Cannes, France - The Orchard (NASD: ORCD), a digital distributor of independent music and video content, on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Japanese independent music company Avex. Under the deal, Avex will market select Orchard clients across Japanese digital stores and mobile services, including the Label Mobile joint venture in which it is a key shareholder. Separately, The Orchard said it has signed deals to add new classical music tracks to its service from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Wigmore Hall and Classical.com.

Tokyo - Sales of Blu-ray Disc recorders beat sales of DVD recorders in Japan for the first time in November, and further are replacing DVD recorders 1.5 times faster than DVD replaced VHS, GameDaily.com reported, citing data from GfK Retail and Technology. GfK credited falling prices for the uptick in sales of the Sony-backed (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray format, which surpassed a 50% market share in Japan for the first time last month.

San Francisco - IODA, a digital distributor of independent label music, said on Monday that it has signed a worldwide partnership with BounDEE, Japan's largest distributor of independent music. Under the terms, IODA's catalog will gain distribution through BounDEE's relationship with more than 200 online music and mobile stores, while IODA will represent BounDEE's independent artists and labels worldwide.

Tokyo - The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) announced this week that two men have been arrested for operating an unauthorized mobile music download site that attracted more than a million users, Ars Technica reported. Daisan Sekai ("The Third World") was "one of the most popular illegal mobile music sites" in Japan, according to RIAJ. Japan's digital music market is dominated by mobile, as most Japanese have advanced handsets and many are avid mobile music consumers.

Chiba, Japan - Sony (NYSE: SNE) plans to launch an 80GB version of its PlayStation 3 video game console in Japan this month, which will sell for the same price ($398) currently charged for the 40GB model, which is being phased out, Reuters reports. Sony already sells the 80GB model in Europe and North America. The company has said its goal is to sell 10 million PlayStation 3 units during its fiscal year, which ends in March.

Tokyo - Japan has made its first arrest of an individual who uploaded a movie to a file-sharing network before its official release, and Kazushi Hirata now faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $96,000 for sharing the movie "Wanted" on Japan's Winny file-sharing network, according to reports.

Tokyo - Digital music sales in Japan during the second quarter grew 28% to $204.8 million, while total unit sales were up 7% to 119 million, Billboard reported, citing data from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).

Tokyo - The Japanese trade ministry is looking into the cause of three fires reportedly caused by overheated batteries in Apple (NASD: AAPL) iPod nano digital music players, Reuters reported. "We are not in the position to speculate on the outcome of the investigation. But after several incidents like these, it would be appropriate for Apple to take some measures to raise the public's awareness," a trade ministry official told Reuters.

Tokyo - Softbank, Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone distribution partner in Japan, announced on Tuesday that it is lowering the cost of basic monthly service for the iPhone from about $67 to $27.60. The company achieved the cost reduction by lowering its packet flat-rate full data charges, which will now vary according to usage.

London - CBS-owned (NYSE: CBS) social music discovery service Last.fm on Tuesday announced the launch of its free on-demand listening and streaming radio service in Japan. The service will offer over 3.5 million free streaming tracks from Universal Music, IODA, The Orchard, CD Baby, Naxos and others, and will expand to include tracks from local Japanese labels. Last.fm in Japan will also include click-through links to purchase songs from HMV Japan.

Tokyo - Japan has at least temporarily abandoned plans to enact an "iPod tax" that would have provided part of the cost of each device to copyright holders and recording artists, from presumed sales lost to piracy, officials there told the Associated Press.

Cambridge, Mass. - Brightcove, the provider of an Internet TV distribution platform, announced on Thursday the launch of a new Japanese subsidiary, which has received $4.9 million in backing from its parent company along with Dentsu, J-Stream, Transcosmos and Cyber Communications.