CD Question

I posed the question of why does (or did) Japan almost always get the bonus track to the lady who owns my local Record shop. She told me it had something to do with Japan "renting" discs the way we did with movies back in the day and it was a way to entice people to rent rather than own. I like and respect her (she's owned and run this place for 30 years and is a lifelong music fan of all styles) so I took it at face value. I am certainly not the "be all end all" of music wisdom and knowledge, but this just seemed odd to me. Is this true? Any other theories? What say you, my Metal brothers?

I've read that the reason they get bonus songs are that it's cheaper to import a CD to Japan from the U.S., so they have some sort of deal for a bonus track or two, in order to entice the Japanese consumers to buy local instead of buying from some import source. Something like that anyways.

I'm sorry but that person probably just made that up. Nobody rents CDs.

They are just more expensive in Japan (like most other Western things), and the local market there insists fans don't order imports. And US/European labels obey, because that Japan market is fucking huge and they have a say. If you don't do a bonus track and people order imports, then maybe your next album won't be released in Japan.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

I've read that the reason they get bonus songs are that it's cheaper to import a CD to Japan from the U.S., so they have some sort of deal for a bonus track or two, in order to entice the Japanese consumers to buy local instead of buying from some import source. Something like that anyways.

That makes more sense, thanks, Wrecked.

Lari wrote:

I'm sorry but that person probably just made that up. Nobody rents CDs.

They are just more expensive in Japan (like most other Western things), and the local market there insists fans don't order imports. And US/European labels obey, because that Japan market is fucking huge and they have a say. If you don't do a bonus track and people order imports, then maybe your next album won't be released in Japan.

Yeah, I had the feeling she was kind of talking out her ass a bit as the concept of "renting" a disc seemed so out there. I always sort of figured b/c the Japanese market is so huge (and still rabid about Metal) it was sort of a "bonus" for them as fans and because it would still sell over there.

Thanks for the info guys.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

I've read that the reason they get bonus songs are that it's cheaper to import a CD to Japan from the U.S., so they have some sort of deal for a bonus track or two, in order to entice the Japanese consumers to buy local instead of buying from some import source. Something like that anyways.

This is a solid argument. I love japanese pressings. Always make sure to go for the japanese version when it is available and i can afford it .

Sentinel, they do rent CDs in Japan and US/Euro imports are cheaper and that's why Japan gets the bonus tracks - to stop people from buying the imports.  

The Japanese also had kiosks where you can download CDs onto minidiscs - i'm not sure if they have such kiosks for MP3s, but I would imagine they do. There are various reasons for CD rental in Japan - legal issues surrounding downloading, immature online payment systems, very low piracy rate, etc...