AfterDawn: News

Yahoo Japan, owner of the most visited web portal in the country has started an online music stream service to attempt to attract consumers. It will be free to listen to the Streaming music from the site, but users cannot record the streaming music. Yahoo Japan hopes that this service will lead to more CD sales and sales of music downloads. This new service comes at a time when the market for music downloads in Japan is heating up.

Apple recently launched it's iTunes music service in Japan, offering songs for mostly 150 yen. The company shocked even itself when iTunes Japan managed to sell 1 million tracks in four days after it's release, making it the most successful launch of iTMS in the more than 20 countries offering the service. Yahoo Japan charges 210 yen to download new songs and 150 yen for older songs.



Apple's introduction of iTunes in Japan is seen by Sony as a threat who currently sells the most MP3 players in the country. Apple hopes that iTunes will boost the sales of iPods so it can dethrone Sony on it's own turn.

Source:
Bloomberg

Written by: James Delahunty @ 21 Aug 2005 21:57