As they rightfully are allowed to do, since the songs were illegally uploaded onto the iTunes Store for international customers to purchase around January. One could tell it was obviously illegal since it was uploaded under the label “Tukuma Japan Communications”, as opposed to Perfume’s official label Tokuma Japan Communications, and various song titles were purposely misspelled.

Today, their staff put up a notice on Perfume’s official site, stating:

Recently, between late January ~ early February, some songs from Perfume’s GAME album and Indies era songs were illegally available on iTunes under unauthorized distribution.

After the incident, information was disclosed to Apple iTunes to initiate an investigation. Ultimately, we have confirmed that an overseas record label has uploaded the music without permission. Although the music has been already removed, Tokuma Japan Communications and Amuse Inc. will collaborate to prepare appropriate legal actions.

In addition, in regards to the iTunes Store content purchased on iTunes, to acquire a refund from the iTunes Store, you may contact the iTunes Store via their customer service page e-mail form below.
http://www.apple.com/jp/support/itunes/contact.html
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and we ask for your continual support of Perfume.

It’s good to see that the illegal uploads were taking down, especially since people were paying for it and the profits were not going where it was supposed to. However, it also goes to show how much fans want Perfume’s music to be openly distributed–not just in Japan but all over the world. capsule‘s music is already on iTunes, albeit on a different record label, but hopefully Perfume’s music will be available on some kind of legal download site for the world to listen soon.

At #16 we have Kashiyuka,

At #9 we have A~chan,

And right after, we have #8 as Nocchi!

You can view the complete countdown here

via YouTube

Missed out on some things this past year? Here’s Perfume’s year 2009 in a fairly extended nutshell:

01 January:

- [02] Welcome to Chelsea Hotel drama pilot airs

- [16] Perfume 20-Year-Old’s Challenge〜Dream Fighter〜 NHK Documentary airs

02 February:

- [15] A~chan turns 20-years old; all the girls have “become of age”

03 March:

- [19] Begin MC regulars for MUSIC JAPAN

- [25] OneRoom Disco 9th Major Single Released

- [28] Perfume’s Kininaruko-chan Season Finale

04 April:

- [11] Perfume’s Chandelier House variety show begins airing

- [22] Perfume BUDOUKaaaaaaaaaaN!!!!! Live DVD Released

- [29] New ESKIMO pino CM airs, feat. Perfume’s NIGHT FLIGHT; pino airlines Mileage Campaign begins

05 May:

- [09-10] DISCO! DISCO! DISCO! 2Days Live @ Yoyogi Olympic Stadium

06 June:

- [11] Nocchi’s Friday boyfriend scandal w/STRAIGHTENER lead vocalist begins circulation

- [~17] Kashiyuka’s Friday scandal w/fashion photographer begins circulation

- [22] Yahoo! News runs sensationalized news claiming A~chan’s depression

07 July:

- [08] ⊿ (Triangle) 3rd Album Released

08 August:

- [07] Triangle 2009 Tour Begins

09 September:

- [20] Nocchi turns 21-years-old

- [25] Perfume in Happy of Kininaru Chandelier House DVD Variety TV Box Set Released

10 October:

[29-30] Final Leg of 2009 Tour @ Yokohama Arena

11 November:

(A bunch of concerts and events)

12 December:

- [17] Perfume Livefolio Released

- [23] Kashiyuka turns 21-years-old

- [31] Performs at 60th Kouhaku UtaGassen; 2nd year in appearance

Although there were plenty of other performances, TV appearances, and events that occurred, I only mentioned the ones I think were memorable and made an impact in the Perfume community. A bit less active music production-wise compared to 2008, but the number of live events/performances nearly doubled, as well as juicy scandals in print–a rite of passage signaling Perfume’s celebrity status perhaps.

With a new year comes a clean slate for Perfume. Can you believe the girls celebrate their 10th anniversary in the business in 2010? Let’s hope for only the best this year!

Hello. I’m a 29 year old married man. I don’t have any children.

It’s not like I’m really big into music, but I download and listen to a lot of different kinds of music. It doesn’t matter if it is Western or Japanese and I enjoy music from any genre.

The other day, a friend of mine recommended I give perfume a listen, but although it was music that was fairly off my particular radar, I gave them a listen and really liked it. The music videos are also quite spectacular, so I really started to get into them and started to buy DVDs on Yahoo! Auctions and collect all the CDs I could.

When I recommended them to my wife, she quietly listened and said “This is some interesting music, huh?” But then, one day, I asked her over dinner, “Who is your favorite out of the three perfume girls?” She responded angrily, 『殺すぞ』 (korosu zo, “I’ll kill you.”)

…

• Read the complete story at Yamatologic

Check out the new Perfume Staff Profiles first article about MIKIKO, Perfume’s choreographer since they are in Amuse.

Perfume Staff Profiles: MIKIKO

Perfume Art Gallery

Explore this Perfume Art Gallery I’ve found via munekata (twitter).
It’s interesting what you can find there… take a look, it’s worth it.

http://www.diana.dti.ne.jp/~june1/perfume/

Perfume Piano and Guitar scores

I’ve been wanting to leave a record about the “Perfume Piano score book” and the Guitar tabs book “Perfume Songbook“.
Check out the Perfume Other releases updated page to know more about these piano and guitar books.

morawin.jp Budoukan special content

Music download website morawin just opened a special page for Perfume’s greatest live to date: BUDOUKaaaaaaaaaaN!!!!!

Although what you’ll find is a live report in Japanese and some photos, the point is what they have a special present for those who suscribe to their music online store (only Japan, again).

But don’t worry, you’re not missing out a precious and special Perfume good. What they’re giving as a present if you’re lucky enough to suscribe to morawin and win the raffle is this:

What’s that? A magazine holder?
Ah excuse me, that’s not a magazine holder, that’s a super cool and fashion Magazine Holder Perfume Dream Fighter™ limited edition.
(I’m sorry about the sarcasm but I can’t help it. I hate that kind of fake merchandising with printed logos.)

But if you are still in the need-of-Perfume-stuff-even-though-it’s-just-a-piece-of-junk (sorry again), you can bid for it in Yahoo Japan Auctions from a starting price as low as ¥3,000.
Go for it. 3 days left.

• Other special pages in morawin.jp:

- 2nd album GAME release
- Perfume live in SHIBUYA-AX 2007.2.12
- Perfume live in LIQUIDROOM 2007.11.08