Japanese Music Industry Still Fighting Its Physical Attraction

TOKYO — Near the iconic scramble crossing in Tokyo’s Shibuya district stands Tower Records Japan’s nine-story flagship store — a hulking, gray colossus proudly defying the local music market’s slow drift toward streaming. Emblazoned in red letters above the entrance is the chain’s slogan: “No Music, No Life.” Despite the pandemic, there’s ample evidence of both.
Crowds of young people mill around the entrance comparing notes on the latest rel