Change of tune: Japan music fans moving from CDs to streaming services

Tower Records Japan, which runs over 80 stores in the country, says it has suffered a serious slump since the pandemic. — Reuters

Japanese music enthusiasts, loyal to CDs long after the rest of the world went online, have begun reaching for the eject button and switching to streaming services as artistes cancel in-store events and fans stay home because of the pandemic.

Despite a slow decline in sales in the past decade, CDs are still the most popular music format in Japan, accounting for around 70% of recorded music sales last year. In the United States and European markets, CDs have long been relegated to the history bin in favour of online downloads and recently, streaming.