The is an industry trade group composed of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese corporations involved in the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include promotion of music sales, enforcement of

copyright law A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, e ...

, 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 Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, the RIAJ has twenty member companies and a smaller number of associate and supporting members; some member companies are the Japanese branches of

multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...

s headquartered elsewhere. The association is responsible for certifying gold and platinum albums and singles in Japan.

RIAJ Certification

In 1989, the Recording Industry Association of Japan introduced the

music recording certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

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

Currently, all music sales including singles, albums, digital download singles are on the same criteria. Unlike many countries, the highest certification is called "Million".

Old criteria (until June 2003)

Before the unification of criteria and introduction of music videos category in July 2003, a separate scale had been used for certification awards.

Digital certifications

Certifications for songs and albums released digitally began on September 20, 2006, using download data collected since the early 2000s. From 2006 until 2013, there were three categories for certifications: , (i.e. a download to a cellphone) and for songs purchased on services such as

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. On February 28, 2014, the Chaku-uta Full and PC categories were merged to create the category. 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, 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.

Streaming only

As of April 2020, 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.

Members

Main members

* Avex Group¹ ** Avex Entertainment ** Avex Digital (supporting member) * Being Inc. * Dreamusic Incorporated * For Life Music *

Geneon Universal Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

¹ * King Records¹ ** Bellwood Records (supporting member) ** King Records International (supporting member) * Nippon Columbia ** Columbia Marketing (supporting member) * Nippon Crown¹ *

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

¹ ** 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 Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

¹ ** EMI Music Japan¹ * VAP Inc.¹ * Victor Entertainment¹ *

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

¹ * Yamaha Music Communications * Yoshimoto R&C

Associate members

* Amuse Soft Entertainment *

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...

* Croix * Gambit * HATS Unlimited * Johnny and Associates ** J Storm ** Johnny's Entertainment * KISS Entertainment * Konami Digital Entertainment ** Lantis (main member) * LD&K Records * Naxos Records * NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan * Pryaid Records¹ * Rambling Records * Stardust Records * Space Shower Networks * Spiritual Beast *

Toy's Factory is a Japanese record label founded in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of the entertainment company VAP, based in Japan. On May 30, 1990, it was established as an independent company. It is an associate member of the Recording Industry Assoc ...

* Venus Records * Village Again Association

Supporting members

* Aceforce Entertainment * 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 * Kino Music * NPPDevelop * T-Toc Records * TV Asahi Music * Ward Records ¹Member, International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

References

External links

Recording Industry Association of Japan
- in English {{Authority control Organizations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Japan Music organizations based in Japan