Bandai Visual announced at Anime Expo 2009 that they’ve teamed with subsidiary company Lantis, a music production company concentrating on anime and game songs, on a new project to deliver downloadable J-pop and anime songs on the iTunes Store.
This service is scheduled to start this summer, and the first major songs to be available include Meikyu no Prisoner, VOYAGER, and No Border by JAM Project. Meikyu no Prisoner is an opening song for the anime “Super Robot Wars: Original Generation—The Animation” that was released in North America in 2007. “JAM” in JAM Project is an abbreviation for “JAPAN ANIMATIONSONG MAKERS” and as their group name indicates, they dedicate themselves to mainly anime songs. Since the group was formed in 2000, they have performed not only in Japan but also all over the world including U.S., Brazil, and China.
Bandai Visual has recently launched a MySpace page www.myspace.com/J_anisong to introduce available songs on iTunes Stores. The site will be updated frequently, and a variety of songs are to be added on iTunes every a few weeks.
Besides JAM Project, Lantis’ list includes many other recognized artists such as Aya Hirano, ALI PROJECT, Minori Chihara, Minami Kuribayashi, CooRie, and yozuca*. Over a decade, they’ve released approximately 900 album and 700 single CDs. These include songs for “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”, “Lucky Star”, “Galaxy Angel” series, “Shuffe!” and “Phantom – Requiem for the Phantom.”
After the announcement, Mania had the opportunity to speak with Ai Takai of Bandai Visual’s Internet Sales Department about this new service.
Q: What will the price of the songs be?
A: Pricing is still under discussion, but the price for singles will probably be between $.99 and $1.29.
Q:What do you estimate the time lag will be between an anime’s release and the availability of the anime’s songs on the iTunes store?
A: There are a number of factors that will affect when songs will be available, but Bandai Visual's goal is to have the music released the same day the anime is released. In addition, Bandai Visual is striving to have simultaneous release in Japan and North America with hopes to expand this to Australia and Europe.
Q: Bandai Visual is partnering with their subsidiary company for this project, but are there plans to work with other music production companies?
A: There are no solid plans in place yet, but their intention is to collaborate in the future with other companies.
Q: How will Bandai decide which songs will be made available at the iTunes Store?
A: Clearance issues will be the primary factor affecting whether or not songs will be available for North American sales as different artists and agencies have different overseas strategies.
However, Bandai would like to hear directly from fans and encourage them to contact via e-mail and the MySpace page so that they can take fans’ requests into consideration when they make their decisions.
Q: Will the selection include songs from older anime?
A: Yes. The selection will include old and new songs that they have the distribution rights for.
Q: Will the music be offered with and without DRM?
A: It will be offered without DRM.
Q: What are their expectations in regards to releases in terms of sales?
A: Difficult to say. However, the main purpose of this project is to allow fans to enjoy anime songs/J-pop and, in doing so, to expand the Internet distribution business as well as to promote Bandai’s DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
Q: Will they consider offering physical media versions if the online sales go well?
A: They haven't discussed it yet, but it is a possibility.
Q: Are there plans for US promotions for JAM and other featured artists?
A: There are no solid plans in place yet, but such promotions are definitely being considered.
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