Petit Cafe Records Co., Ltd.

What Petit Cafe Records Co., Ltd. does

Petit Cafe Records Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese music label and publisher incorporated on June 1, 2018, headquartered in Shiki, Saitama Prefecture. The company specializes in instrumental, ambient, and nature sound recordings designed for relaxation, wellness, sleep, and background listening across consumer and light-commercial use cases. Its catalog spans six sub-labels: the core Petit Cafe Records brand (acoustic cafe ambient music featuring piano, guitar, harp, and cello), Nature Sounds (environmental recordings from locations including Hawaii, Indonesia, Florida's Everglades, and across Japan), Extra-Virgin Music (jazz piano covers of Disney, Ghibli, Beatles, and standard repertoire under the Olive Piano series by Homei Matsumoto), Quiet Green (marimba and percussion improvisation with field recordings), TECHIES 1985 (solo works by producer Takeshi Fujii), and Hokusai Records (traditional Japanese koto music by the Gensoka duo).

The company's content pipeline is anchored by two institutional partnerships: the University of Tokyo's Cyberforest project, which provides access to 22 years of nature sound archives from 8 monitoring stations, and the C.W. Nicol Afan Forest Foundation in Nagano Prefecture, which supplies conservation-linked field recordings with partial streaming revenue directed to forest regeneration. The company also holds a Disney licensing agreement enabling piano cover albums.

Commercially, Petit Cafe Records distributes globally through 11+ streaming and download platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, AWA, LINE MUSIC, KK-BOX, Recochoku, mora, iTunes, Google Play Music) and sells physical CDs through Amazon Japan at price points of ¥1,850–¥2,778. Its go-to-market is product-led and organic, relying on streaming platform discovery, a dedicated website, and sub-label branding rather than paid acquisition or a direct sales force. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and the company remains founder-controlled under President Agatsuma Toshihiro with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or institutional ownership.

Name

Petit Cafe Records Co., Ltd.

Legal name

株式会社プチカフェレコーズ

Website

https://petitcafe-records.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Petit Cafe Records is a privately held Japanese music label founded in 2018, producing instrumental, ambient, and nature sound recordings across six sub-labels for relaxation, wellness, and background listening, distributed globally via streaming platforms and Amazon Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Label

NAICS

Music Publishers (512230), Record Production and Distribution (51225)

akta.pro primary industry

Publishing Administration (Catalog Admin, Global Subpublishing) (MPAIABAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Music Rights Administration & Royalty Processing (Admin, Accounting, Statements) (MPAIAKAD)

Keywords

• Music record label
• Instrumental music
• Nature sound recordings
• Ambient music publishing
• Relaxation audio content

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Digital Music Streaming and Downloads: Petit Cafe Records generates revenue through the distribution of music via subscription and ad-supported streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, etc.) as well as individual digital track and album downloads. Revenue is received as streaming royalties and download sales from these platforms.
2. Physical CD Sales: The label produces and sells physical CD albums through Amazon Japan and its own online store. Notable physical releases include the Hokusai Records koto album 'Shu Ha Ri' priced at 2,778 yen plus tax. CDs are available through Amazon with dedicated product pages.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Petit Cafe Records Co., Ltd. is a Japanese music label and music publishing company that produces, releases, and distributes instrumental, ambient, and nature sound recordings designed for relaxation and wellness (くつろぎタイム). The company operates six sub-labels spanning cafe-style acoustic instrumental music, jazz piano covers, traditional Japanese koto music, and field-recorded nature sounds, distributing globally via major streaming platforms and domestically through physical CD sales.

Product overview

Petit Cafe Records Co., Ltd. operates as a music record label and publisher offering instrumental music, nature sounds, and environmental audio content designed for relaxation ('くつろぎタイム'). The company's product portfolio consists of multiple sub-labels serving different musical genres: the core Petit Cafe Records brand produces cafe-style ambient instrumental music featuring piano, guitar, harp, and cello with nature sounds; Extra-Virgin Music specializes in jazz piano covers including Disney, Ghibli, and Beatles arrangements by Homei Matsumoto; Quiet Green creates improvisational marimba music incorporating natural sounds; TECHIES 1985 releases solo works by producer Takeshi Fujii; Hokusai Records focuses on traditional Japanese music (和楽) with koto instruments; and Nature Sounds produces environmental recordings from locations worldwide. The company also collaborates with academic institutions (University of Tokyo Cyberforest project) and environmental organizations (C.W. Nicol Afan Forest Foundation) to release nature sound archives. Content is distributed both as physical CDs and via major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and AWA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Nature Sounds (自然音): Nature sound recordings sub-label featuring environmental sounds from forests, oceans, and natural environments.
• Hokusai Records
• Quiet Green
• TECHIES 1985
• EXTRA-VIRGIN MUSIC (エキストラ-ヴァージン・ミュージック)

Products and services

• Petit Cafe Series Physical CD Albums Physical CD albums in the cafe music series (e.g., 'Starry Sky Cafe', 'Morning Cafe', 'Nature Cafe', 'Evening Cafe', 'Relaxing Cafe') featuring piano, guitar, harp, cello, and bossa nova arrangements, sold through Amazon Japan at approximately 1,850 yen + tax per album.
• Hokusai Records Albums (Traditional Japanese Koto Music) Traditional Japanese healing music (和楽) albums featuring koto and traditional instruments, including the debut album 'Shu Ha Ri' (守破離) by Gensoka, sold as CD at 2,778 yen + tax and on streaming platforms.
• Quiet Green Albums (Marimba Music) Improvisational marimba and percussion music incorporating natural sounds recorded in nature settings, available digitally via iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, AWA, LINE MUSIC.
• Extra-Virgin Music Albums (Olive Piano Jazz Covers)

Quantifiable outcome

• Healing music compilations have reached #1 in Amazon Japan Healing/New Age category

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 東京大学 (The University of Tokyo)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2020Petit Cafe Records partnered with the University of Tokyo's Cyberforest project (led by Professor Kaoru Saito, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences) to distribute nature sound archives accumulated over 22 years. The first release, '24 Hours 365 Days of Continuous Nature Sounds,' features recordings from 8 monitoring stations across Japan including Chichibu, Hokkaido, Fujiyamakuko, and the Sanriku Coast. The project uses automated unattended microphones in forests, plateaus, and coastal areas.
• 一般財団法人 C.W.ニコル・アファンの森財団 (C.W. Nicol Afan Forest Foundation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 January 2020Petit Cafe Records partnered with the C.W. Nicol Afan Forest Foundation to record and distribute nature sounds from the Afan Forest in Nagano Prefecture. The partnership has produced multiple albums ('Afan Woodland,' 'Afan Forest Rain Sounds,' 'Dawn Birds at Afan Forest') with streaming revenue partially donated to forest regeneration efforts. The foundation was established by C.W. Nicol, who purchased neglected forest land in 1986 and has worked to restore it to a biodiversity-rich ecosystem.
• ことりカフェ (Kotori Cafe)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 June 2018Kotori Cafe, a bird-themed cafe in Omotesando, collaborated with Petit Cafe Records on original album releases. The 'Kotori Cafe' series combines bird chirping nature sounds with cafe music, and the collaboration generated multiple CD releases including 'Kotori Cafe ~Mori no Classic~' (2015) and 'Kotori Cafe' (2015) which achieved long-running bestseller status among bird enthusiasts.
• Gensoka (玄奏霞)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGensoka, a Japanese koto artist duo (万 玄庵 and 伊藤 霞), is the artist behind the Hokusai Records sub-label releases. 万 玄庵 is a sound engineer who worked with major artists including Ray Charles, while 伊藤 霞 is a dual-school koto教授 (instructor) who has performed internationally and domestically. Their album 'Shu Ha Ri' (守破離) combines traditional koto music with modern sound engineering.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Soyuz Music: Independent label releasing curated instrumental and ambient albums with strong physical CD distribution. Comparable because it pursues a similar catalog-led, themed-album strategy for relaxation and instrumental listeners across multiple platforms.
• Audioleaf: Japanese digital distribution aggregator and label-services platform serving independent niche labels on streaming platforms. Comparable as a distribution-side peer for the kind of indie ambient/healing catalog Petit Cafe Records releases.
• Sounds of Nature (UK): Independent nature-sound label producing field recordings of forests, oceans, and wildlife for relaxation. Directly comparable to Petit Cafe's Nature Sounds and Cyberforest/Afan Forest catalog lines because it sells the same authentic field-recording product across major streaming platforms.
• Lemonmusic Inc. Japanese independent label focused on instrumental, healing, and cafe-style music. Directly comparable because it operates in the same niche relaxation/ambient genre with thematic series for cafes, study, sleep, and healing — the exact category Petit Cafe Records targets.
• Hoshino Tomohiro / Green Library Music: Japanese nature-sound and ambient music producer with broad streaming presence. Directly comparable because of overlapping nature-recording content (forests, rain, wildlife) aimed at relaxation, sleep, and focus use cases.
• Healing Music (Kyou Records): Long-standing Japanese label specializing in healing, relaxation, and nature-sound music for retail and streaming. Highly comparable because it targets the same Healing/New Age Amazon Japan category where Petit Cafe has reached #1 rankings.

Emerging players

• Anjunabeats / Anjunadeep: Independent electronic/ambient label with strong streaming and global fanbase. Comparable as an adjacent ambient/electronic label that has demonstrated how small indie labels can scale globally on streaming platforms, though its genre focus (electronic dance/ambient) is narrower than Petit Cafe's cafe-relaxation positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Universal Music Japan: Major Japanese record label with global streaming distribution and dedicated relaxation/compilation sub-brands. Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping streaming distribution economics and ability to bundle premium-IP covers similar to Petit Cafe's Disney/Ghibli series.
• Sony Music Entertainment Japan: Major Japanese music group with extensive catalogue across genres including relaxation and instrumental sub-labels. Comparable as a broad incumbent that captures the same end-consumer spend on streaming and physical, though Petit Cafe is a niche specialist within this much larger portfolio.
• Victor Entertainment: Established Japanese music label with a long history in instrumental, jazz, and traditional Japanese recordings. Comparable as a heritage incumbent with catalog depth in the same instrumental and traditional Japanese music categories Petit Cafe's Hokusai Records sub-label serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Petit Cafe Records Co., Ltd.