"One of the Top 10 Websites for Japanese Music." - SeekJapan "The top publisher of Japanese music in the U.S. - an amazing resource." - play Magazine
How much do songs cost?
Individual tracks are priced at 1 credit ($0.99) each.
Full albums are 10 credits ($9.90) or less.
Monthly specials feature albums at 50% off.
Do you sell CDs?
Our CD store is under construction. We'll have more news on those titles soon.
How do I buy credits?
Purchases require a credit card. You can buy credits at any time here.
Will my credits expire?
No. Any unused credits remain in your account balance.
How many times can I download a purchased track?
Each purchase can be downloaded only once.
What happens if there's a problem with my tracks? A skip or incomplete song?
You can report any problems with your purchased tracks here.
We will repair the tracks and credit your account immediately.
Do JapanFiles.com purchases have DRM?
No. All MP3s are encoded at 192 Kbps.
There is no DRM so your purchased music will play on any device.
Where are my favorite J-Rock/J-Pop artists - Puffy, Utada, Gackt, Mr. Children, etc.?
JapanFiles.com specializes in hard-to-find Japanese indie bands, but our roster of bands grows every month.
If you register on our forum, you'll receive our e-mail updates when we announce new bands.
Do you charge fees to the bands?
We do not charge any fees to our partner artists/labels.
Royalties are paid directly to the bands in Japan, not to USA digital music brokers or middlemen.
Can I sample the music before I buy?
Every song on JapanFiles.com longer than 1 minute has a 30-60 second preview.
30-second previews are okay, but can I hear the whole song before I buy?
Many of our artists have MySpace pages which feature full-length songs.
JapanFiles also has a page on Last.fm where you can listen to entire albums of selected artists.
Why are some band names uppercase/lowercase? Can't you people spell?
Many Japanese bands choose the punctuation of their names based on the appearance of the Roman letters, or for symbolic meaning - for example, the lowercase "i" in LiN CLOVER has special significance to the band.
Does JapanFiles.com bring bands to the USA?
Yes. We've worked with anime events like Sakura-Con, A-Kon, Anime Boston, Fanime Con, Anime Vegas, and Anime Mid Atlantic, plus performances in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Antonio.
Why should I buy MP3s? Shouldn't I just download these for free off the internet?
There are many reasons, but the two most important are:
(a) the bands really do need your support. JapanFiles pays royalties directly to the bands, so your purchases go straight to them. Supporting the artists financially allows them to make more music!
(b) many of the events we work with (see above) choose to invite bands based on their sales ranking on JapanFiles.com. So getting a band you like into the Top Sellers list is a way to help them come to the USA.
There are over 200 bands here - how do I get started?
Check out the Top Sellers list on our front page, or our monthly special recommendations.
If you really want to roll the dice, you can tune in to our 24-hour streaming radio station on Live365.com.
