The Asian Music Industry

Three nations—Japan, South Korea, and India—dominate the Asian music industry with a fourth, China, ready to become the dominant music industry in Asia. There are major differences between the countries. Japan has the second largest music industry in the world based on generated revenues; it is only behind the United States. However, Japan has fought the trend of digital streaming and remains heavily into high-priced physical product. Japan’s music industry is protected, protective, and insular; it does not seek to export its music and is happy with Japanese music for Japanese consumers. South Korea, on the other hand, with its K-Pop industry is intent on exporting its artists and recordings. Three agencies dominate K-pop and those agencies find talent, groom the talent, then set them out into the world. India’s music industry relies heavily on films; the major exposure of music comes from India’s Bollywood films. Although there are streaming services in India, the film industry dominates the music industry. China was known for its piracy of American recordings, which was a huge wall against China having a legitimate music industry. However, with the advent of streaming, the Chinese are able to exert control over their industry and, with their large population, reach billions. One of the major emerging firms with digital streaming is Tencent, which is headquartered in China. There are barriers to China’s rise as a major music center, primarily their censorship of anything they dislike. China wants Chinese music to go out into the world but doesn’t want the world’s music to infiltrate China. Whether they can balance all of these ideas will determine the future of China’s music industry.