Recochoku online music discovery and distribution service
Just one offering from RecoChoku Co. Ltd., an Avex Group affiliate
Executive summary: like iTunes for J-Pop. Like Ototoy for the same or a bit more money,
but no magazine and major labels represented. Download audio files are for sale,
some of them Hi-Res Audio.
Focused on mobile devices, still desktop friendly. In the world of now, basically an online
gateway to a paid monthly streaming subscription service.
The name comes from crushing
REKŌDO kaisha chokuei, direct-management record company.
Like iTunes, Recochoku lets you search and research artists, genres and popularity charts.
It makes recommendations. And it'll sell you downloads of songs with lossy compression.
Unlike iTunes, if the publisher cooperates, 320kbps AAC files are available for the same cost
as 128kbps. And for a premium price, there's some uncompressed Hi-Res Audio.
Also like iTunes, with a premium subscription to Recochoku Best you get unlimited streaming…
OH SORRY, JAPAN ONLY. But it's still worth something that Recochoku has treaties in place with major labels.
You can find the
Yellow album by SCANDAL as well as
Tiger Roll by BIM BAM BOOM.
That Sheryl Crow import from US Warner Bros.? Yes. Not that you would, but you could.
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What about Shonen Knife? Mediocre, 16 albums, no uncompressed content.
Adventure at 320kbps will run you ¥1,851 for the whole album. Live in Osaka is only
available song-by-song, so actually costs a little more than the list price of the CD.
If they still made them, which they don't
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For example, say you have discovered your passion for
Mio Yamazaki.
Especially the deluxe limited edition of the maxi-single
noise (ESCL-4876),
with the
Hell Girl anime tie-in.
But of course I'm getting this ( ᐛ )و
Tower Records!
Tomorrow's release event will be too much fun… Word of the day:
RIRIBE = RELEAse eVEnt
You know that it's not the same as the regular release augmented, right?
Except for the hit, there's no overlap between the regular and DLXL editions.
— YES, SO WHATSo, releasing the same A-side a second time with completely different supporting material
and calling it deluxe is nothing but a way to wrap less-marketable filler around the hit song
and sell more of it by exploiting your special weaknesses…
— I JUST LOVE HELL GIRL AND OF COURSE MIO-SANOK… that's what I'm talking about, but it's for you to decide. Now what to do?
• Listen at YouTube Good luck, this is an Epic/Sony artist. Nothing Sony owns
will be viewable in the US, at least.
• Listen at Spotify You don't realize yet. Sony blocked your region on Spotify.
If you do dig up a valid URI, it won't work where you are.
• Buy at Amazon.JP OK, you're in for it. It's not for sale in your hemisphere, so you won't be
able to get the overpriced MP3 downloads. It's good you got cozy with
that in-country remailer, but this 4-song, 1,000 yen maxi is going to cost
you around 2,300 yen. As long as the US doesn't impose an import duty.
— I WILL USE A JAPANESE WEB PROXYNo you won't. Mio Yamazaki fans don't subscribe to VPNs.
• Buy at iTunes You could if you use the gift card gimmick. It's the same 1,000 yen
as the physical release, but all you get is 128kbps AAC files.
• Buy at Ototoy.jp Nope. Sony doesn't deal with Ototoy either.
• Buy at Rechoku.jp? Bingo. Once again it's 1,000 yen but for 320kbps AAC files.
Or you can have Hi-Res FLACs at 24bps/96.0kHz, for 1,600 yen.
— A +60% MARKUP WILL BE FINE. STILL CHEAPER THAN SHIPPING A CD FROM JAPAN. No package art or knick-knacks, though. Since you don't have 24/96 decoding in
hardware, as long as all goes well you'll hear CD-quality audio. As long as.
— I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT, GIVE ME MY MUSIC WITH RAKUTEN POINTSYou're a fantastic customer, consider moving to Japan and subscribing monthly.