I read with some amusement/surprise AnimeNewsNetwork’s and some other blogs recent reporting of the fact that you can buy iTunes Music cards for Japan on j-list. Surely it’s really old news by now? I think you’ve been able to do that since 2005 or something. I’d been sorely tempted to use the service myself but:
a) I don’t like the markup prices on j-list
b) I hate DRM
c) I love CDs
I like physically owning a CD; having a nice shiny jewel case and booklet; and to see it sitting on (or rather, cluttering up) the shelf. I only got myself an 80gb iPod a few months ago, and to date I’ve only bought one song on iTunes UK (Stars’s It’s Alchemy if you really wanted to know) at a diabolical price of 79p. That roughly converts to about RM5.40 (Malaysian currency), with which I can buy myself a decent lunch + drinks. Japanese iTunes tracks cost around ￥150-200 each, depending on the record company and artist. Oh, and the poor Sony artists (Porno Graffitti, L’arc etc) are stuffed as their stupid record label refuses to play the iTunes game and they miss out on the digital download $$. Though I’ve read that some Sony BMG artists are starting to get added so we’ll see.
Anyhow, after much contemplation I decided to take the plunge anyway and bought a ￥1500 gift card from j-box (for $18). It took about a week or so for them to scan the card and send me the code but that was during the Xmas/New Year rush so I have no idea how long it normally takes. There was a long list of stuff I was interested in buying but I could only afford one album anyway, so I plumped for The Miceteeth’s Constant Music 2 which I’d put off buying for some time cos the retail price pissed me off(￥2990). $18 (roughly ￥2130) didn’t seem such a bad deal after all.
The process was quick and painless; registered the account complete with dummy address and phoney details, bought & downloaded the whole album + burned it so I could play it on Foobar/rip it to mp3, all within 10 minutes. Sound quality doesn’t bother me much (FLAC?mp4?ogg? whatever). I’ll probably use them cards again, I’ve got my eye on some stuff that’s eluded my grasp like Jun Elding’s Home, Sports‘ Puzzle, Euphoria’s Oneday and most of Bebechio’s back catalogue.
I’d recommend using iTunes Music Cards if you’re after some of the smaller/indie artists and don’t fancy ordering from Neowing/Amazon JP/Tower and paying abominable shipping prices. I’ve spotted ANATAKIKOU, bonobos and Gentouki stuff for pretty reasonable prices (￥1500-￥1800 for albums).
Oh, and Constant Music 2 is a solid album, there’s a couple of really good tracks like Kumo o yobu yo and Stinky Is My Little. It was never going to be as good as from RAINBOW TOWN but I’m satisfied with it. $18 well spent methinks.
The Miceteeth’s Sugar Pool de tsukamaete PV:
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