Japan was famously slow to jump aboard music-streaming’s bandwagon, but research firm Luminate now thinks it is “the growth story to watch in global premium streaming music”.
The company’s data shows that Japan accounts for nearly a third of all premium (paid) streams across the Asia-Pacific region. What’s more, 66% of Gen-Z in Japan are music streamers, with 42% of them now paying – up from 36% in 2023.
Luminate noted that the APAC region still lags other parts of the world when it comes to music subscriptions. 62% of the region’s on-demand streams are from paying users, compared to 82% worldwide. “Alongside South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, Japan is pushing Premium adoption forward, laying the foundation for more sustainable streaming growth in Asia,” suggested the company.
Subscription streaming trade revenues in Japan grew by 7.2% to $781.3m in 2024 according to the IFPI. They accounted for 30.8% of the overall recorded-music market there, up from 21% in 2020.
