Shipments of international audio product by the RIAJ’s 59 member companies in the January-March period totaled 8.9 million units, down 18% from the first quarter of 2009, for a wholesale value of 9.1 billion yen ($98.7 million), down a whopping 30%, the RIAJ says.
Domestic product fared slightly better, with production falling 8% to 40.2 million units, for a wholesale value of 45.2 billion yen ($490.7 million), down 12%.
Overall, audio shipments were down 10% to 49.1 million units during the first quarter, for a value of 54.3 billion yen ($589.4 million), down 16%.
International product thus accounted for 18% of the Japanese market on a volume basis and just 17% in value terms in the January-March period.
The consensus in the Japanese industry is that young people have largely lost interest in foreign music, and that it’s increasingly difficult for overseas acts to find a niche in the highly complex Japanese music-biz ecosystem.
Shipments of music videos and DVDs declined drastically in the first quarter. In volume terms, they fell 28% to 11.4 million units, for a wholesale value of 13 billion yen ($141 million), down 29%.
