Miyavi on Spotify

Let’s be honest. Music from Japan isn’t cheap. Buying a physical CD can easily run you $50 with shipping overseas. Buying a digital copy from iTunes is cheaper, but not everyone can afford this. What’s a Jrock fan to do?

Enter Spotify. Spotify is a free streaming music site available on your desktop or as an app. And its completely legal. And did I mention free? There is a paid version of Spotify that eliminates ads and allows you to listen offline – but even the free version isn’t bad – the ads aren’t that frequent. All you need is an internet connection.

Spotify also pays royalties to the artists whose music you are listening to. This is a way to support the artists you love. By streaming their music, its showing Spotify and the artist that people are actively listening to them. Listening to music on YouTube doesn’t help or show any statistics. (If you’re curious, it is explained in more detail here.)

Ok, so you’ve heard of Spotify, but how does that help you with Jrock? Well, Spotify now has Japanese music including new releases.

A9’s EP, “Light and Darkness” was released on April 13th and was available to stream on Spotify the same day. The days of waiting are over. Technology has once again brought the world one step closer together. Along with their newest EP, Spotify also has A9’s previous releases. (A9, formerly known as Alice Nine.) A9 artist page: https://play.spotify.com/artist/60NjVi7WDBPwxC2f1OwVd0

Looking for something else new? Try Miyavi’s latest song, “Raise Me Up.” The official release date of the digital double A-side single “Afraid To Be Cool/Raise Me Up” is April 29th – so hopefully we can expect to see “Afraid To Be Cool” up on Spotify then! Miyavi artist page: https://play.spotify.com/artist/7sBtBCNVRujQhaHDODkfTN

ONE OK ROCK are another popular artist who have their music on Spotify. They have one full album up there, their latest release “35xxxv.” You may think, “Only one album? That’s not a lot!” but its better then nothing. Spotify offers high quality music. It also gives those unaware of Japanese music a chance to listen to something they might otherwise not have tried. It’s free, so why not give a new band or song a listen. It’s an easy and efficient way for Japanese music to spread overseas.

ONE OK ROCK have over 100,000 followers – that’s no small number of people not just listening, but actively following this band. ONE OK ROCK artist page: https://play.spotify.com/artist/7k73EtZwoPs516ZxE72KsO

Coldrain are another band with a good amount of music on their Spotify! They will be joining the Vans Warped Tour across North America this summer, so having their music on Spotify is a great tool for those to discover the band before seeing them or learn more after seeing them perform live. Coldrain artist page: https://play.spotify.com/artist/4pCVGaLWxDe4d8bsjsnmUM

the GazettE have a significant amount of music on their page as well. One of features of Spotify is if an artist has an upcoming concert near you, Spotify will tell you when and where. With GazettE currently touring South and North America, and soon Europe, this feature is useful if someone didn’t know the GazettE was touring near them. the GazettE artist page: https://play.spotify.com/artist/4gRFSxjAcJkb54BDjqo7Bc

By clicking “Related Artists,” you can find even more bands or artists you might not have thought of! Try it out! Comment on our Facebook page and let us know who you’ve discovered on Spotify.

Visit Spotify in your browser: https://play.spotify.com/browse

You can download the desktop app or mobile device apps via http://www.spotify.com or from iTunes Store, Google Play, etc.