On Feb. 13, 2024, BMSG, Inc. made waves in the Japanese music industry with their statement, “BMSG’s Recommendations for Pulling the Music Industry Back from the Brink of Unsustainability.” The announcement discussed the problems of‘s music industry, which still heavily relies on CD sales. One of the issues discussed was how this reliance on physical media has led to people purchasing multiple copies of the same CD, contributing to the generation of excessive waste.
“Meeting him in person, what I felt was his flexible stance on living in the present. At Billboard Japan, we’ve also continued to think about the limits and possibilities of the current music industry through our efforts with the hit charts. Although our positions are different, I strongly felt that he had also been grappling with the same issues, and it was a very encouraging dialogue.”
BE:FIRST’s concept single, “Masterplan,” released on April 24, was the first project to embody BMSG’s sustainability proposal. The single comes in a paper sleeve to reduce the amount of plastic generated by CD production. BMSG also eliminated retailer-specific add-ons — collectibles that come with CDs sold by specific music retailers that are randomly packaged with CDs, both of which drive bulk CD purchasing.
“In the U.S., in the early ’90s, Nielsen Music succeeded in collecting point-of-sale data from record stores across the country. Until then, data had been generated based on the results of fax and telephone surveys. The shift to this new, objective data collection method revolutionized the Billboard Hot 100 lineup overnight. The changes came as quite a shock, both inside the industry and out, and profoundly transformed what it means to be a hit.