The
Recording Industry Association of Japan (
RIAJ) is an
industry trade groupA trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
composed of
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese corporations involved the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the
Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969.
The RIAJ's activities include promotion of music sales, enforcement of copyright law, and research related to the Japanese music industry. It publishes the annual
RIAJ Year Book, a statistical summary of each year's music sales, as well as distributing a variety of other data.
Headquartered in
Minatois one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 March 2008, it had an official population of 217,335 and a population density of 10,865 persons per km². The total area is 20.34 km².Minato hosts 49 embassies...
,
Tokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, the RIAJ has twenty member companies and a smaller number of associate and supporting members; some member companies are the Japanese branches of
multinational corporationA multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
s headquartered elsewhere.
The association is responsible for certifying
gold and platinum albums and singlesMusic recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in Japan.
RIAJ Certification
In 1989, the Recording Industry Association of Japan introduced the music recording certification systems. It is awarded based on shipment figures of compact disc or cassette tape which was reported by record labels. In principle, the criteria are limitedly applied to the materials released after January 21, 1989.
Certification awards
Currently, all music sales including singles, albums, digital download singles are on the same criteria. Unlike many countries, the highest certification is not called "Diamond" or "Platinum", but "Million".
| Thresholds per award |
| Gold |
Platinum |
2× Platinum |
3× Platinum |
Million |
Multi-Million |
| 100,000 |
250,000 |
500,000 |
750,000 |
1,000,000 |
2,000,000+ |
Old criteria (until June 2003)
Before the unification of criteria and introduction of music videos category in July 2003, a separate scale had been used for certification awards.
| Format |
Type |
Thresholds per award |
| Gold |
Platinum |
Million |
| Albums |
Domestic |
200,000 |
400,000 |
1,000,000 |
| International |
100,000 |
200,000 |
| Singles |
Domestic |
200,000 |
400,000 |
| International |
50,000 |
100,000 |
Main members
- Avex Group¹
- Avex Entertainment (supporting member)
- Being Inc.
- Dreamusic Incorporated
is a Japanese record label also working as a subsidiary of TY Limited Incorporated.Its chairman is Tom Yoda, ex-chairman of Avex Group.-Domestic:* Funky Monkey Babys* Yōichi Aoyama* Yūzō Kayama* Hiroko Nakamura* Ayaka Hirahara* Ryoko Moriyama...
- EMI Music Japan¹
- For Life Music
is a Japanese record label founded in 1975.-Artists:Its artists include Yōsui Inoue, Abe Fuyumi, Takuro Yoshida, Shigeru Izumiya, Under Graph, Utaibito Hane, Yōsuke Eguchi, Double, Tomoyo Harada, Shinji Harada, Yo Hitoto, Bennie K, Miss Monday, Sayuri Sugawara and Glay.Chihiro Onitsuka left...
- Geneon Universal Entertainment¹
- King Records¹
- Bellwood Records (supporting member)
- King Records International (supporting member)
- Nippon Columbia¹
- Nippon Crown
is a Japanese record label originally established as Crown Records on 6 September 1963. It is a spin-off of Nippon Columbia and is currently owned by karaoke maker Daiichikosho.-Artists:Artists signed to Nippon Crown Music include:* Hanaboy* Kimeru* Metis...
¹
- Pony Canyon
is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
¹
- Sony Music Entertainment Japan
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
¹
- Ariola Japan
, is a Japanese record label precedently part of BMG Japan and now subsidiary of Sony Music Japan. It is home to both former BMG Japan artists and new artists, including Buck-Tick, The Cro-Magnons, Deen, GO!GO!7188, Kenichi Asai, AZU, Takako Matsu, Misia, Kazumasa Oda, Seamo, Shikao Suga, Sukima...
(supporting member)
- DefStar Records
, is a Japanese record label, a subsidiary of Sony Music Japan.-History:*1997 - Takashi Yoshida, the president of Warner Music Japan, founded the label as ....
(supporting member)
- Epic Records Japan (supporting member)
- Ki/oon Records
is a Japanese record label, a subsidiary of Sony Music Japan.-Artists:Their artists include L'Arc-en-Ciel, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, FLOW, Home Made Kazoku, Puffy AmiYumi, Polysics, Pushim, chatmonchy, Denki Groove, The Babystars, DOES, Guitar Wolf, Miki Furukawa, Nico Touches the Walls, plingmin,...
(supporting member)
- SME Records
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
(supporting member)
- Sony Music Artists
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
(supporting member)
- Sony Music Associated Records
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
(supporting member)
- Sony Music Direct
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
(supporting member)
- Sony Music Distribution
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
(supporting member)
- Sony Music Japan International
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
(supporting member)
- Sony Music Records (supporting member)
- Tokuma Japan Communications¹
- Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
¹
- VAP Inc.¹
- Victor Entertainment
is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...
¹
- Teichiku Records
Teichiku Records is a Japanese record label, run by the Teichiku Entertainment company, that specialises in enka, kayōkyoku, and similar music. Teichiku is an abbreviation for , the former name of the company...
¹
- Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
¹
- Yamaha Music Communications
Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...
- Yoshimoto R&C
is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate, with its headquarters based in Osaka. It was founded in 1912 as a traditional theatre, and has since grown to be one of the most influential companies in Japan, employing most of Japan's popular owarai talent, producing and promoting the shows they...
Associate members
- Amuse Soft Entertainment
- Exit Tunes
Quake Inc. is a Japanese media company for the purposes as the music publisher. The company was originally founded as a printer company in 2001 but it became a music company Quake Records in 2003. In 2005, the company was renamed to Quake Holdings. The company became a subsidiary of Pony Canyon in...
- HATS Unlimited
is a Japanese musician who specialises as a violinist.He is best known internationally for playing the violin on Celine Dion's song "To Love You More" which appears on the US edition of her Let's Talk About Love album...
- Johnny and Associates
- J Storm
is a Japanese music and film company owned by Johnny & Associates. It was established on November 12, 2001, initially as a label for the Johnny's group, Arashi, after which it was named ....
- Johnny's Entertainment
- Konami Digital Entertainment
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
- Bandai Visual
, is a Japanese anime, film production and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai Co., Ltd. and a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings, Inc., which is based in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Since the reorganisation of Namco Bandai Holdings in 2006, Bandai Visual now heads the group's Visual and...
- Lantis
is a Japanese company that specializes as a music publisher label for Japanese musicians, anime soundtracks and video game soundtracks. It was established on November 26, 1999, and in May 2006, it was bought by, and became a subsidiary of, Bandai Visual...
- LD&K Records
- Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
- Pryaid Records
is a Japanese record label and a division of Polystar, the parent company of Trattoria Records.It also serves as an IFPI member.-References:* * *...
¹
- Space Shower Networks
- Spiritual Beast
- Venus Records
- Village Again Association
Supporting members
- Aniplex
, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...
(subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japanis Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
)
- Crown-Tokuma Music (joint venture of Nippon Crown
is a Japanese record label originally established as Crown Records on 6 September 1963. It is a spin-off of Nippon Columbia and is currently owned by karaoke maker Daiichikosho.-Artists:Artists signed to Nippon Crown Music include:* Hanaboy* Kimeru* Metis...
and Tokuma Japan Communications)
- Free Board
- Holiday Japan
- Jei One
- NPPDevelop
- T-Toc Records
- TV Asahi Music
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
- Ward Records
¹Member, International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
See also