Ask John: Why Buy CD Singles Instead of CDs?

Question:
One of my friends was telling me that when buying CDs in Japan, buy singles rather than albums unless I really like a particular artist. Why is this? Also, how do OSTs fit in to this?

Answer:
Full length CDs in Japan are a bit expensive. In American dollars, a new CD at a record shop in Tokyo can cost roughly $20 up to $35. This average cost applies to any CD, be it an anime or game soundtrack, a chart-topping J-pop album, or a Japanese version of a CD by a popular American or European vocalist. While a normal CD is a 5″ in diameter disc, CD singles are only 3 inches in diameter and hold only 24 minutes of music. You’ll notice that especially most computer CD drive trays have an inner resting ring designed specifically for these smaller CD discs. Japanese CD singles are normally released with 3 or 4 songs, for example, a hit single or anime opening or ending theme, a B-side bonus track, and the karaoke versions of one or both songs. Japanese CD singles cost an average of around $10 American. If you’re only interested in a popular anime opening or ending theme but not the show’s interior instrumental background music, or if you’ve heard a J-pop theme from an artist you’re unfamiliar with, CD singles are a significantly less expensive way of getting just the song you like without having to spend a lot on additional music you’re either not interested in or may not enjoy. The only negative to CD singles is that they are short, with only 3-4 songs and possibly only 1 song you’ll regularly listen to, and CD singles aren’t designed to play in car CD players, so to play a Japanese CD single in a front loading, rather than tray loading or top loading CD player, you’ll need to find a 5″ plastic CD single adapter ring.