The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) (
![]() | |
![]() The head office is located in the Kyodo Tsushin Kaikan building | |
Formation | 1942 |
---|---|
Type | Technical standards, licensing and royalties |
Headquarters | Kita-Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo |
Location | |
Membership | 19 main members, 15 associated members and 24 supporting members (all as of August 2009) |
Key people | Hirohumi Shigemura (Chairman & CEO) Yoichiro Hata (Senior Managing Director & COO) |
Website | Recording Industry Association of Japan |
The RIAJ's activities include promotion of music sales, enforcement of copyright law, and research related to the Japanese music industry. It publishes the annual RIAJ Year Book, a statistical summary of each year's music sales, as well as distributing a variety of other data.
Headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, the RIAJ has twenty member companies and a smaller number of associate and supporting members; some member companies are the Japanese branches of multinational corporations headquartered elsewhere.
The association is responsible for certifying gold and platinum albums and singles in Japan.
RIAJ Certification
editIn 1989, the Recording Industry Association of Japan introduced the music recording certification systems. It is awarded based on shipment figures of compact disc or cassette tape which was reported by record labels. In principle, the criteria are limitedly applied to the materials released after January 21, 1989.
Certification awards
editCurrently, all music sales including singles, albums, digital download singles are on the same criteria. Unlike many countries, the highest certification is called "Million".
Thresholds per award | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gold | Platinum | 2× Platinum | 3× Platinum | Million | Multi-Million |
100,000 | 250,000 | 500,000 | 750,000 | 1,000,000 | 2,000,000+ |
Old criteria (until June 2003)
editBefore the unification of criteria and introduction of music videos category in July 2003, a separate scale had been used for certification awards.[1]
Format | Type | Thresholds per award[1] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gold | Platinum | 2× Platinum | Million | 3× Platinum | 4× Platinum | |||
Albums | Domestic | 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 | Domestic | 200,000 | 400,000 | 800,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,600,000 | ||
International | 50,000 | 100,000 | 200,000 | 300,000 | 400,000 |
Digital certifications
editCertifications for songs and albums released digitally began on September 20, 2006, using download data collected since the early 2000s.[2] From 2006 until 2013, there were three categories for certifications: Chaku-uta (
While digital album certifications are possible, only a few albums have received this certification since the RIAJ began awarding it, including the 2011 Songs for Japan charity album,[4] and Hikaru Utada's sixth studio album Fantôme. In 2021, Ayumi Hamasaki's A Complete: All Singles (2008) became the first album released in the 2000s to receive digital certification.
Format | Thresholds per award[3] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gold | Platinum | 2× Platinum | 3× Platinum | Million | ||
Chaku-uta (R) | 500,000 | 750,000 | 1,000,000 | |||
Single Track | 100,000 | 250,000 | ||||
Album |
Streaming only
editAs of April 2020,[5] RIAJ has begun to certify songs for streaming, just how it does for physical shipments and digital download sales.
Unlike physical shipments and digital download sales, the streaming certifications have their own levels, due to the higher amount of streams compared to the other formats.
Thresholds per award[6] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Gold | Platinum | 2× Platinum | 3× Platinum | Diamond |
50,000,000 | 100,000,000 | 200,000,000 | 300,000,000 | 500,000,000 |
Members
editMain members
edit- Avex Group1
- Avex Entertainment
- Avex Digital (supporting member)
- Being Inc.
- Dreamusic Incorporated
- For Life Music
- Geneon Universal Entertainment1
- King Records1
- Bellwood Records (supporting member)
- King Records International (supporting member)
- Nippon Columbia
- Columbia Marketing (supporting member)
- Nippon Crown1
- Pony Canyon1
- Exit Tunes (associate member)
- Sony Music Entertainment Japan1
- Ariola Japan (supporting member)
- DefStar Records (supporting member)
- Epic Records Japan (supporting member)
- Ki/oon Records (supporting member)
- SME Records (supporting member)
- Sony Music Artists (supporting member)
- Sony Music Associated Records (supporting member)
- Sony Music Direct (supporting member)
- Sony Music Distribution (supporting member)
- Sony Music Japan International (supporting member)
- Sony Music Records (supporting member)
- Teichiku Entertainment1
- Tokuma Japan Communications1
- Universal Music Group1
- VAP Inc.1
- Victor Entertainment1
- Warner Music Group1
- Yamaha Music Communications
- Yoshimoto R&C
Associate members
edit- Amuse Soft Entertainment
- HATS Unlimited
- Johnny and Associates
- Konami Digital Entertainment
- Bandai Visual
- Lantis (main member)
- LD&K Records
- Naxos Records
- Pryaid Records1
- Stardust Records
- Space Shower Networks
- Spiritual Beast
- Venus Records
- Village Again Association
- NBC Universal Entertainment Japan
- KISS Entertainment
- Rambling Records
- Gambit
- Croix
Supporting members
edit- Aniplex (subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan)
- Crown-Tokuma Music (joint venture of Nippon Crown and Tokuma Japan Communications)
- Free Board
- Holiday Japan
- Jei One
- NPPDevelop
- T-Toc Records
- TV Asahi Music
- Ward Records
- Toys Factory
- Aceforce Entertainment
- Kino Music
1Member, International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
See also
edit- 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
References
edit- ^ a b "The Record - August 2003 - Page 15" (PDF) (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
- ^ レコード
協会 調 べ 8月 度 有料 音楽 配信 認定 [Record Association Investigation: August Digital Music Download Certifications]. RIAJ (in Japanese). September 20, 2006. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014. - ^ a b
音楽 配信 認定 の基準 [Digital Music Certification Criteria] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014. - ^ レコード
協会 調 べ 5月 度 有料 音楽 配信 認定 [Record Association Investigation: May Digital Music Download Certifications]. RIAJ (in Japanese). June 20, 2011. Archived from the original on September 15, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2014. - ^ ストリーミング
認定 [Streaming Certification] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020. - ^ ストリーミング
認定 [Streaming Certification] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
External links
edit- Recording Industry Association of Japan - in English