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Originally posted by Hi.Ðefinitiøn
Is somebody gonna educate me on this or what?
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I will.
So EPs are released (especially in the early 2000s when single sales were higher) because they give Jpoppers an excuse to keep releasing singles, even when a full album is not complete, and they will keep them on top of Oricon every year. Taking long breaks can prove disastrous in the Japanese industry.
Also, some EPs are released as singles, which gives more people the incentive to buy that single, as it includes many songs and remixes that are not available on albums. This can maximize first week album sales and create huge hype.
As for digital singles, they are being released, mainly through the extremely popular ringtone format, due to the sharp decline of physical single sales. Therefore, because of low physical sales, some singles are released as ringtones only. Keep in mind that ringtone sales are way higher than PC digital sales in Japan.
