Exciting news this week from the John Orr Franklin Camp!!

The “Japan Limited Edition” compilation album entitled “Perception” is currently in process of being distributed digitally in Japan! The album is being distributed in the Chaku-Uta™ Full format to cell based music outlets in Japan only.

Chaku-Uta is a special music file format compatible with traditional mobile phones (known as keitai in Japanese). They are typically purchased and downloaded via the mobile carrier network. A Chaku-Uta can only be used (technically and legally speaking) on the mobile phone to which it was downloaded. Chaku-Uta is a registered trademark of Sony Music Entertainment. The sales, technology and distribution of Chaku-Uta is highly regulated in Japan by the major phone carriers, record labels and rights administrators.

Smart phones, especially the iPhone, are becoming popular in Japan. However, smart phones only represent about 6% of all mobile phone contracts in Japan. The majority of mobile contracts are for traditional keitai mobile phones, about 100 million, whereas mobile contracts for smart phones are about 6 million, but growing in share. You can see why 90% of all digital music sales are sales of the Chaku-Uta format which is used with traditional keitai mobile phones, not smart phones.

The compilation album “Perception” contains material from all three of John Orr Franklin’s USA releases and also features three songs from the forthcoming “Soldier On” concept album, two of which that have yet to be released here in the states. Also included are two remixes from the “Pathways” album that have never been available on an official release.

A version of “Perception” will be released at some time in the future (potentially late 2012) in the USA but will feature different artwork and a slightly different track list. To view a detailed track list of the release, check out this special webpage further detailing the Japan Limited Edition version of “Perception”.

The current single being pitched to Japanese radio and other promotional outlets is the song “Alpha and Omega”, from the forthcoming “Soldier On” concept album. Also the song “Love Light Alive” has been made available as a free download from the johnorrfranklinband.jp website, a mobile enhanced website specifically designed for mobile devices that can also be viewed by scanning the QRcode above with your smart phone. A webstore has been created on the TopMusic.jp website in Japan where all of John’s CD’s and DVD’s can be purchased directly from Blue Room Digital Productions in Austin, Texas.

I’m truly excited about this new venture into the musical markets of Japan and Ihope that the music is well received and finds a welcoming home on the island of Japan.

Domo Arigato everyone!