Lol everyone is jumping down your throat. You’re fine. It is odd though how kpop fangirls are always bashing on some record label or website for “trolling” them. I always wonder if they’re that hypercritical about everything American companies do or if it’s that Korean thing where Koreans always bash each other super hard for the most little things…

Anyways, as StrifeRaider says, the Japanese record industry is peculiar. Like a lot things in Japanese culture they have their own specific way of doing things. And like a lot of things post 1990s they’re kind of stuck in the past. It’s odd because the country went from early adopters to late adopters in terms of technology. A lot of it has to do with the economy of course but culturally as well the past 10-15 years.

The reason why they don’t generally release videos on youtube is that physical DVD sales are a bigger part of the market than anywhere else in the world, and more profitable than anywhere else in the world. Koreans like Americans don’t really buy DVDs or CDs but download singles. In terms of youtube, Japanese labels don’t like to “give away” the videos online. That’s why for example it’s very difficult to find even a Japanese Kara video online before it’s taken down. They just do it differently because the revenue model and the culture is different in Japan.

Of course this is one of the big factors why Kpop was able to take over, since Japanese pop music is literally not as accessible. You can argue it’s also not musically accessible since Kpop mashes everything together, while Japanese music and culture is insular and you almost need to study to get into it.