iPod music to come at a 'tax' in Japan

iPod music to come at a 'tax' in Japan

The music industry in Japan is now singing to a different tune altogether as regards to iPod users and the like. It has solicited the Japanese government to impose a charge as royalty to digital music players, such as the immensely popular Apple iPod.

The fee proposed to be levied as tax on iPods, would probably range between 2 to 5% of the retail price of the product and the revenues produced by the surcharge would be given out to music recorders, songwriters and artists to offset losses incurred by such companies from private copying and recording of songs.

The Japanese music industry has been striving to come at par with other music attractions offered by the Internet and digital recorders.

The proposal of charging extra for iPods has triggered resentment amongst the public, as the music industry in Japan is proving yet again how much power particular industry groups possess over the government and economy.

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Being a politically influential group, Japan's music industry thought that its demand for the fee would be granted on asking for it for the first time itself over last fall. However, the government has not yet considered the recording industry's proposal, and the media is calling it the “iPod tax” with ridicule.

Japan's Consumers Union Head, Hiroko Mizuhara stated angrily, “This is typical of how industry groups try to manipulate government at the expense of consumers. A lot of things in Japan have changed, but this hasn't.”

In fact, the industry seems to have showed its apathy towards Apple iTunes already, by slowing down the service's entry into the country by negotiating its licensing deals sluggishly and with reluctance. But, a Japanese version of iTunes finally got through all opposition and was launched by Apple successfully in August.

Nevertheless, Apple asserts that iTunes won phenomenal welcome and acclaim from music lovers in Japan, what with as many as a million songs bought in the initial four days only.

The Japanese music industry, meanwhile, justifies the 'iPod tax' saying that a majority of the population using CDs or MDs have very quickly switched over to using iPods, thereby necessitating the use of a fee that can make up for the lost revenue.
The head of the recording rights department at the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, Koichi Numamura said that “everyone who used to be using CDs and MDs is using iPods. We can't just sit by silently while we lose money.”

The charge imposed would be levied on all portable digital players whose internal hard-disk drives and “flash memory computer chips” were used to store data, like iPods and Sony Walkman players.
Anyway, Japan already levies a 2% charge on appliances like compact disk recorders and mini-disc recorders, which employ former digital technologies.