Merlin, the indie label group and digital rights agency, is marking the second anniversary of launching its office in Japan with some new data. The company announced that distributions to Japanese members have grown by 200% from the first half of 2017 and the first half of 2018. Some of that growth is due to an expanding membership in Japan since the office opened. Merlin also noted that average payments to members increased by more than 70% between the six-month periods.
“Opening our Tokyo office in 2016 was a landmark in the global growth of Merlin,” CEO Charles Caldas said. “As well as being the world’s second largest music market, Japan has a thriving music culture with huge export potential. Our data underlines that Merlin is helping our Japanese members extract maximum value from the global demand for their repertoire.”
“I am hugely proud of what we’ve achieved over the past two years,” said Haji Taniguchi, general manager for Merlin Japan. “Merlin now has an established base in Japan, and it is gratifying that local independent labels are already realizing the value of Merlin membership and growing their overseas business. Most excitingly, these are still early days for streaming in our country. Indicated by the trends in Merlin’s 2018 Impact Report, the full benefits of a global digital music market are arguably still yet to come.”