Japan has the most expensive CDs on Earth – they have a huge local music industry, and local CDs cost almost twice as much as imports. I still have no idea why this is.
in the 2 years that i was into J-pop while in secondary school, the Japanese vinyl 7" single and 12" album already costed almost 2-3 times as much as an english import. so i guess it's just the way they price music products.
i do know that in Japan there's no discount on new releases (it's banned by the law) and usually CD-singles are on limited release (drives fans to buy it while they can and charge higher price)... like you said, they have a big enough local market to get away with it, even during the depression.
the only way to get cheaper local CDs in Japan is go to their secondhand stores...
no subject
in the 2 years that i was into J-pop while in secondary school, the Japanese vinyl 7" single and 12" album already costed almost 2-3 times as much as an english import. so i guess it's just the way they price music products.
i do know that in Japan there's no discount on new releases (it's banned by the law) and usually CD-singles are on limited release (drives fans to buy it while they can and charge higher price)... like you said, they have a big enough local market to get away with it, even during the depression.
the only way to get cheaper local CDs in Japan is go to their secondhand stores...