A few weeks ago, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry reported that the Japanese music industry grew by 5.4% in 2022, the second consecutive year of growth. The Recording Industry Association of Japan recently released its year end report for 2022, going into more detail about the state of the industry over the course of last year.
“Statistics Trends RIAJ Yearbook 2023” reports that, despite what the IFPI reported, the combined physical and digital markets saw growth of 9% in 2022, to ¥307.4 billion. This is the second consecutive year of growth, and the first time revenue has topped ¥300 billion since 2018.
In 2022, the revenue of the physical market, which includes CDs, vinyl, DVDs, and Blu-rays, grew by 4%, to ¥202.3 billion. This is the first time revenue has crossed ¥200 billion since 2019. Last year also saw a 3% decrease in the number of units produced compared to 2021, totalling 146.53 million units.
The revenue of the digital market, which is composed of downloads and streaming, increased by 17% compared to 2021, totalling ¥105 billion, a new record since record keeping was established for this segment in 2005. This is the ninth consecutive year of growth, and the fifth consecutive year of double digit growth.
In regard to music audio discs, the number of units produced fell by 2% compared to 2021 at 103.47 million units, while revenue from this segment increased 5% to ¥134.9 billion. The number of CD albums produced dropped 6% to 66.97 million units, while their revenue grew by 3% to ¥97.4 billion. In terms of CD singles, the number produced increased by 5% to 33.95 million, while their revenue rose by 12% to ¥32.4 billion. The vinyl market saw an increase in the number of units produced of 12% to 2.13 million units, while revenue rose by 11% to ¥4.3 billion. This was the first year the vinyl market had production of over two million units since 1999. This was also the first year since 1989 that revenue exceed ¥4 billion.
In terms of music video discs, the number of units produced decreased by 4% compared to the previous year to 43.07 million, while revenue grew by 3% to ¥67.5 billion. The number of DVDs produced dropped 16% to 22.73 million units, while revenue fell by 15% to ¥40.8 billion. In regards to Blu-rays, the unit production grew by 12% to 20.34 million units, while revenue grew by 5% to ¥35.5 billion. The unit production and revenue from Blu-rays are the highest they’ve been since record keeping was established for this segment in 2007.
Based on revenue, the physical market is 66.7% audio discs and 33.3% video discs.
When it comes to the digital market, downloads fell by 19% in 2022 compared to the previous year to 48.95 million downloads. Download revenue also fell by 19%, to ¥11.4 billion. On the other hand, streaming grew by 25%, to ¥92.8 billion. Based on revenue, the digital market is 88.4% streaming, 10.9% downloads, and .7% other.
In terms of total revenue, the Japanese market is 65.8% physical and 34.2% digital. Digital’s share of the market is a new record.
Pop / kayokyoku is the most popular genre for newly released domestic physical recordings in 2022, comprising 72.9% of the market. It is followed by enka (9.1%), anime (7.7%), screen (4.6%), kids (1.1%), light music (1.1%), classical (1.1%), traditional (.5%), and miscellaneous (1.9%).
Rock / pop / dance is the most popular genre for newly released international physical recordings last year, making up 38.4% of the market. It is followed by classical (23.7%), additional genre (18.9%), jazz / fusion (15.3%), screen (2.8%), and miscellaneous (.8%).
There were 400 debuts last year, made up of 318 first debuts and 82 second debuts.
The full report can be read here.
