Recording Industry Association of Japan facts for kids
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The head office is located in the Kyodo Tsushin Kaikan building
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| Formation | 1942 |
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| Type | Technical standards, licensing and royalties |
| Headquarters | Kita-Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo |
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Membership
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19 main members, 15 associated members and 24 supporting members (all as of August 2009) |
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Key people
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Hirohumi Shigemura (Chairman & CEO) Yoichiro Hata (Senior Managing Director & COO) |
| Website | Recording Industry Association of Japan |
The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) is a special group for Japanese companies in the music business. It was started in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association. In 1969, it changed its name to RIAJ.
The RIAJ does many important things. It helps sell more music and makes sure that copyright laws are followed. Copyright laws protect the rights of artists and creators. The group also studies the Japanese music industry. Each year, it publishes a book called RIAJ Year Book. This book shares facts and figures about music sales.
The main office of RIAJ is in Minato, Tokyo. Many big music companies in Japan are members of RIAJ. Some of these companies are also part of larger international music groups.
One of the RIAJ's main jobs is to give out "gold" and "platinum" awards. These awards show how popular a song or album is in Japan.
Contents
How Music Gets Certified
In 1989, the Recording Industry Association of Japan started its music award system. These awards are given based on how many CDs or cassette tapes are sent out to stores. Record labels tell the RIAJ these numbers. Generally, these awards are for music released after January 21, 1989.
Music Award Levels
Today, all music sales, including singles, albums, and digital downloads, use the same rules for awards. The highest award is called "Million."
| Awards for Music Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Platinum | 2× Platinum | 3× Platinum | Million | Multi-Million |
| 100,000 | 250,000 | 500,000 | 750,000 | 1,000,000 | 2,000,000+ |
Older Award Rules (Before July 2003)
Before July 2003, there were different rules for awards. These rules changed when music videos got their own award category.
| Type of Music | Origin | Awards for Sales | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Platinum | 2× Platinum | Million | 3× Platinum | 4× Platinum | |||
| Albums | Japanese | 200,000 | 400,000 | 800,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,600,000 | |
| International | 100,000 | 200,000 | 400,000 | 600,000 | 800,000 | |||
| Singles | Japanese | 200,000 | 400,000 | 800,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,600,000 | ||
| International | 50,000 | 100,000 | 200,000 | 300,000 | 400,000 | |||
Digital Music Awards
Awards for digital songs and albums started on September 20, 2006. This included data from early 2000s downloads. From 2006 to 2013, there were three types of digital awards: "Ringtone," "Full-length Ringtone" (for phone downloads), and "PC Download" (for songs bought on sites like iTunes).
On February 28, 2014, the "Full-length Ringtone" and "PC Download" types were combined. They became the "Single Track" category.
It is possible to get awards for digital albums, but it does not happen very often. For example, the charity album Songs for Japan (2011) and Hikaru Utada's album Fantôme received digital awards. In 2021, Ayumi Hamasaki's album A Complete: All Singles (2008) also got a digital award.
| Type of Digital Music | Awards for Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Platinum | 2× Platinum | 3× Platinum | Million | ||
| Ringtone | 500,000 | 750,000 | 1,000,000 | |||
| Single Track | 100,000 | 250,000 | ||||
| Album | ||||||
Streaming Music Awards
Since April 2020, RIAJ also gives awards for songs that are streamed. This is similar to how they give awards for physical music and digital downloads.
Streaming awards have different levels because many more people stream music.
| Awards for Streaming | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Platinum | 2× Platinum | 3× Platinum | Diamond | 2× Diamond |
| 50,000,000 | 100,000,000 | 200,000,000 | 300,000,000 | 500,000,000 | 1,000,000,000 |
RIAJ Members
Many different music companies are part of the RIAJ. They are divided into main members, associate members, and supporting members.
Main Members
- Avex Group
- Avex Entertainment
- Being Inc.
- Dreamusic Incorporated
- For Life Music
- Geneon Universal Entertainment
- King Records
- Nippon Columbia
- Nippon Crown
- Pony Canyon
- Sony Music Entertainment Japan
- Ariola Japan
- DefStar Records
- Epic Records Japan
- Ki/oon Records
- SME Records
- Sony Music Artists
- Sony Music Associated Records
- Sony Music Direct
- Sony Music Distribution
- Sony Music Japan International
- Sony Music Records
- Teichiku Entertainment
- Tokuma Japan Communications
- Universal Music Group
- VAP Inc.
- Victor Entertainment
- Warner Music Group
- Yamaha Music Communications
- Yoshimoto R&C
Associate Members
- Amuse Soft Entertainment
- Bandai Visual
- Croix
- Gambit
- HATS Unlimited
- Johnny and Associates
- J Storm
- Johnny's Entertainment
- KISS Entertainment
- Konami Digital Entertainment
- Lantis
- LD&K Records
- Naxos Records
- NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
- Pryaid Records
- Rambling Records
- Stardust Records
- Space Shower Networks
- Spiritual Beast
- Toy's Factory
- Venus Records
- Village Again Association
Supporting Members
- Aceforce Entertainment
- Aniplex
- Crown-Tokuma Music
- Free Board
- Holiday Japan
- Jei One
- Kino Music
- NPPDevelop
- T-Toc Records
- TV Asahi Music
- Ward Records
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
