Report on Japanese Inward Mission 2005

 

Background:

The Japanese music market is one of the most important today not least because of the highly developed physical and service infrastructure that have boomed since the World War II. Japan's economic growth has been a phenomenon that many nations have aspired to achieve. Second only to the USA in annual GDP, it has an affluent audience which is mature in its demand for quality productions and, pertinent to us, classical music. Ever since the Japanese Emperor adopted western music making and methods in education at the turn of the last century, Japanese performers have come to the international stage regularly. Many famous western orchestras, conductors and soloists have toured Japan at some point in the careers and the reception has always been a positive experience.

If one knows little or nothing about the Japanese market then where does one begin? This was the question that the recent IAMA, seminar supported by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), attempted to address.

UKTI's support was financial and crucial to mounting this initiative and their foresight should be applauded for helping small and medium sized business improve their ability to trade internationally. The most obvious barrier is the age-old and most obvious: that of language. But there are other barriers too and understanding how things work is paramount when approaching the people who make things happen in this country.

Altogether nine companies embracing various aspects to the "performing arts chain" were recruited by the Japan Association for Classical Music Presenters (JACMP) whose General Director is Toshio Yoshizumi and who is also a Board member of IAMA. The delegates were:

Mr. Kingo Nakayama, Vice President of Japan Association of Classical Music Presenters (JACMP); Managing Director, Tokyo Nikikai Opera Foundation
Mr Akihiro Nozaki, Artistic Director, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra
Mr. Isao Nakatsubo, JACMP Member, President of Nakatubo Arts Service Co. Ltd.
Mr. Kazu Tsuchihashi, President, Crystal Arts Planning Int.
Ms. Masumi Sato, Managing Director, Concert Imagine
Mr. Takeshi Hara, Director and Artistic Director, Suntory Hall
Mr. Jiro Imamura, director and general manager of Public Relations Department of the Recording Industry Association of Japan
Mr. Masami Shigeta, Chairman and CEO, Aspen Incorporated

Biographical details of the speakers, delegates, and programme 

Proceedings:

Opening addresses:

The day was opened by James Brown, Chairman of IAMA and Roderick Thomson, IAMA Board member and member of the Van Walsum management team. They were followed by Mami Mizutori, Director, Japan Information and Cultural Centre and Teresa Arnesen from UK Trade & Investment all of whom not only welcomed the delegates and visiting members from Japan, but sketched the background and setting for the day.

Toshio Yoshizumi introduced the delegation to the floor and gave a broad account of the classical music situation in Japan. He presented a balanced view admitting that things were not looking very positive for the long-term future but that there were good opportunities to be found. There are over 3000 municipalities in Japan each having some performing venue. The funding to maintain this infrastructure is being rationalised as moves are afoot to reduce all these to 1000 which could have a serious impact on what funding is available for the arts. Increasingly, concert halls are being seen as an opportunity for privatisation but the question to ask is: is this the most suitable option? Furthermore, is there too much cultural product around?

Mr Takeshi Hara from the famous and established Suntory Hall expanded on Mr Yoshizumi's points emphasising that the challenges ahead were not impossible. The future of concert attendance is positive and may be well sustained or even improved, due to the recent growth in the economy and an aging population which has money to spend on leisure activities The Japanese market for foreign artists has stayed relatively constant at about 21%. 1818 Billion Yen (£8.6 Billion) was spent last year on music. CD's and DVD's alone accounted for 601 Billion Yen (£2.8 billion). Over the last generation, there has been a dramatic rise in concert halls (3008) and 1,921,000 seats available but the seats to concert ratio has become expensive. There are over 1000 amateur orchestras, 200 opera groups and 15,000 school bands.

Mr Hara emphasised the need for more educational programmes to be put in place in Japan and for visiting artists to engage with the audience. He also made the point that the audience were becoming far more particular about what was presented and greater efforts were being required to offer interesting and creative programming concepts. The educational programmes attached to the Suntory Hall are an example to follow but could this be an unexplored business opportunity? It was suggested that the investment in a future audience is more important than making money and should thus be adopted by all concert hall managers.

Last year there were 50 foreign orchestras, 100 conductors and 80 pianists who toured Japan. Some would say this is flooding a market. The Suntory Hall has 350 concerts annually and one-third are foreign presentations.

What entices the Japanese audience: Repertoire or soloists? Mr Hara's response was considered but he gave no prominence to either.

 

How important was it that a foreign touring orchestra/soloist had a discography? - very important came the answer.

The Suntory Hall celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2006. IAMA has information on the programme should a member wish to have a copy.

The opening addresses were followed by a panel session chaired by the Director of the Association for British Orchestras, Russell Jones. Representing orchestras was Mr Akihiro Nozaki, Artistic Director of the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra who joined Mr Hara in taking questions from the floor.

Session I: Artist Management in Japan

What should Artist Managers know about doing business in Japan?

Moderating this session was Helen Sykes, Managing Partner of Helen Sykes Artist Management. Joining her was the distinguished panel, Mr Kazu Tsuchihashi, Ms Masumi Sato and Mr Masami Shigeta.

Perhaps the most pressing question that delegates wanted to know was how one might develop a new artist in Japan and what they should be aware of. All admitted this was a difficult task but suggested that there should be much more of a partnership between managers and promoters in Japan with the foreign artist management company. This included financial investment and a longer term view of the artist's career in the country.

Things to remember:

There is pressure on artists visiting Japan to perform more concerts so many artist managers may feel pressurised to meet some of the local promoter's demands. There are about 35 significant management companies in Japan but today many smaller companies are being formed. Concert management has increased and the definition of management is changing with commercial companies outside artist management taking on responsibilities e.g. Toyota. TV companies are also opening divisions for artists. Clearly these are trends to be watched.

According to Shigeta, collaboration is key in all areas for artist manager and local manager/promoter. Power is still shifting from central government to local with the result that local input is becoming much more important. The criteria has become: what is good for the community.

All the panellists recognised in regard to the Arts, that Tokyo is set apart from Japan as a whole. It has many venues and a wealth of opportunities. Outside Tokyo, the picture is less developed but still significant to consider when touring artists and orchestras.

During the 90's, there was a much bigger market in Japan for the Japanese managers but this has since changed and many are starting to look outward to other countries. Interestingly, Mr Tsuchihashi raised the point that perhaps Japanese management companies should have been more outward looking much earlier on, acting as a gateway to the rest of Asia. In recent times competition among other neighbouring countries has increased greatly.

Afternoon sessions:

Session II: Opera in Japan

Mr Kingo Nakayama gave an overview to the opera scene in Japan which appears alive and well. Most notable are the former Eastern European countries who tour opera productions at a more reasonable expense than those from Western Europe.

1911 saw the first commercial opera performance in Japan with a substantial rise occurring in the last 30 years. The ratio of opera performances classified by presenters in 2003 is as follows: 28% are foreign productions and 43% are local productions. The remaining percentages are institute and other theatre productions. The trend in opera performances from 1998-2003 shows growth with the greatest rise in small, local opera companies where the artists generate their own productions. In the metropolitan area over the same period, there has also been a rise in many entrepreneurial volunteer productions. Overall, foreign tours continued to increase year on year from 129 in 1994 to 374 in 2003 throughout Japan. 54% of opera performances occurred in Tokyo and neighbouring prefectures.

IAMA has two detailed reports about Opera available to members on request.

Session IV: Promotion and Marketing in Japan

The 30 minutes allocated to this session was too short to cover the issues at hand which also included VISA problems and the difficulty obtaining these and a call on IAMA to help the JACMP. A dramatic increase in entry clearance visas from £3 to £50 has added to the burden and there are disparities to the taxation levied against visiting performers for example, UK artists have 20% withholding tax as opposed to US citizens who have 15% levied. Artists trying to recover tax find it difficult too. Japan urgently needs the support of organisations to lobby for:

Promoting an artist in Japan includes:

The panellists expressed frustration that some commercial opportunities were missed particularly by the record companies when there was a concert tour. The emergence of more independent labels could well improve these synergies in the future.

Session V: Recording industry in Japan

President of Decca, Costa Pilavachi and Mr Jiro Imamura joined moderator, John Willan of Hazard Chase Ltd and Chair designate of IAMA to present an overview of the Japanese situation.

In Decca's stable, classical music in Japan is the third largest segment with USA being 23%, UK19% and Japan 15% so it is an extremely important market.

Costa Pilavachi admitted that it was difficult to break an artist into Japan but sometimes people are famous in Japan and nowhere else. Often older generation artists e.g. Horowitz and Furtwängler are seen to be "alive" and so new recordings have to compete with a weighty legacy that is still greatly valued. Female voices, and particularly ethereal sounding voices, appear to enjoy popular judgement as too artists who cross over media lines e.g. drama productions, TV, adverts. Popular classical market compilations do well but there can be some surprises. Very famous orchestras and soloists may not sell albums though.

Quality is important but visual impact of the artist is an increasing demand among younger consumers. Also, some artists are marketed directly by commercial companies like Toyota who might have a separate division to look after artists or other non-core activities of the company. It's important therefore that manager and record company work closely so that opportunities can be explored, some of which may not be orthodox.

It appears from sales and a study done with the Suntory Hall that those who buy CD's are not necessarily those who visit the concert hall.

The availability of music on new media platforms e.g. MP3, ringtones, is super -important. If the European market favours the Internet, Japan favours the mobile phone. New aspects to recordings such as surround sound is not as important in Japan as it is in Europe

Concluding remark was that if the right artists coordinated their opportunities in Japan, success can happen.

IAMA has a recently published brochure on the recording industry available to all members on request.

Thanks:

The day was concluded by Roderick Thomson who offered a vote of thanks to all the visiting delegates and those who attended the seminar. Back to TOP

December 2005