Jan 25, 2016
Streaming giant Spotify is finally getting ready to set up shop in Japan - but it's looking to be quite the challenge.
Although it looks as though the service have been planning its Japanese launch for years, Billboard now reports that the company are advertising for twelve jobs in a Tokyo office, including business development, finance, operations, marketing, PR, product development and sales, indicating that an official launch is in the very near future.
Interestingly, Japan is still one of the biggest buyers of physical music in the world. Although one of the biggest markets for music sales in general, Japan still prefers to purchase in a physical format. It'll be interesting to see whether the population are quick to join some 70 million Spotify users around the world, or if they'll resist the technology, choosing to stick with vinyl and CD instead.
But the challenge doesn't stop there. Japan has been incredibly resistant to previous attempts at launching similar services, facing endless licensing struggles and beyond. Google, Sony, Apple and other tech giants have attempted to launch their own services (including Apple Music and Music Unlimited,) to little or no success whatsoever.