日本本土唱片市場有新動力

Last month the NHK News on-line reported the following;

音楽市場ではＣＤや音楽配信が主流となっていますが、ことし国内販売用に出荷されたレコードが、先月までにおよそ４２万枚と去年１年間のほぼ２倍に拡大しており、レコードブームの再来として注目されています。

日本レコード協会のまとめによりますと、ことし、国内の販売用に出荷されたレコードは、海外からの輸入も含めて１１か月間で４１万８０００枚、金額で６億円余りと、枚数、金額ともに去年１年間のおよそ２倍となりました。
このうち「洋盤」と呼ばれる海外のレコード会社に所属するロックやジャズのレコードは、イギリスのロックバンド「ビートルズ」のアルバムの復刻版などが相次いで発売され、去年のおよそ３倍に当たる２４万２０００枚に上っています。
ＣＤや音楽配信が主流の国内の音楽市場は、平成１０年の６０７４億円をピークに減少傾向が続き、今はその半分程度となっています。全体に占めるレコードの市場規模は小さいものの、根強いファンを中心に手堅い市場として注目されています。
レコード業界に詳しい塙耕記さんは、「温かみのあるレコードらしい音に魅力を感じた人が、再びレコードに戻ってきているのではないか」と話しています。

(試譯文)　　

In the music market although CD and music distribution were used in the mainstream, by end of last month (November), the record shipped for home sales this year was about 420,000 sheets which had expanded twice that of last year’s yearly sales, and this had attracted attention as a record boom reincarnation.

According to the conclusion of the Japan Phonograph Record Association, the amount of record shipped for domestic sale including import from overseas was 418,000 sheets in 11 months, in terms of money amount it was a little more than 600 million yen. Both the number of sheets and the amount of money were about twice the yearly value of last year.

Among these, the so called "youban" which was the overseas Rock or Jazz that belonged to overseas record companies, the reprinted edition of the album of the British Rock band the "Beatles" etc. were put on the market successively; the sale was going up to 242,000 sheets which amounted to about 3 times that of last year.

As for the domestic music market where CD and music distribution were the mainstream, the downward tendency from the peak of 607,400 million yen recorded in the 10^th year of Heisei was continuing and now it had become approximately one half of it. Although the market size of the record was small within the entire business, it was regarded as a safe market that was centering around the deep-rooted fans.

Mr. Koki Hanawa who knew well about the record industry was saying that "may be people who felt the charm from the sound like the record that has warmth in it is returning to the records again".　　

I think it is quite normal that for nostalgic reasons, some music fans would prefer buying records instead of CDs.