The Klassic Note Apple Music Japan Review (2017)
Sunday, 26 March 2017
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Hi and welcome. If you find the title of this post familiar, do not be surprised. Sometime last year in December, I started on the journey of finding a way to sustainably get previews on Japanese music for the sake of Klassic Note and not rely too much on the Internet and also to speed up orders on my side too. It has been four months - three months free trial and one month add on with my own money - since I've been in it, and if you need a statement to how it has been before you leave this long post: I have been a lot better off with it up till now. Even now as I'm listening to other releases from 96neko I can guarantee you it's worth the 980yen a month, especially if you listen as much as I do.
(Sorry for the lack of pop-up images; I'll do it up when I have the mood to haha)
THE STATISTICS
Firstly, let's talk about stats. I may not be able to represent everything here due to many reasons which I have mentioned before in the previous time I did this, but suffice it to say it was been well-received. I have been able to listen to a lot of artists over the past few months way ahead of when I can hear it without this service. The following is the amount of releases that I have been able to listen (regardless of time, in preview order) over the past few months in Apple Music:
(Sorry for the lack of pop-up images; I'll do it up when I have the mood to haha)
THE STATISTICS
Firstly, let's talk about stats. I may not be able to represent everything here due to many reasons which I have mentioned before in the previous time I did this, but suffice it to say it was been well-received. I have been able to listen to a lot of artists over the past few months way ahead of when I can hear it without this service. The following is the amount of releases that I have been able to listen (regardless of time, in preview order) over the past few months in Apple Music:
Unreviewed: 2016
(ie. if not for Apple Music I'll never be able to review them)
Cocoro Auction - CANVAS
chocol8 syndrome - 8
All of Tsuzuri Zukuri
2016
cinema staff - Vecktor E.P.
Chatmonchy - majority blues/Kienai Hoshi
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE - ALT MED
HOME MADE Kazoku - LAST FOREVER BEST (convenience of compilation online)
Aqua Timez - Asunarou
Miyawaki Shion - SHARE THE HAPPY
2017
LILI LIMIT - a.k.a
Goose house - Bokura Dake no Toushindai
LILI LIMIT - LIVING ROOM EP
Cocoro Auction - CINEMA EP
ClariS - Fairy Castle
negoto - ETERNALBEAT
Coalamode. - COALAMODE.
7!! - Setsuna Emotion
Tokyo Karan Koron - Tokyo Dive
SCANDAL - SCANDAL
Goose house - HEPTAGON
amazarashi - Inochi ni Fusawashii
Sayuri - Heikousen
KANA-BOON - Fighter
Sangatsu no Phantasia - Fairy Tale
96neko - Uso no Hanabi
This is of course, void of any artists or releases which I have rejected and it's not on the list, but then again in summary of the above (I don't know if it is or not lol) the following artists I know you'll be able to listen on release date in Apple Music Japan if you subscribed to it (because I didn't give all of them):
[I only talk about active artists, so HOME MADE Kazoku and others will be excluded]
If you're a fan of any of these and can't wait for their upcoming new songs, Apple Music will not disappoint because it's LITERALLY the first line of streaming media you'll get to listen from in Japan. LINE MUSIC doesn't even come close.
Also, if you understand company lingo, then I can say Sony Music Japan is pretty restrictive to its artists on streaming music, so labels like Aniplex are out. Lantis is another which its artists are not on the list, along with King Records' Anime subsidiaries for most of them. Otherwise, you shouldn't have a problem. Problem is that's most of the artists I know of, so that's a problem. But as I said, they're opening up, and I can wait.
More stats include 581 releases found (includes not 2017 and 2016) which averages to (I can confidently say if I take one song from each release) about a third of all the songs I've heard since Klassic Note started. That's pretty respectable considering Apple Music can't get everyone on the ship just yet. No, I know of iTunes. Apple Music is different.
THE EXPERIENCE
As you can see from the above, February was the first and probably only peak season I've experienced this far, so I shall elaborate more about it. Because the feeling of being able to listen to new songs on the train early in the morning when you go to work (provided you got enough data for it) is just great, and that I can never pass it off compared to me having to go home or use my laptop to be able to surf the Net, hoping it'll be out by the time half a day has passed in school and me downloading that to listen after the hype is gone. Or worse, back then I have to deal with a school day before I can go home and listen to new songs on the charts. But then again that was back then so yeah, ignore that. When it comes to delivering when it can, it will. That's my point.
Of course, not all services today which stream music can walk away without any flaws. Things that may matter include delaying of payment processing (I got stuck on that for a day or two and March 1st was a Wednesday) due to transition from free to paid subscription, the poor performance of the Android app which still looks like crap till this date (the only thing that works is the playback; otherwise most of the time even in good network connections you'll be staring at the white screen lol) (my draft wrote: Did it just stop with one WhatsApp notification tone? No, it literally paused the song, and didn't want to resume lol), the desktop which made me reinstall twice and is still unresponsive sometimes (or maybe I just have a fast hand on the mouse) and many others which I can get over them so I won't mention here because I believe you can too.
FINAL WORDS
All in all, as long as I can listen to new songs that promptly, I'm not complaining. And for now, there is enough database of artists which I can confidently say there will be an advantage for me to pay for this every month, so I shall continue doing it. Hopefully in the future there will be more songs that appear in the platform (someone's secretly adding Mocho's new single and TrySail's 3rd single in) slowly but surely, but otherwise it's not my permanent music library anyways (I know those who rely on Spotify are slaves to their music services already lol) but it's good enough a reference and an advantage for me to tune back in every once in a while for new songs. Also, good resource for finding those earlier releases. For example, I just listened to 96neko and when she started as an artist (I didn't say it was good lol) so easily without having to go on a research journey like back then. It certainly is a lot easier now compared to last time.
And this is it then. Just a quick review of Apple Music after enjoying it for four months. There'll be many more months of this for sure, especially considering that Klassic Note 10YEARS is just around the corner (you bet I'm preparing for it xD) (#KN10YEARS lol) and I'll have this to brag out on achievements haha. Nonetheless, we see the music industry opening up. Even the newest single by 96neko (Sony Music artist) is also now available internationally (I'm not joking) and soon this region restriction may be long behind us. I wish for that to happen for the many years to come, and hopefully by then I won't have to buy gift cards just to supplement this interest of mine.
-Kaineng, on the Klassic Note
[P.S. As of 8th April, 956 songs have been added thanks to Ikimonogakari's entry into Apple Music, and now I can confidently say this service has covered HALF of the songs of Klassic Note. So promising, I can see the future of everyone getting in.]
[I only talk about active artists, so HOME MADE Kazoku and others will be excluded]
Cocoro Auction (major label)
Aqua Timez
Tsuzuri Zukuri
cinema staff
Chatmonchy
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
LILI LIMIT
Goose house
ClariS
negoto
Coalamode.
7!!
SCANDAL
amazarashi
Sayuri
KANA-BOON
Sangatsu no Phantasia
96neko
Tokyo Karan Koron (even with label change)
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
Tomatsu Haruka
Toyosaki Aki
Kotobuki Minako
Kalafina
SPECIAL OTHERS
VELTPUNCH (earlier releases may be missing)
ORESKABAND
NICO Touches The Walls (as long as you don't go too far back)
SPYAIR
moumoon
Sambomaster
Earphones
Miyawaki Shion
Amamiya Sora
If you're a fan of any of these and can't wait for their upcoming new songs, Apple Music will not disappoint because it's LITERALLY the first line of streaming media you'll get to listen from in Japan. LINE MUSIC doesn't even come close.
Also, if you understand company lingo, then I can say Sony Music Japan is pretty restrictive to its artists on streaming music, so labels like Aniplex are out. Lantis is another which its artists are not on the list, along with King Records' Anime subsidiaries for most of them. Otherwise, you shouldn't have a problem. Problem is that's most of the artists I know of, so that's a problem. But as I said, they're opening up, and I can wait.
More stats include 581 releases found (includes not 2017 and 2016) which averages to (I can confidently say if I take one song from each release) about a third of all the songs I've heard since Klassic Note started. That's pretty respectable considering Apple Music can't get everyone on the ship just yet. No, I know of iTunes. Apple Music is different.
THE EXPERIENCE
As you can see from the above, February was the first and probably only peak season I've experienced this far, so I shall elaborate more about it. Because the feeling of being able to listen to new songs on the train early in the morning when you go to work (provided you got enough data for it) is just great, and that I can never pass it off compared to me having to go home or use my laptop to be able to surf the Net, hoping it'll be out by the time half a day has passed in school and me downloading that to listen after the hype is gone. Or worse, back then I have to deal with a school day before I can go home and listen to new songs on the charts. But then again that was back then so yeah, ignore that. When it comes to delivering when it can, it will. That's my point.
Of course, not all services today which stream music can walk away without any flaws. Things that may matter include delaying of payment processing (I got stuck on that for a day or two and March 1st was a Wednesday) due to transition from free to paid subscription, the poor performance of the Android app which still looks like crap till this date (the only thing that works is the playback; otherwise most of the time even in good network connections you'll be staring at the white screen lol) (my draft wrote: Did it just stop with one WhatsApp notification tone? No, it literally paused the song, and didn't want to resume lol), the desktop which made me reinstall twice and is still unresponsive sometimes (or maybe I just have a fast hand on the mouse) and many others which I can get over them so I won't mention here because I believe you can too.
FINAL WORDS
All in all, as long as I can listen to new songs that promptly, I'm not complaining. And for now, there is enough database of artists which I can confidently say there will be an advantage for me to pay for this every month, so I shall continue doing it. Hopefully in the future there will be more songs that appear in the platform (someone's secretly adding Mocho's new single and TrySail's 3rd single in) slowly but surely, but otherwise it's not my permanent music library anyways (I know those who rely on Spotify are slaves to their music services already lol) but it's good enough a reference and an advantage for me to tune back in every once in a while for new songs. Also, good resource for finding those earlier releases. For example, I just listened to 96neko and when she started as an artist (I didn't say it was good lol) so easily without having to go on a research journey like back then. It certainly is a lot easier now compared to last time.
 |
| And a final (full) screenshot to show you what I've done. Note the playlists of artists I created on the left haha |
And this is it then. Just a quick review of Apple Music after enjoying it for four months. There'll be many more months of this for sure, especially considering that Klassic Note 10YEARS is just around the corner (you bet I'm preparing for it xD) (#KN10YEARS lol) and I'll have this to brag out on achievements haha. Nonetheless, we see the music industry opening up. Even the newest single by 96neko (Sony Music artist) is also now available internationally (I'm not joking) and soon this region restriction may be long behind us. I wish for that to happen for the many years to come, and hopefully by then I won't have to buy gift cards just to supplement this interest of mine.
-Kaineng, on the Klassic Note
[P.S. As of 8th April, 956 songs have been added thanks to Ikimonogakari's entry into Apple Music, and now I can confidently say this service has covered HALF of the songs of Klassic Note. So promising, I can see the future of everyone getting in.]