The Music Business Buddy
A podcast that aims to educate and inspire music creators in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business of music. A new episode is released each Wednesday and aims to offer clarity and insight into a range of subjects across the music industry, all through the lens of a music creator for the benefit of other music creators. The series includes soundbites and interviews with guests from all over the world together with commentary and clarity on a range of topics. The podcast is hosted by award winning music industry professional Jonny Amos.
Jonny Amos is a music producer with credits on a range of major and independent labels, a songwriter with chart success in Europe and Asia, a senior lecturer in both music creation and music business at BIMM University UK, director of The SongLab Ltd and the author of The Music Business for Music Creators.
www.jonnyamos.com
The Music Business Buddy
Episode 45: A Roadmap to Writing Songs for the East Asian Markets
Songwriters seeking to break into lucrative East Asian music markets face unique challenges and opportunities that differ dramatically from Western practices. This deep dive explores the mechanics behind getting your songs cut with artists in Japan, South Korea, and China – three powerhouse territories that consistently rank among the world's top 10 music markets.
The pathway to success requires navigating a specific chain: songwriters connect with publishers in their home country who partner with sub-publishers in Asia, who then pitch to entertainment agencies and record labels. Without these established relationships, Western songwriters face nearly insurmountable barriers to entry. China primarily operates as a "buyout market" where songwriters receive larger upfront payments but minimal backend royalties, while Japan and South Korea function more similarly to Western markets with performance and mechanical royalties flowing back to creators.
When your song is selected for an artist, prepare for translation considerations that maintain your melody while adapting lyrics to fit languages that are typically more syllabically rhythmic than English. This translation process affects song splits, with translators receiving portions of copyright – a standard practice that publishers manage. Production standards must be exceptional, as your instrumental tracks will likely be used in the final release with only vocals being replaced.
The physical music market remains extraordinarily strong in Japan and South Korea, with CDs and DVDs selling in significant numbers. Albums are frequently repackaged in special editions, meaning one placement might appear on multiple products, multiplying mechanical royalties through collection societies that often operate differently from Western PROs.
Success requires thorough research into local culture, song structures, and listener preferences. Though competition is fierce, these markets represent billions of potential listeners and substantial revenue opportunities for songwriters willing to adapt their approach and partner with the right publishers.
Ready to explore these exciting markets? Your next big hit could be waiting in the East.
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The Music Business Buddy. The Music Business Buddy. Hello everybody and a very warm welcome to you. You're listening to the Music Business Buddy with me, johnny Amos, podcasting out of Birmingham in England. I'm the author of the book the Music Business for Music Creators, available in hardback, paperback, e-book format. I'm a music creator with a variety of credits I'm a consultant, an artist manager and a senior lecturer in music business and music creation. Wherever you are, whatever you do, consider yourself welcome to this podcast and to a part of the community. I'm here to try and educate and inspire music creators from all over the world in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business of music.
Speaker 1:Okay, so this week's episode is all about songwriting for the East Asian markets. So we're going to look at the difference between the markets, understanding perhaps even a little bit between differences on local culture, translation, song splits, production, buyouts, the role of music publishers, what the path is between writers and ending up getting songs cut with artists. What does collection look like? What does the creativity look like? What does the pitch look like? There's a fair few things to it. So let's get rolling. Here we go Like what does the pitch look like. There's a fair few things to it, so let's get rolling. Here we go. Ok.
Speaker 1:So let's start by actually defining what I mean by the East Asian markets. So what I am primarily talking about are three different markets Japan, south Korea and China. All three are huge marketplaces in the music business. Huge marketplaces in the music business, in fact. If you look at the top 10 biggest music markets around the world in any of the kind of big newsletters or reports, you will always see those three countries in there Japan very often at number two or three, south Korea perhaps around six or seven, and China always inside the top 10 as well. In fact, in many ways it's quite difficult to actually fully understand quite how big the Chinese market is, because the country is so huge, there's such a huge population and some of the collection methods and accuracy on data is not quite as advanced as it is in other countries when it comes to music collections, but still a monster of a market. So there are three different markets that we are referring to there.
Speaker 1:Ok, there is a fundamental difference in writing songs for the Chinese market when compared to writing songs for the Japanese or South Korean market, and it really relates to collection or lack of protocols when it comes to collection. So copyright law is generally fairly similar throughout these marketplaces, except in China. Collection is a lot more difficult and therefore very often the Chinese market is what many writers and publishers refer to as a buyout market. So it means you don't always get a whole lot back in terms of royalties, but what you do get is a larger upfront payment for the use of that song. So that covers the song and also the recording. I'm going to come on to production buyouts, so track buyouts a little bit later on. But that is, the immediate difference between writing for the Chinese market when compared to the Japanese or South Korean market is that you're often dealing with initial buyouts of the song, where you won't see any royalty collections on the back end. There are some exceptions to that, but I've seen the market move more and more and more in that way in recent years. So there's one of the biggest fundamental differences from the off.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's look at the pathway for songwriters. So let's just go from zero here. So a songwriter or a team of songwriters are interested in writing for one of those three markets? Ok, now it can absolutely work by chance whereby you write something and then further down the line you figure out that actually what you've done is suitable for that marketplace. There are many, many people that have done that. An example of that, by the way, would be Jason Tarver, who was my guest on episode 19,. A production music composer, he had a kind of what he refers to as a kind of accidental success in South Korea with a big girl group, and it wasn't his intention to write for that group. It was his co-writer that said hey, do you know what this might work for South Korea? Let's pitch it. And they did and they got it cut. That happens. I'll level with you guys. I've had a song that you know did quite well in Japan. That was not intended for that marketplace. It just so happened to be a good fit about 10 years after the song was written. So it does happen.
Speaker 1:However, most of the songs that go from Europe or the US that get pitched to the East Asian markets actually are written with specific style or a specific artist in mind. Now, if you don't have any music publishers or any lead sheets or any briefs coming in, that's okay. A great place to start is actually to try and understand the market and look at the kind of bands, the kind of groups, the kind of duos, the kind of solo artists and the type of songs that they cut. You know there are kind of patterns to it. For example, south korea music, k-pop you know it's very, very western inspired. In the mid-2020s it didn't used to be, but it is now a lot more Western inspired. So if you look at some of the trends that are working quite well in the US right now, three, four months from now, you might see those same trends beginning to be slightly imitated in terms of production style.
Speaker 1:Now it's very important also to be able to understand exactly where your songs do fit. Don't think that a music publisher does that for you. They generally don't. They want the songwriters to be able to say to the publishers hey, got this song, this is the kind of thing that it fits, this is the style. It's I don't know a winter ballad that would work quite well for a boy band. Or it's an up-tempo R&B dance song that would work quite well for that kind of group. Once you've got your songs in that kind of market state and the production is at a high level and the vocals are all done and they're all tuned up and all that kind of stuff. It's got to be a finished, polished product. Then the publishers would be very interested in hearing from you, okay.
Speaker 1:So on to the music publishers. Now. They are absolutely crucial to this whole thing. In fact I'd be as bold to say that without them it's very difficult, if not impossible, for kind of Western writers to have access to the East Asian markets.
Speaker 1:So there are kind of two different music publishers to think about here. There's the one in the continent where you are based. Let's say, if you're in Europe, you're in the UK, you're in the US, wherever you are, there'll be a music publisher there that accepts submissions for those three marketplaces. Usually they will specialise in them. Of course there are major music publishers as well, but if you don't have a major music publisher or you don't have a pathway into communication with an amazing music publisher, then there'll be plenty of independent music publishers that are willing to accept your submission that will be very glad to hear where you think your song fits, and there are many of them, right? So that's the first layer to think about here. But also there's another layer and that is the sub publisher. So if the publisher that you're pitching to does not have a sub publisher on the ground in the East Asian markets, I'm not sure how they're going to get your song cut there Now.
Speaker 1:I might be wrong, but I've been involved with this for a few years now and the relationship between the music publishers in Europe and the sub-publishers in Asia is absolutely crucial. They have to have a very good working relationship. Without that partnership, it doesn't really work to have a flow of songs from one continent to another. Now the difference there between these different publishers is one is an access point for the writer in, let's say, for example, europe. There's plenty of independent music publishers in the UK, in Sweden, in Denmark, in Norway, all over, that will be very, very glad to receive those submissions, as I say. But they will have those partnerships set up and what will happen is that when they get songs sent to them, the briefs will then come in and they'll try and match those songs to what the publishers on the ground in Asia will be looking for. And the information that goes to the publishers, the sub publishers in Asia, will come from the entertainment agencies or the record companies that are looking for songs for those artists. Are you still with me, right? So let me simplify that path. It goes like this Songwriters to music publishers, to sub-publishers. The sub-publishers would be dealing either with the entertainment agency or the label right, and so from there, that's the gateway, the access point to the artist. So if the goal is for songwriters to work and to write for those artists, that is the pathway. So there's many people involved with that process that will oversee it, that will A&R it, that will administrate that process.
Speaker 1:Okay, now on to translation. So translation is pretty important here, because translation in the songwriting world is kind of quite different from a regular translator, the kind of translator you might see on television, for example, translating dialogue for somebody. It's a very, very different task than that, because you're translating a song. Now, generally speaking, the melodies that were written in English will be kept absolutely identical when they're actually translated. However, because of the differences in languages, it's very often the case that the meaning of the songs has to change. So it might be that you're really really kind of hell-bent on what the song is all about and actually, if you are and you're really precious about that, you might struggle perhaps a little bit with this because you kind of have to let go and let the translator songwriters that are usually brought in by the sub-publishers or the labels to be able to then say, okay, let them do what they need to do to be able to take that song and to make it work for that marketplace.
Speaker 1:Now, if we take, for example, the Japanese language, south Korean language and the Chinese language I'm not a linguistics expert by any means whatsoever, by the way, guys but what I will say is this they're generally more rhythmic in syllables than we are. So very often you'll hear some very, very, very busy melodies. Where we might kind of, in the Western world, leave some space, perhaps on the fourth bar or perhaps towards the end of a phrase, that phrase will be filled in very rhythmically with other melodies, with other parts. So actually, when it comes to translating a song, when we write something in English, it's very important that we're using a lot of phrasing, a lot of rhythm in the way that we're constructing our melodies, so that it actually fits for that marketplace in the first place, even before it's translated. Now, after it's been translated I hope I'm not going too fast here, by the way, but anyway I'll keep going there's a lot to all this, as you can imagine. So, when it comes to the translation, even though the melody won't be changed, those words will be so.
Speaker 1:At that point it's very, very, very important that we understand that actually there is going to be a song split in place, right, and that process, administratively, will be overseen by the publisher and the sub-publisher. So it's not something that you have to get involved with and agree splits on. That will be done by your music publisher and with their sub-publisher. But it's important that you understand that actually a part of that song will have to be relinquished for the purpose of translation. Now, not all songs are fully translated. It might well be that there's a certain section of a song that is kept in English, or maybe even sometimes a whole song that is kept in English, in which case there would be less need for a translator.
Speaker 1:When a song is accepted by a record company, by an artist, by an entertainment agency on the ground, locally, what will happen is the song will either go on hold or it will go what's called straight to cut. So what that means is that if it goes on hold, there is a period of time very often unspecified amount of time, which can be perhaps quite frustrating for some writers and publishers. Anyway, it usually is the chance for that group or that artist to be able to try out that recording. So it might be that they're going to record perhaps 20-25 songs for a 10 song album, in which case you know they're only going to end up keeping 10 out of those 25, but they'll want to try 25 songs. So, put simply, that's why they put songs on hold for a certain amount of time. There are other occasions where songs go straight to cut and they are, in my experience, a little bit more rare. But I do know people that have had songs that go straight to cut and that means that the label absolutely loves the song and they want to make it work for the artist.
Speaker 1:Okay, on to the song split side. So I alluded to this a little bit earlier when I talked about translation. But depending upon how many writers you have, obviously that will always dictate the shape of a song split. But let's assume that you've got, let's say, two songwriters from the point of inception, the first copyright owners of that song. Let's assume that they work with the same publisher, or maybe they even have different publishers song. Let's assume that they work with the same publisher, or maybe they even have different publishers, but let's assume they have the same publisher. That publisher would then work with a sub publisher. So already you know you're dependent upon what the splits are. You've then got two other rights holders involved with that process, and then there might be the translator as well. So you've gone from kind of having two people that have 50% of the song each, probably halved, to 25% each, and then further co-write comes on board through the sub publisher or the label. So all of a sudden the ownership split of those songs is decreased massively.
Speaker 1:Now, that's okay, that's just a part of the process, you know. If you're not okay with that, that's okay. You don just a part of the process. You know, if you're not okay with that, that's okay. You don't have to be because you don't have to go for that market. But generally speaking, a lot of people I know are okay with that split because they understand the mechanics behind it. And that, by the way, is one of the reasons why I've chosen to do this on today's episode, so that people can understand it. Because if we just look on paper at that and go, hey, why are we having to give away so much? Well, that's just the way it works, right? That's the business behind music. That's at the very core, the very spirit and the very purpose of this podcast. When we understand the mechanics behind something, it's then that we go ah, that's how it works, okay, fair enough, and then we can move forward.
Speaker 1:Ok, so that's a little bit about the song splits. What about the production? Because one of the things that is usually expected in fact, in my experience, always expected is a very high level of production in the actual pitch of the song. So what we're talking about there is a very, very, very well-represented track with perfect vocals, all kind of stacked up and harmonies and all perfectly in tune. But not only that, but also a very, very high level production.
Speaker 1:Remember how many people you're up against when it comes to pitching for these marketplaces. It's very, very competitive, probably much more competitive now than it ever has been. But that's OK. People have hits every single day. There's lots and lots of opportunity out there. I mentioned these are big marketplaces and they need songs all the time. So, yes, the production values are very important and here's why it's very unlikely that the song is going to get re-recorded. It can happen, it does happen, but in my experience it's rare. The reason it's rare is because what they're actually looking for and when I say they, I mean the labels that then report back to the sub publishers, that then report back to the publishers that then come to you and notify you, as a writer, that you might have a song on hold or a song that's being cut is they're going to want the production now for that. What they're going to do is they're going to need all of the stems out of the DAW session that you created, because they'll want those stems to be then sent to them and for the new vocals from the recording artist to be mixed in with those stems at the production buyout. So whoever produced that track will get a fee and that fee acts as a buyout for the production not the song, but the production, because the record company are going to want to own that recording.
Speaker 1:Okay, on to the collection side of things. So what we're talking about here are two types of collection on the back end of the song Remember, by this point the production has been bought out and also they don't like to give points on those productions in South Korea and Japan Massive generalization, but in my experience that's true and it's just a deal that we have to go along with. So you're not going to see much back end, if anything, on the recording. However, on the song you most definitely will. So two categories to think about here. One's the mechanical and one's the performance. And the performance would cover radio and broadcast live performance and also sync, so synchronization for television shows etc. So in a perfect world it would just be your PRO that collects on that.
Speaker 1:However, very often there is a localised collection, a very specialised approach to collection, by the sub-publisher that then collect on the ground and feed that back through the publisher, which then means the publisher comes to you with your royalties. Now it would in many ways be a lot more straightforward, a lot more simple, to just have all of your royalties through your PRO, and maybe we will get to that stage one day. However, right now actually you kind of get it split between your own PRO and also the PROs that are on the ground. So, for example, jazzrack, j-a-s-r-a-c that are kind of like the PRS or ASCAP of Japan, and they will send royalties to the sub publisher, theublisher. The sub-publisher sends that onto the publisher. The publishers then dissect that and send it on to you. So you're actually kind of getting two different sources there. Now, on top of that, you've got your mechanicals.
Speaker 1:Now here's the other thing to bear in mind with the Korean market, the South Korean market and the Japanese market is the physical side of things. So we're talking about big CD sales, big DVD sales. Yes, I said that. Yes, it's hard to believe sometimes, but actually the CD sales and DVD sales, of course they're massive in those marketplaces. And that means, of course, because there's a statutory rate of a royalty on a mechanical license. In English that means the songwriters get a piece of that pie. So when it comes to mechanicals, it's very important that they are collected by the collection societies, by the publishers, that they are accounted for, so that actually the songwriters get their piece of that sale as well.
Speaker 1:Now it can often be that actually albums, eps etc. Can be repackaged, especially albums and mini albums. So if, for example, you end up getting a song on one album, it might actually end up on multiple albums, because the albums often get reissued the picture disc version, the golden ticket version, etc. So one song can actually turn out to be four or sometimes even five products further down the line. Now, these are big marketplaces, right, and the competition of course is very high, so the standards have to be exceptionally high.
Speaker 1:It can't be any excuses as to oh, I just need to do this or that with the mix. No, it's got to be absolutely spot on, as good as you can possibly get it, not only for the song to be represented, but for the song to be suitable for the artist that you're pitching to and, of course, for the production and the mix and the delivery of the stems to be absolutely top notch pro level. So that's a lot of work, right, but once you've got that to that stage then means you can do business with that marketplace. If you've got something that they need, okay. Now, suitability is a very, very important thing, isn't it? Now, it would do you well.
Speaker 1:If you have an interest in writing songs and producing songs for these three marketplaces, it would most definitely serve you well to actually research those marketplaces, and not only the kind of for the sonics and for the songwriting styles, but also understanding things like the structure, local culture, the kind of things that are suitable in certain places that are not suitable in other places, so certain. Let's take a small example karaoke culture in Japan absolutely massive. So many of the entertainment agencies and the labels are always keen to kind of find songs that would be suitable for karaoke. Now, that might sound a little bit woolly, but actually there is kind of a pattern to it, or several patterns that can be grouped into a basic pattern analysis that can be looked at and studied and researched and explored when it comes to trying to write for those marketplaces. There's quite a lot to all of that subject. But just to generalize on that point do your research, research. It will bode very, very, very well and the publishers will thank you for it.
Speaker 1:Ok, well, there you go. There's a little kind of snapshot, 20 minute overview of writing for the East Asian markets, for China, for South Korea and for Japan. I've not reflected a great deal there on the creative aspects of it, of course. Maybe that could be explored, perhaps in a future episode or perhaps with a guest, but I just wanted to go over the basic pathway into that market and what the mechanics look like for songwriters and producers. Okay, that's enough from me today. I hope that's been useful. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, it could be you that has that next big cut in one of those markets that I mentioned. Ok, enjoy your day and may the force be with you.
