chords in world music. They say artists in many parts of Asia seem too "manufactured."
Mark Russell, a Seoul correspondent for Billboard, says Korean musicians simply have trouble "crossing over." "When Latin music came to the United States, did those artists try to sound like Puff Daddy or Boyz 2 Men? No," he said. "They were true to their own sound, with just some improvement in production values. Even Japanese pop has its own quirky style. But what is Korean about Korean pop? Nothing ― in the melody, the singing style, instrumentation or harmonies. It is all just a rehash of American pop with a little J-pop glam thrown in."

The bottom line is three-fold. First, Japanese labels are fooling themselves if they think they have won the piracy battle. CD sales will continue to plummet, and they will face a situation as dire as Korea's if they do not act quickly. You could call their unexpected digital music revenue in 2005 a nice surprise, or you could see it as a warning sign that the Japanese music industry is still woefully underestimating digital music's power to save them or crush them.

Second, those same Japanese labels now have one path to prosperity laid out clearly in front of them.

Finally, we should root for more of these "technology-content hybrids," as the Journal article calls them.

That's only if the quality of Korean and Japanese music was equal. Have you heard Korean pop music?

1) No one is being fooled, everyone knows that piracy is starting to quickly kill the industry. The only persons being fooled are casual fans who think that grabbing music for free is somehow justifiable.

2) Please be aware that Japan pratically evented the mobile music industry as their carriers are quite saavy. Thus 34.3 billion yen reported.

3) Bingo! It is all about bundling currently. Also licensing is king as merchandising, appearance fees and touring have been steady lines of revenue. But it is this bundling and hybrid delivery model that is still very young and which no company yet has quite managed to find a truly winning formula.

The question is whether fans here are willing to buy a $30 retail package of a CD, DVD and cool piece of merch (like a wristband, hat or t-shirt)??

You know more about this than I do, but I get the impression that not all the big labels are sold on digital distro. I was particularly concerned that the RIAJ report seemed content with overall positive growth, after four or five straight years of urgent reports on "Major Issues" and outlines for digging the industry out of its hole.

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The question is whether fans here are willing to buy a $30 retail package of a CD, DVD and cool piece of merch (like a wristband, hat or t-shirt)??

I guess it's time to find out.

At this point a leveling off in the sharp decline was a real blessing and allows companies a short breather while they figure out what to do moving forward.

In Korea it looks to be ALL about mobile music so hopefully this will push some new business models but don't expect those models to work in the US... maybe Japan but even then I am still skeptical. Japan already has such a strong mobile presence that while some growth can still happen, I do not believe it will be much more.

As for bundled media packages with merchandise, I am lobbying hard for it as I think this is a more viable model.

Either way, I think it's important to take quality out of the equation when you're talking about distribution models. WS Entertainment gives Korea a serious edge in that department; what they do with it is another issue entirely.

What I worry about is what this means for services like iTunes that aim to sell music from everyone to everyone. Does this mean that in the future the already-annoying proprietary format war in online/mobile music sales could turn into a label war? Will I have to buy different cell phone service or use different online music sites if I want to listen to music by, say, both BMG and Sony?

I could imagine the labels having a lot to gain money-wise by starting their own, competing online distribution networks and cutting out the Apple middleman.

In the next few years, handsets are expected to have Internet connectivity without going through cell phone service firms' telecommunications networks, using instead wireless LAN (local-area network) and other wireless broadband networks. Softbank intends to launch value-added offerings in its cell phone service business with an eye on such connections in the future.

This would allow music download services to be offered without having to distinguish between computers and cell phones. So, record labels and cell phone service firms, which have been raking in cash by providing music downloads for cell phones, may start to see their business models fall apart soon.