Spotify launches in Japan

GIF by Tech in Asia.

Three-and-a-half years after first streaming into Asia, Spotify today launched in Japan. The popular music app has just popped up in the Japanese version of Apple’s App Store, and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is in Tokyo ahead of the launch event this afternoon, sources tell Tech in Asia.

Its most formidable opponent in Japan will be Line Music.

Japan will be a tough market for Spotify. Although it’s the second largest market in the world in terms of music sold, most sales are CDs. And while CDs are on the wane, music streaming apps have been slow to gain traction.

Perhaps Spotify’s most formidable opponent in Japan will be Line Music, the spin-off service from messaging app Line that first launched mid-2015. Line has 218.4 million monthly active users, of whom many are in Japan. The Tokyo-based company is hoping to convert its social networkers into paying subscribers of Line Music. Plus, Apple Music is already in Japan.

Spotify pictured this morning in the Japanese version of Apple’s App Store. It comes ahead of a launch event in Tokyo this afternoon. Screengrab by Tech in Asia.

Japanese ecommerce juggernaut Rakuten also beat Spotify to the punch this summer with the roll-out of its own music streaming service.

Attempts to log in to Spotify in Tokyo this morning by my teammate Peter Rothenberg were met with error messages, but he was able to download the app from the Japanese iOS App Store. Spotify is expected to flip the switch this afternoon.

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from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/spotify-japan-launch-for-realz
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