Spotify touches down in Japan - a place for CD-crazed music lovers

Spotify is a music, podcast and video streaming that launched in October 2008 by startup Spotify AB. It provides digital rights management meaning protected from record labels and media companies. Spotify apps are available for most modern devices, including Microsoft Windows and Apple MacOS computers, Android and iOS Smartphone and tablets.

However, one country in which Spotify has yet to flex its muscles on is Japan. The country's music market is globally the second-largest music market, with around three billion in sales yearly, Forbes stated. 

When Daniel Ek, Spotify's CEO launched Spotify in Japan, one of his most surprising discoveries is that people there have a respectable degree of love for music, especially when sold in compact disc (CD) format. From jazz clubs to massive Tower Records stores that occupies nine floors, the music business in Japan is thriving.

When Spotify rolled out its service in Japan, Ek noticed that its use has been focused on a small pool of artists. That's because Japanese music fans tend to prefer to purchase CDs priced as high as USD 30, as those come with different kinds of memorabilia.

But with digital downloads being everywhere and CDs - account for 80% of Japanese music sales, fast becoming extinct, Japan knows that it has to catch up.  Despite the country being notoriously averse to streaming, Spotify is hopeful that they will be able to complement the needs of music lovers there as CDs slowly phase out of the market, The Japan Times has reported.

Spotify is set to become the biggest driver of growth to the music industry not locally but globally in any different genres. Should Japan open its doors more to the concept of streaming as it moves away from its love affair with CS, Japanese artists can get exposure to over 100 million music fans around the globe.