Recording Industry Association of Japan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Recording Industry Association of Japan
Nihon Rekōdo Kyōkai

The head office is located in the Kyodo Tsushin Kaikan building
Formation	1942
Type	Technical standards, licensing and royalties
Headquarters	Kita-Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo
Location	Japan
Membership	19 main members, 15 associated members and 24 supporting members (all as of August 2009)
Key people	Hirohumi Shigemura (Chairman & CEO) Yoichiro Hata (Senior Managing Director & COO)
Website	Recording Industry Association of Japan

The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) (日本レコード協会, Nihon Rekōdo Kyōkai) is a group of Japanese companies that work in the music industry. It was started in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association. In 1969, it changed its name to RIAJ.

The RIAJ does many things. It helps sell more music and makes sure that copyright laws are followed. This means artists and creators get paid for their work. The group also studies the Japanese music industry. Each year, it publishes the RIAJ Year Book, which shares facts and figures about music sales.

The main office of RIAJ is in Minato, Tokyo. It has twenty main member companies. Some of these are Japanese parts of bigger international companies.

One of the RIAJ's most important jobs is to give out gold and platinum awards for albums and singles in Japan. These awards show how many copies of a song or album have been sold.

RIAJ Music Awards: How Songs Get Certified

In 1989, the Recording Industry Association of Japan started its music award system. These awards are based on how many CDs or cassette tapes were shipped to stores. Record labels report these numbers. Generally, these rules apply to music released after January 21, 1989.

Award Levels for Music Sales

Today, all music sales, including singles, albums, and digital downloads, use the same rules. In Japan, the highest award is called "Million."

Digital Music Awards

The RIAJ started giving awards for digital songs and albums on September 20, 2006. They used download information from the early 2000s.

From 2006 to 2013, there were three types of digital awards:

• Chaku-uta (着うた（R）, "Ringtone") (for short ringtone downloads)
• Chaku-uta Full (着うたフル（R）, "Full-length Ringtone") (for full songs downloaded to cellphones)
• PC Haishin (PC配信, "PC Download") (for songs bought on services like iTunes)

On February 28, 2014, the "Chaku-uta Full" and "PC Download" types were combined. They became the Single Track (シングルトラック) category.

Not many digital albums have received awards. Some that have include the 2011 Songs for Japan charity album and Hikaru Utada's album Fantôme. In 2021, Ayumi Hamasaki's A Complete: All Singles (from 2008) was the first album from the 2000s to get a digital award.

Streaming Music Awards

Since April 2020, RIAJ has also started giving awards for streamed songs. This is similar to how they award physical and digital sales.

Streaming awards have different levels because songs are streamed many more times than they are sold.

RIAJ Members

The RIAJ has different types of members: main members, associate members, and supporting members. These are all companies involved in the music business in Japan.

Main Members

• Avex Group¹
  • Avex Entertainment
  • Avex Digital (supporting member)
• Being Inc.
• Dreamusic Incorporated
• For Life Music
• Geneon Universal Entertainment¹
• King Records¹
  • Bellwood Records (supporting member)
  • King Records International (supporting member)
• Nippon Columbia
  • Columbia Marketing (supporting member)
• Nippon Crown¹
• Pony Canyon¹
  • Exit Tunes (associate member)
• Sony Music Entertainment Japan¹
  • Ariola Japan (supporting member)
  • DefStar Records (supporting member)
  • Epic Records Japan (supporting member)
  • Ki/oon Records (supporting member)
  • SME Records (supporting member)
  • Sony Music Artists (supporting member)
  • Sony Music Associated Records (supporting member)
  • Sony Music Direct (supporting member)
  • Sony Music Distribution (supporting member)
  • Sony Music Japan International (supporting member)
  • Sony Music Records (supporting member)
• Teichiku Entertainment¹
• Tokuma Japan Communications¹
• Universal Music Group¹
  • EMI Music Japan¹
• VAP Inc.¹
• Victor Entertainment¹
• Warner Music Group¹
• Yamaha Music Communications
• Yoshimoto R&C

Associate Members

• Amuse Soft Entertainment
• HATS Unlimited
• Johnny and Associates
  • J Storm
  • Johnny's Entertainment
• Konami Digital Entertainment
• Bandai Visual
  • Lantis (main member)
• LD&K Records
• Naxos Records
• Pryaid Records¹
• Stardust Records
• Space Shower Networks
• Spiritual Beast
• Venus Records
• Village Again Association
• NBC Universal Entertainment Japan
• KISS Entertainment
• Rambling Records
• Gambit
• Croix

Supporting Members

• Aniplex (subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan)
• Crown-Tokuma Music (joint venture of Nippon Crown and Tokuma Japan Communications)
• Free Board
• Holiday Japan
• Jei One
• NPPDevelop
• T-Toc Records
• TV Asahi Music
• Ward Records
• Toys Factory
• Aceforce Entertainment
• Kino Music

¹Member, International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

See also

In Spanish: Recording Industry Association of Japan para niños

• List of best-selling albums in Japan
• List of best-selling singles in Japan
• List of best-selling music artists in Japan
• Recording Industry Association of America
• Australian Recording Industry Association
• List of music recording sales certifications
• RIAJ Digital Track Chart
• Global music industry market share data