Japanese bonus tracks – but why?

Our editorial team recently discussed the topic of ‘bonus tracks in Japan’ and had a very controversial debate. Why do these Japanese editions of many music albums exist in the first place? And what is the point behind them? We think this is actually a topic for the Storyteller, because there are always these Japanese editions of Rod Stewart's albums.

Let's turn back the clock briefly to autumn 2021. Sir Rod had already announced the release of his new album, ‘The Tears Of Hercules’. We were all looking forward to new musical material from our hero and were already checking the usual online portals for pre-orders.
In addition to the usual CD version and one for vinyl lovers, these sales sites also featured an offer with the addition ‘Japan Bonus Edition’ – or something similar.
We quickly realised that this Japanese version of the album had one more track on the track list, in this case the song ‘Up Al Night’.

In fact, for some, perhaps even many of us, this one song was the reason we had this more expensive version of ‘The Tears of Hercules’ delivered. Even though it was clear from the outset that delivery of a CD from Japan would take significantly longer than buying it at the nearest record shop or Media Markt around the corner.
Was this one song worth an extra £10 to £15? And on top of that, the enormous delivery costs, which would cost at least as much again? Not to mention the weeks, sometimes even months, of delivery time.

But why don't these bonus songs simply appear on all versions of the album? Why only in Japan? The explanation is actually quite simple and has to do with the retail price of albums in the Land of the Rising Sun.
In Japan, the manufacturing costs for CDs and records can be up to 30-40 per cent higher than in other countries. Therefore, it is usually cheaper for Japanese buyers to import records from abroad than to buy domestically produced versions.
To encourage domestic buyers to purchase physical releases produced in Japan, record labels often add additional tracks that are not included on the standard edition sold elsewhere.
Rod Stewart has also repeatedly released Japanese editions of his albums in the past.
His Japanese bonus songs include ‘Up All Night’ (The Tears Of Hercules, 2021) and ‘Priceless’ (Blood Red Roses, 2018).