Spotify and Rdio are expected to launch in Japan in the next few months, according to a report at Japanese music trade McClure Music.
“Rdio and Spotify will have a positive impact on the Japanese market because they’re a great form of communication in social media for consumers, especially teenagers,” says Takayuki Suzuki, GM of digital strategy, sales marketing, at Universal Music Japan, told McClure Music.
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A Spotify representative did not comment on the report. An Rdio representative had not yet responded to a request for comment.
This latest report follows a report in October that Spotify was speaking to labels about opening in Japan this month.
Spotify is currently available in 20 countries and has posted job openings that suggest upcoming expansions to Mexico, Poland and Italy. Rdio is available in 17 countries. Neither of them are yet available in an Asian country.
Although Japan is the second-largest music market in the world, it has been slower than others to adopt subscription services. Only Sony’s Music Unlimited currently operates in the country.
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Japan is somewhat unique when it comes to digital music: mobile-related digital content — ringtones, ringtunes, full track downloads — still dominates. In the first 9 months of 2012, mobile digital content accounted for 67.6% of the country’s digital music revenue, according to data from the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Digital downloads accounted for 29.8% of revenue. The tiny remainder was split almost evenly between Internet subscriptions and mobile subscriptions.
But mobile is trending down and downloads and subscriptions are trending up. Mobile digital revenue fell 39% in the first nine months of 2012 while digital download revenue jumped 34%.
