Profit in Sony Music’s Japanese Sector Drops

A dearth of indigenous pop hits last year in Japan caused revenue in Sony Corp.’s Japanese music sector to plunge to $824 million--down 10% from the year ended March 31, 1996.

Sony’s Japanese record division reported that current profit, which includes losses and gains on investments, fell 46% to $91 million. Sales of Japanese musical repertoire, which accounts for more than half of the Japanese division’s business, were depressed 6.5% from the previous year because of a delay in newly released recordings after a regime change at the firm.

Non-Japanese repertoire sales dropped 12%. Sony’s Tokyo-based label, still the dominant record company in Japan, makes up less than 20% of Sony Music Entertainment’s total global revenue, which grew significantly last year--a figure that the corporation is expected to announce today in its annual report.