LINE MUSIC, a subscription-based on-demand music streaming service, officially launched on June 11th. LINE, an essential communication tool amid the rise of smartphones, is poised to revolutionize the music industry by combining music with LINE. On the day of its launch, LINE MUSIC became a hot topic on Twitter. Within two days of its release, it surpassed one million downloads and has now reached over 12 million total streams. LINE MUSIC's rapid adoption is unparalleled. Unlike the radio-based music streaming services typically found in Japan, LINE MUSIC offers streaming music without downloading, allowing users to select the songs and artists they want to listen to, play them, and create playlists whenever and wherever they want. Monthly subscription fees range from ¥500 (20 hours/30 days) to ¥1,000 (unlimited/30 days), with student discounts also available. The first wave of the service will feature a lineup of over 1.5 million songs, primarily from popular artists, based on chart hits and new releases from a wide range of genres, including Japanese and Western music, K-Pop, anime, and Vocaloid, including artists like "Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE," British singer-songwriter Sam Smith, who won four awards at the 57th Grammy Awards, and British boy band One Direction. Through extensive playlists such as "EDM Compilation" and "Ultimate Sleep," users can discover a variety of music to suit their mood and situation. However, this could be achieved without LINE. The greatest strength of this service lies in its combination with LINE's specialty of communication. The service allows users to send songs and playlists to friends and groups connected via LINE through chats or the app (supported on LINE app version 5.0.0 or higher), and play the songs directly in chats or on the LINE timeline. According to GlobalWebIndex, as of 2013, over 70% of smartphone users in Japan use LINE. We're now in an era where word-of-mouth is king for fashion, food, and entertainment. If we consider LINE, which allows for casual information sharing, as a platform for unofficial word-of-mouth, LINE MUSIC users will be able to seamlessly incorporate music into everyday conversations like "good morning" and "good night," making it a powerful tool for artists and labels. This combination of music and communication is often seen these days when sharing YouTube videos on Facebook, but in terms of the power of personal information, LINE, which requires a response from the other party, is sure to be unrivaled.

And this communication won't just be limited to friends and family. LINE MUSIC is also gradually opening official accounts for artists who provide music (since the service's launch, 102 artists' official LINE accounts have been linked to LINE MUSIC).

Artists with official accounts will have a link to their artist page within LINE MUSIC, and the official account will be used to announce music releases and playlist releases. By linking LINE MUSIC and the official account, users will be able to expand their connection with artists. It's unclear whether this will develop into interactive communication with celebrities like on the chat app 775, but it will certainly bring users closer to artists. Jun Masuda, CEO of LINE MUSIC Corporation, commented, "We have been preparing for the launch of LINE MUSIC with the goal of creating new ways for users to connect with music and artists and enjoy new ways to enjoy music for the future. In particular, the 500 yen basic plan and student discount plan were created with the hope that users who have not previously used music services, as well as young student users, will be able to access a wide variety of music content and enjoy discovering music and the communication that results from it. We will continue to actively expand the songs and participating labels and artists available on LINE MUSIC, raising users' interest in music and boosting the music industry, as we strive to become the number one music distribution service." LINE has become an essential communication tool for young people in their teens and twenties, with stories of new employees reporting absences via LINE making headlines in the news in April of this year. While there are pros and cons, this generation has become accustomed to enjoying music for free on sites like YouTube and Niconico, so attention will likely be focused on how it will be utilized and accepted in the future. Also, around the same time as the launch of LINE MUSIC, Apple also announced its subscription-based music streaming service, Apple Music, so this year is likely to be a major turning point for the music industry.