Hi everyone!
I really want to find some great Japanese music. I've found some, but mostly it's just all J-pop or J-rock. I'm more into Funk / Soul / Jazz stuff, and I'm wondering if there's any sites that will allow me to listen to streaming Japanese music, before I buy a CD of an artist?
I have to order online, and I really want to know if it's good before I buy it! Most of the popular music in Japan turns me off to say the least, but I know there's gotta be a whole lot of great music in the J-land, I'm just having a hard time finding it!
I want to buy it, I'm not looking for torrents etc, I'm looking for something ala Spotify/Myspace/Youtube where I can find Japanese music based on genres, popularity etc.
Is there such a place? Or is it just wishful thinking? =)

Thank you guys so much!
Z

I would just YouTube or download whatever you're planning on buying. If you need help finding music itself, you can use the Japanese music store on iTunes and search in the genres you're interested. If 30 second clips aren't enough, once you have a few album names try to find them for download.

I don't like the modern pop music. I prefer Enka and Kayoukyoku!

Try Imeem? That's where all my music comes from...

http://www.imeem.com

I heard that last.fm is a good place to find new music you might like. To be honest I haven't used it until just now. It has a search (I tried "japanese rock" at that got me in the right direction), then there's "similar artists" and then playlists called "stations" and then there's a drop down to download (buy) the song on itunes and other stores (like amazon mp3). (edit: It seems that a lot of stuff isn't available from the itunes US store... and when I log in to my account it switched me to the US store. I guess they'd rather I download it.) The songs are also tagged so there's like a j-rock tag for instance. The sound quality is MUCH better than youtube.

Hmm...I don't know any websites that allow you to listen to full songs, but Last.fm and the itunes (Japanese) store let you listen to at least 30 seconds (I think) of the songs they have available. That's were I go to try and get a feel if I like a new Japanese artist or song before I download it. Hope those two places can help!

I just listen to random online radio stations and listen for stuff i like then if i like it go buy it

In this day and age I seriously can't justify spending money on a 3 minute audio file anymore...

It's extremely rare i buy anything now either, I listen to free radio stuff, and have old lessons on my ipod and a bunch of stuff that i tend to not listen to anymore ^^

If satellite radio did japanese music i'd pay for it

http://www.japanfiles.com lets you listen to samples...

miki76 Wrote:Hmm...I don't know any websites that allow you to listen to full songs, but Last.fm and the itunes (Japanese) store let you listen to at least 30 seconds (I think) of the songs they have available. That's were I go to try and get a feel if I like a new Japanese artist or song before I download it. Hope those two places can help!

Last.fm lets you listen to the whole song sometimes. Sometimes you can even get a free download.

Unfortunately Last.fm wants to charge me money for their services now :/

In terms of finding new Japanese bands, MySpace is great for that. Find one Japanese band you like, then follow their top friends, who are often other bands that *they* like. Rinse, repeat until you have a nice handful of bands you like. Then either buy their songs off MySpace, or use other links in this thread to find the cds. Lastly, in a pinch you could order off the band's actual website linked off their MySpace page (expensive)

bombpersons Wrote:In this day and age I seriously can't justify spending money on a 3 minute audio file anymore...

Hopefully one day musicians won't say they just can't justify spending the time to create a 3 minute song anymore, since no one buys them.

[ファブリス]

Can't you listen to previews of almost anything available on Amazon mp3? Maybe Amazon Japan has/will have mp3 soon.

I am a lastfm user. "bjgnome" is my user name, if you want to hear what I am listening to. I listen on my iphone only. They play the whole song through. Haven't heard anything about paying for services, unless you want to download something for $0.99 (links to itunes). So far I've bought one tune by モンゴル８００、but most of the jmusic I've come across is just annoying.

I use it for 日本語の歌 only. So, when I ask for recommendations is gives me a mix almost exclusively of jpop, jrock, or jska. A lot of it is crap and I end up skipping tunes, but sometimes I find stuff that is OK. Japan has some great jazz artists, but usually not a whole lot of lyrics, which defeats the purpose.

I'd love to hear names of favorite artists so I can search.

One thing I heard of interest is about recently deceased Kiyoshiro Imawano. His japanese was analyzed by linguists and found to be perfectly pronounced and proper. I got an album from a friend, and every word is audible and clearly pronounced. It also actually sounds like Japanese.

plumage Wrote:

bombpersons Wrote:In this day and age I seriously can't justify spending money on a 3 minute audio file anymore...

Hopefully one day musicians won't say they just can't justify spending the time to create a 3 minute song anymore, since no one buys them.

Hopefully they will - I want someone who has interest rather than someone who's in it for the money. I'll gladly go to their concerts and buy fan merchandise though

You'll probably end up with fake merchandise and a ripped DVD of their concert!
Us musicians will now have to work even more than the 8-10 gigs a week we have to play, to pay the rent! Woho!

Anyway - back to topic! Thank you guys so much for your help!
I'm really digging myspace for their searching... Too bad I can't find any good music (yet) in the genres I like. I'll keep searching! =)

Zorlee Wrote:You'll probably end up with fake merchandise and a ripped DVD of their concert!
Us musicians will now have to work even more than the 8-10 gigs a week we have to play, to pay the rent! Woho!

I only buy real one anyway, why would I buy anything else really? It's to show support for the band/group. And I was thinking maybe going to their concerts instead of buying the DVD. + If you have to do more than 8-10 gigs a week then maybe your agency isn't really paying you enough or you bought a house a bit too pig for your payroll.

But eh, I don't want to derail the thread and would happily buy music if I didn't have to pay $25-$50 for each album over here, or if bands bothered performing here which only happens once in a blue moon.

http://www.listen.jp is quite great. A huge selection, 30 second clips of most songs and lyrics for most artists.

Great stuff, Tobberoth!!