It seems that Japanese really have a knack for Korean pop music. According to the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA), it has completed the tally of the data given by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers and found that last year’s total royalties received from Japan amounted to some 11.03 billion won, or approximately ¥954 million/$10.1 million.
The amount came from K-pop songs being played and sung in concerts, television and radio shows, even in karaoke bars. It amounts to about 10% of royalties earned within Korea covering the same period. Since 2009, the royalties for K-pop from Japan sharply increased from $2.2 million. TV and radio broadcasting made 75% of the money, and a greater part of that was from original soundtracks of TV series. There were twenty-eight Korean shows that aired in regular channels in Japan last year, while 42 were on cable.
K-pop stars such as Jang Keun-suk, Kara, TVXQ and Girls’ Generation made over 90 appearances on Japanese TV shows to sing their songs. Korean music shows have also become a standard feature. About 11% of the royalties came from karaoke bars, and 7% from mobile phone services. KOMCA said royalties earned in Japan are incomparably bigger than those earned in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and in the U.S. It warns, though, that if the territorial conflict between Japan and South Korea does not improve, this figure might be the highest it’s going to get for quite a long while.
[via Chosunilbo]