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Taylor Swift is the queen of Australia’s music charts, as Midnights (via Universal) darts to No. 1 with the biggest volume week of any album in five years.
Midnights bows atop the latest ARIA Chart, with more combined sales than any title since Swift released Reputation, also No. 1 back in 2017. It’s her 10th No. 1 ARIA Album.
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With Midnights setting the albums chart alight, records tumble. Swift enjoys a record-setting haul on the national singles survey, capturing nine of the top 10 positions, led by “Anti-Hero” at No. 1, with “Lavender Haze” and “Snow On The Beach,” featuring Lana Del Rey, respectively completing the top 3.
According to Universal Music Australia, Midnights is the most-streamed album in a week in ARIA history, and the biggest-ever vinyl sales debut, shifting over 10,000 vinyl units in week one.
The song that ruins TayTay’s chance at a top 10 sweep is Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ former leader “Unholy” (Capitol/Universal), which dips 1-7 on the ARIA Singles Chart. With the exception of Smith and Petras’ collaboration, Swift locks down every ARIA chart position from No. 1 through to No. 14. Remarkably, she’s in possession of the only debuts on the latest singles frame — 13 of them.
“Anti-Hero” is Swift’s ninth No. 1 ARIA Single, and fourth in the past two years, most recently with “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” in 2021.
The U.S. pop star is shortlisted for the fan-voted best international artist category at the 2022 ARIA Awards, having won the pointed trophy in 2019 and 2021.
Parking at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, published Oct. 28, is Arctic Monkeys’ The Car (Domino Recordings/EMI). Though the Sheffield, England alternative rock band misses out on the crown, Alex Turner and Co. keep alive a streak that has seen all seven studio albums placed in the top 5, with three reaching the zenith.
Meanwhile, Australia’s pop royalty Kylie Minogue returns to the chart with Impossible Princess, which enjoys the reissue treatment for its 25th anniversary through Warner Music. Impossible Princess drops in at No. 3.
The top five is completed by two new classical crossover albums, Andrea, Matteo and Virginia Bocelli’s A Family Christmas (Decca/Universal), and Anthony Callea’s Forty Love (BMG), respectively.
Also new to the top 10 this week is Architects‘ tenth album Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit (Epitaph Record/RKT), at No. 8. The British metalcore band will support the album in these parts with a national tour in February 2023.
Kenshi Yonezu dropped the music video accompanying his new song “KICK BACK,” the opener for the popular anime series Chainsaw Man.
The “Lemon” hitmaker’s latest track hit No. 1 on five Billboard Japan charts — the Japan Hot 100, Top Streaming Songs, Top Download Songs, Hot Animation and Top User Generated Songs — after its release on Oct. 12 at midnight.
Thirty-year-old music producer Daiki Tsuneta of King Gnu and millennium parade, who co-arranged the song with Yonezu, appears in the music video alongside the 31-year-old singer-songwriter. The visuals released Wednesday (Oct. 26) sees Yonezu frantically working out at a gym to outperform a cool rival played by Tsuneta, taking a mind-bending turn when Yonezu begins running on a treadmill and ending with a final, chilling twist.
The video was directed by 31-year-old photographer and visual artist Yoshiyuki Okuyama, who worked with Yonezu on his artist photos and the award-winning music video for “Kanden.”
Watch the “KICK BACK” video below:
In 2021, collections began to rise again after their all-time low the year before due to COVID-19 and its restrictions on travel and live music, according to the International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies (CISAC). Still, in its annual report for 2021, CISAC has found music collections for its worldwide membership are still down 5.1% from pre-pandemic levels as live and public performance income struggles to regain footing. For 2021, collections totaled €9.58 billion ($11.33 billion) compared to €9.32 billion ($10.64 billion) in 2020.
However, there is reason to be optimistic for future reports: CISAC has found that concerts and festivals appear to be faring well in 2022 so far, and the tourism industry is eyeing 2023-2024 as a target for a return to normal collections. Japan in particular has become a thought leader in pandemic recovery, offering its citizens discounts, coupons and subsidies for domestic travel to stimulate the economy. This, CISAC says, helped the return of large scale festivals like Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic. In South America, major festivals and tours like Rock in Rio and Lollapalooza are also expected to have a strong impact on 2022’s forthcoming numbers for live music in its region.
Though in-person events were reported as off to a slow start for 2021, streaming and digital music income is “exceeding expectations” with a 27.5% increase in collections from €2.40 billion ($2.74 billion) in 2020 to €3.06 billion ($3.62 billion) in 2021. This makes digital income an unprecedented high 36.1% share of the total music collections for 2021. Futuresource, the company which provides the data for CISAC’s report, anticipates further grow with double digit hikes in music subscriptions year over year and that there will be over 1 billion music subscribers by 2026.
Subscription numbers for streaming video on demand (SVOD) are expected to falter amid inflation, recession and what they call the “cost of living crisis,” but subscriptions for music are expected to be more impermeable because users only need to pay for one service to receive a rapidly growing catalog of songs rather than paying for multiple services, each with exclusive, smaller libraries.
As Marcelo Castello Branco, CISAC chair of the board and CEO of Brazilian collection management organization União Brasileira de Compositores, wrote in his foreword for his report, “subscription prices are already undervalued and need to be raised.” His comments come just after Apple Music announced that it was raising its subscription price, as did YouTube for the price of its family plan earlier this month. More price hikes for music streaming subscriptions are expected in the coming months with some eyeing Spotify’s long awaited hifi tier as a way to up its price.
When speaking to Billboard about the report, Branco said, “as streaming services move into a more mature phase, it is the right time to review pricing policies for the future…We also need to keep the share of revenue paid to the songwriter constantly under review. This is a fundamental concern.”
Another concern flagged by CISAC leadership: data management or “metadata.” As digital becomes a more and more pivotal piece of rights holders’ income for mechanical and performance royalties, CISAC president and ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus says he estimates “hundreds of millions of dollars… is left on the table” when the data needed to identify and remunerate creators is incomplete or missing.
This can stem from ignorance on the part of composers, honest mistakes and typos, or incomplete information for songs that are released before samples and interpolations are properly cleared. Issues with metadata are expected to continue to rise if left unchecked as more and more artists and songwriters hold out on signing deals with companies who can handle these headaches for them, opting for the DIY route. Not to mention the sheer volume of songs being released has risen significantly in the past decade.
This year, Universal Music Group (UMG) CEO Lucian Grainge told a crowd at Music Matters, a conference in Singapore, that 100,000 new songs are added to streaming platforms each day, most of which are likely from do-it-yourself newcomers. While Ulvaeus notes that work to upgrade ISWC, the identifier for musical works, and educational initiatives like “Credits Due” are helping alleviate this problem, there is still a long way to go.
Certain collection societies are independently working on solutions to this issue. The newfound Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), which is not a member of CISAC, is attempting to match unclaimed mechanical royalties in the U.S. to their rightful owners. In Japan, rights society JASRAC has founded KENDRIX, a data exchange platform to protect authors from “impersonation and other abuses,” says its president Kazumasa Izawa.
Some countries, like South Korea, were greatly affected by systemic changes — some positive, some negative. KOMCA, the country’s collection society, proved to have a success story this year as changes in its digital collection rules led to increased promotion of music subscriptions by the major music platforms. However, in Bulgaria, authors are faced with continued “poor enforcement” of copyright ownership from its authorities, and in Argentina and Brazil, fluctuations in currency exchange rates left its composers and publishers negatively affected.
Brazil’s collection society found that half of the country’s musicians had lost all of their income due to lockdown restrictions over the last few years, and half of the musicians have been forced to find another professional activity.
Live income for 2021, CISAC found, grossed €1.49 billion ($1.76 billion), only up 0.1% from the €1.49 billion ($1.70 billion) made in 2020. Compared to 2019 levels, which Billboard reported as €$3.04 billion, the aftermath of a global pandemic remains stark.
Television and radio, also known as broadcast, income remains the highest revenue source for music publishing, bringing in €3.19 billion ($3.78 billion) for 2021, but its lead fell by 1.8% from 2020, giving way as users ditched their cable boxes and car radios in favor of on-demand listening and viewing options. This is the fifth successive year of steady decline for this category and weaker advertising rates in some markets have now translated into lower usage fees; still, it accounted for 38% of global collections. Digital only lags two percentage points behind it now.
Systemic shifts also led to two major bright spots in the steadily waning sector of broadcast income. Mexico’s broadcast collections rose by 47.8% after a judicial process concluded in the order for satellite broadcaster, SKY, to pay significant royalties in back payment to musicians. Spain’s broadcast income also rose 47.6% due to agreements signed with the main private TV networks in the country. Unlike many other regions, Spain’s advertising revenues were up in 2021 (though still well-below pre-pandemic levels).
CISAC President Björn Ulvaeus: “Digital royalties collected by CISAC societies are growing impressively, but the streaming world is still unfinished business when it comes to ensuring a fair environment to earn a living.” Read the Global Collections Reporthttps://t.co/rI6rB2PRFn pic.twitter.com/42hcnGcAeJ
— CISACNews (@CISACNews) October 27, 2022
CDs, video and vinyl experienced gains this year, up 3.1% from 2020’s €348 million ($397.21 million) to 2021’s €359 million ($424.66 million). Though it’s only 4.2% of total music collections, this small but gaining subset of the business is expected to grow as the vinyl boom continues. As Billboard recently reported, Nashville, Tennessee is ramping up production on new, higher capacity vinyl pressing plants to meet consumer demand after superstars like Adele and Taylor Swift sell massive swathes of vinyl to mostly American and European consumers.
CISAC also included a number of more minor forms of income for mechanical and performing royalties for the music business in its 2021 report as well:
Private Copying Assessment: this category rose an impressive 15.3% for 2021, from $283.0 million in 2020 to $338.31 million in 2021. This represents just 3.4% of the total CISAC society music collections for the year.
Sync: this is up 6.9% this year, from $30 million in 2020 to $33.12 million in 2021. This represents just 0.3% of the total CISAC society music collections for the year.
Rental and Public Lending: collections are down 16.4% this year, from $14 million in 2020 to $33.12 million in 2021. This represents just 0.1% of the total CISAC society music collections for the year.
Publication: collections are up 6.2% this year, from $6.45 million in 2020 to $7.10 million in 2021. This represents just 0.1% of the total CISAC society music collections for the year.
Repography: collections are up 38% this year, from $2.48 million in 2020 to $3.55 million in 2021. This represents less than 0.01% of the total CISAC society music collections for the year.
Looking at the largest countries by music collection size, the U.S. ranked No. 1 again for 2021 with a 23.6% market share, down from 2020’s 27% market share. It has grown collections by 3.5% and increased collections to €2.004 billion from €2.21 billion in 2020.
France, ranked No. 2 with a 11.2% market share, grew 5.4% to €951 million from €902 million in 2019
Japan, ranked No. 3 with a 9.6% market share, declined 2.8% to €818 million from €842 million in 2020.
The U.K., ranked No. 4 with a 9.6% market share, grew a whopping 33.1% to €813 million from €611 million in 2019
Germany, ranked No. 5 with a 9% market share, grew 4% to €766 million from €736 million in 2020
Italy, ranked No. 6 with a 3.6% market share went down -0.2% to €308 million from €310 million in 2020. That year the report showed Italy had fallen a precipitous 35.1% from €477.66 million in 2019
Canada, which switched with Australia to rise to No. 7 with a 3.2% market share, rose 14.0% to €268 from €242 million in 2020
Australia, which swapped with Canada to fall to No. 8 with a 3.1% market share, rose 9.1% to €264 million from €235 million in 2020
South Korea, which from No. 10 to No. 9 this year with a 2.4% market share, grew by 16% to €201 million up from €173 million in 2020
Spain, which rose to No. 10 with a 2.3% market share, rose 26.6% to €199 million from €184 million in 2020
A notable gain below the top ten countries is Scandinavia. Denmark, ranked No. 12, grew by 10.2%, Sweden, ranked No. 13, grew by 21.5%; Norway, ranked No. 18, grew by 33.5%; and Finland, ranked No. 19, grew by 9.4% for 2021. CISAC attributes this to the region’s high share of digital income compared to other countries which helped them weather the continued pandemic effects.
Below features a list of additional emerging markets that gained double digit growth in 2021. Though CISAC does not explain why each of these nations have experienced such success in the last year, the report does include that Indonesia, Thailand, and India’s growth can thank digital and streaming gains and that Mexico benefitted from the aforementioned settlement with broadcaster SKY.
Mexico, ranked no. 17, which gained 10% to achieve a 1.1% marketshare for 2021
China, ranked No. 22, rose a significant 12.3% to hold 0.6% marketshare for 2021
Czech Republic, ranked No. 24, grew 19.1% to achieve 0.5% marketshare for 2021
South Africa, ranked No. 26, grew 10.1% to hold 0.4% marketshare for 2021
India, ranked No. 28, grew a whopping 73.8% to hold 0.4% marketshare for 2021
Chile, ranked 32, grew 23.8% to hold 0.3% marketshare for 2021
Turkey, ranked No. 33, gained 37.1% to hold 0.3% marketshare for 2021
Malaysia, ranked No. 38, grew 31.3% to hold 0.2% marketshare for 2021
Thailand, ranked No. 39 grew 68.8% to hold 0.1% marketshare for 2021
Greece, ranked No. 43, grew 46% to hold 0.1% marketshare for 2021
Indonesia, ranked No. 46, grew 59.4% to also hold 0.1% marketshare for 2021
Visit cisac.org for more.
Chris Hemsworth is lending his considerable star power to Ausmusic T-Shirt Day, an annual fundraising campaign that encourage music fans to buy a shirt, wear it, share it and donate.
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Hemsworth, who plays “Thor” in a succession of blockbuster Marvel films, and is recognized as the highest-paid Australian actor, is an ambassador for the music-meets-fashion project, which takes place across Australia on Nov. 18.
The Aussie actor fronts a new marketing campaign, which launched last week and was created pro bono by Mushroom Creative House.
“This Ausmusic T-Shirt Day we not only want you to show your support by wearing a t-shirt with your favorite Aussie artist on it, but we also want you to donate to the cause.”
For the exercise, Hemsworth wears a Teskey Brothers t-shirt, in honor of the ARIA and APRA Award winning blues-rock band from Melbourne, led by Josh and Sam Teskey.
Hemsworth joins more than 30 stars of Australian music, screen and stage who’ve assembled for the initiative, including Darren Hayes, Kylie Minogue, Cub Sport and Jessica Mauboy, who is also announced Thursday (Oct. 27) as an ambassador.
The campaign is soundtracked by The Chats’ “AC/DC CD,” and will splash across Australian TV and social media channels from next week.
Funds raised will flow to Support Act, the Australian music industry charity which supports musicians, managers, crew and music workers through crisis relief, mental health and wellbeing programs.
“Chris Hemsworth has always been a big supporter of Australian Music, wearing a Teskey Brothers t-shirt in this year’s campaign,” says Clive Miller, CEO of Support Act, “so to have someone of his standing alongside such an incredible artist as Jess Mauboy, really takes our fundraiser and awareness of music workers in need to the next level.”
Ausmusic T-Shirt is supported by ARIA and celebrated across triple j, Double J and the ABC as part of Ausmusic Month. The 2021 edition raised more than A$500,000 ($325,000) for good causes, a record sum for the campaign. This year, organizers are targeting A$750,000, with almost A$85,000 of that pledged at the time of writing.
To find out more visit ausmusictshirtday.org.au and supportact.org.au, and use the hashtag #AusMusicTshirtDay.
Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” rises 3-1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Oct. 26, increasing streams by over 50 percent from the week before.
The theme of the Fuji TV drama series silent debuted at No. 3 last week with 9,905,2947 weekly streams and racked up 18,116,526 this week (No. 1 for the metric), jumping 54.7 percent to climb to the top of the chart. The track was also boosted by downloads (No. 2), video views and radio airplay (No. 4), while also coming in at No. 46 for Twitter mentions.
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Last week’s No. 1 song, Kenshi Yonezu’s “KICK BACK,” slips to No. 2. While the Chainsaw Man opener also increased streams (from 12,556,627 to 15,735,232, up by 25.3 percent, No. 2) this week and topped downloads, it couldn’t overcome the difference between “Subtitle” with the other metrics of the chart’s methodology: No. 5 for radio, No. 6 for Twitter, No. 92 for karaoke, No. 100 for video.
This week saw a number of titles launching with high CD sales, with four songs bowing in the top 10 of the Japan Hot 100. AKB48’s “Hisashiburi no Lip Gloss” topped sales with 429,419 copies sold and THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE’s “Tsunagekizuna” followed with 142,364 copies sold. “Lip Gloss” came in at No. 7 for look-ups — the number of times a CD is ripped to a computer — No. 9 for Twitter, and No. 70 for radio, while “Tsunagekizuna” topped radio and came in at No. 2 for Twitter, No. 45 for look-ups and No. 64 for streaming. The latter managed to flip the difference in physical sales with the total points gained from other metrics, debuting at No. 3 on the Japan Hot 100 while “Lip Gloss” followed at No. 4.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, Twitter mentions, YouTube and GYAO! video views, Gracenote look-ups and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Oct. 17 to 23, here.
Rita Ora and writer, director, and actor Taika Waititi will host the 2022 MTV EMAs, which are set to broadcast live from Düsseldorf, Germany on Sunday, Nov. 13. Harry Styles is this year’s top nominee. Ora previously hosted the EMAs in 2017.
Ora reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014 as a featured artist on Iggy Azalea’s “Black Widow.” Waititi won both an Oscar and a Grammy for his work on the 2020 film Jojo Rabbit. His Oscar was for best adapted screenplay; his Grammy, for best compilation soundtrack for visual media.
“I’m thrilled to be back hosting, and sharing the stage with Taika makes it all the more special,” Ora said in a statement. “We’ve got it all at this year’s EMAs, fun surprises, fantastic fashion, comedy, and above all amazing music!”
“Rita Ora is a long-time MTV/EMA favorite and together with the multi-talented Taika Waititi, we’re absolutely certain this powerhouse duo will set the stage for one electrifying night of global music celebration,” said Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming and events at Paramount, and chief content officer of music for Paramount+.
The 2022 MTV EMAs will broadcast live on MTV in more than 170 countries and on Pluto TV in select territories across the U.S., Latin America and Europe and Comedy Central in Germany on Nov. 13. It will be available on Paramount+ and Pluto TV globally beginning Nov. 14.
Fans can vote for their favorites across 17 gender-neutral categories at www.mtvema.com until Nov. 9, at 11:59 p.m. CET. There are two new categories this year — best longform video and best metaverse performance.
Gillmer and Richard Godfrey are executive producers of the 2022 MTV EMAs. Debbie Phillips and Chloe Mason are producers.
Midnights is on the brink of earning Taylor Swift a rare U.K. chart double.
Swift’s 10th studio album dropped last Friday (Oct. 21) and immediately caught fire on streaming platforms, smashing Spotify’s global 24-hour record. There’s a lot of love for Midnights (via EMI) in the U.K., with the album pushing past 140,000 combined sales in just three days, good enough for the best opening-week result for any title this year.
Midnights should dominate the singles chart, too.
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Based on midweek sales and streaming data captured by the Official Charts Company, Swift is on the brink of a 1-2-3. Currently, Midnights track “Anti-Hero” leads the chart blast, ahead of “Lavender Blaze” and “Snow on the Beach,” respectively.
Swift should unseat Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” (EMI), ending its four-week run at the top. “Unholy” slips 1-4 on the midweek survey, ahead of David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” (via Parlophone), down 2-5.
The challenger to Midnights is Arctic Monkeys’ The Car (Domino Recordings). Like Midnights, The Car powers the full complement of three Arctic Monkeys songs into the midweek chart, with “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am” new at No. 16, “Sculptures of Anything Goes” new at No. 17 and “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” reentering at No. 20.
Meanwhile, two versions of “Miss You” continue to impact the U.K. top 40. Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz’s version, released by Atlantic Records, rises 12-10 on the Official Chart Update, while Southstar’s version, via B1/Ministry of Sound, dips 26-27.
Southstar has accused his fellow German Schulz of releasing a “copycat version,” a claim that places Sony Music and Warner Music at loggerheads. WMG’s Atlantic Records has responded. “Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz’s version of ‘Miss You’ is the definitive version of the song that uses both the recording and underlying composition from Oliver Tree’s original track ‘Jerk,’ says an Atlantic Records U.S. spokesperson via email. “Southstar remixed ‘Jerk’ without permission and then released a version with re-recorded vocals to avoid fully compensating Oliver Tree and his label.”
Further down, Joel Corry and Tom Grennan are eyeing another U.K. top 40 with “Lionheart (Fearless)” (via Atlantic), which starts at No. 36 on the chart update. If it holds its position, “Lionheart” would give Corry a ninth top 40 appearance, and Grennan a seventh.
Finally, Meghan Trainor’s “Made You Look” (Atlantic) appears to be en route to the top 40. It’s at No. 37 on the chart blast, and should enjoy a nudge following Trainor’s performance of the song Monday (Oct. 24) on The Tonight Show.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday.
The chart race of the year is only halfway complete, though Taylor Swift’s Midnights is already strides ahead of the pack.
Swift’s tenth studio album and Arctic Monkeys’ seventh studio set, The Car, are both blockbusters that would win almost any U.K. chart battle.
This is no ordinary chart cycle. It’s a heavyweight bout, with both sets notching well over 100,000 chart copies in just three days.
At the midweek point, Midnights has more than 140,000 chart units to secure the advantage. That sum gives Midnights the best start for any album this year, bettering the 113,000 chart units accumulated by Harry Styles’ Harry’s House across its first full week, the OCC reports.
The Car is some distance behind in second place on the Official Chart Update, with 105,000 chart units – an exceptional result for any other week.
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If Midnights stays on target, it will hand Swift her ninth U.K. No. 1 following Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017), Lover (2019), Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (2021) and Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021). Also, the U.S. artist could swoop in for a chart double; she holds the top three spots on the singles chart update, led by “Anti-Hero.”
Meanwhile, Arctic Monkeys enjoy a spotless streak of six consecutive career No. 1s, starting with their 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not, and continuing with 2007’s Favourite Worst Nightmare, 2009’s Humbug, 2011’s Suck It And See, 2013’s AM, and 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Frontman Alex Turner has eight in the row, including his side project, the Last Shadow Puppets.
Based on midweek sales and streaming data published by the OCC, South London artist Loyle Carner could come at No. 3 with his third album, Hugo; veteran Scottish band Simple Minds’ 19th record Direction of the Heart could bow at No. 4; and Australian pop star Kylie Minogue’s sixth studio LP Impossible Princess could return to the chart at No. 5, thanks to a 25th anniversary edition. Impossible Princess originally peaked at No. 10 following its release in 1997.
Norwegian ‘80s pop trio a-ha is set for a return to the U.K. survey this week with True North, new at No. 6 on the chart blast. If True North stays put, it would become the “Take On Me” singers’ highest-charting studio LP in the U.K. since 2009’s Foot of the Mountain went to No. 5.
Finally, Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen is on track for her career chart peak in the U.K. with The Loneliest Time, eyeing a No. 7 berth; while British alternative-rocker act Dry Cleaning is aiming for a second top 10 appearance with Stumpwork, on track for a No. 8 start.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday (Oct. 28).
Billboard Japan launched its Women in Music initiative this year, following the established example of Billboard’s annual Women in Music issue that has continued since 2007. A series of interviews focusing on women in the Japanese music industry is being released as one of the first projects under Japan’s Women in Music banner, which will encompass multiple projects, including interviews, live performances and panel discussions.
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Japanese rapper AKKOGORILLA, who named her first album released in 2018 GRRRLISM as an homage to the Riot Grrrl movement, coined the word based on her urge to “transcend the image of [a female rapper] representing girls.” The theme of the 34-year-old’s mini-album Magma I released in June is “something no one can touch / something everyone has.” The trailblazing solo artist who has consistently sent out messages that transcend various categories such as gender, age and nationality sat down with Billboard Japan for an in-depth interview exploring her journey so far.
You’ve been sending out messages of becoming liberated from categorization and biases through various avenues. When did you first feel the need to do so?
Even before I started music, I was uncomfortable with the idea of being pigeonholed as a girl. When I was in junior high, I saw guys wearing oversized sweatshirts and such in the popular drama series Ikebukuro West Gate Park and just loved it so much. Not love as in romantically interested, but in the sense that I wanted to be like them. I also really loved the anime series Lupin the Third, but wanted to be like [the male protagonist] Lupin III, not [the female frenemy] Fujiko Mine. But this was a time when lookism was still socially unchecked, with the media praising women equipped with typically feminine qualities and articles featuring how to dress so that men will be attracted to you and stuff like that. I also liked fashion magazines, so I was influenced by such values as well and felt really trapped.
How did you pull yourself out of that state?
I think I’m still a mess! [Laughs] When I was feeling trapped, there was also a part of me that said, “Why don’t I just do whatever I want?” I started going to live shows when I entered high school and came across [Japanese two-women band] AFRIRAMPO. I saw them live and felt really excited because they were so cool. I’m not sure how to say it, but something clicked. I began listening to different kinds of music from there and came across [British all-women band] The Slits. The jacket of their album Cut shows the members standing in a row with their upper bodies exposed, and they did it because they felt like doing it, not because someone told them to. They showed me another side of this world. Those influences inspired me to start a band and I played the drums. But there was also a part of me that thought my boyfriend would dump me if he saw the way I was letting myself go all out onstage because it wasn’t cute.
So you were still in the midst of confusion. How did you go from there to becoming a rapper and calling yourself AKKOGORILLA?
I played the drums in a band called HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and was thinking how if we disbanded and I wanted to continue playing music, I’d have to become a studio musician but didn’t have the skill for that. So I began considering a solo career. As a process of ascertaining what I liked, I started out by vocalizing, kind of like therapy, and was rapping before I realized it. Since I was originally a drummer, the act of loudly vocalizing my feelings was a counter for me. Back then, there were far fewer female rappers [in Japan] than there are today. People asked me why I started rapping all of a sudden, but I really had no idea why. [Laughs]
Was there a specific reason why you became aware of gender biases and gender gaps?
That’s definitely when I started competing in MC battles. My [male] opponents would insult me with stuff like, “You must have slept your way to the top” or just plain “you’re ugly” in front of a crowd. If it were between men, the battle would be about picking apart the details of the rapping itself, but female rappers were still uncommon so they honed in on the “being a woman” part. As I was answering them, I gradually began putting into words the sense of discomfort I originally had within myself. But at that time, I didn’t want to call myself a feminist. I hadn’t read up on feminism at all and had this arbitrary image of it being something uncool.
You’re now pretty open about being a feminist. How did your feelings change up to that point?
I do consider myself a feminist now. Before I got to that point, I expressed my discomfort in my own words by writing songs like “Ultragender” and making up words like GRRRLISM. But my biases were based on half-baked knowledge, so I figured I should understand the meaning of the term [feminism] properly by thinking about it with my own mind. After I learned about it, I became convinced that I’m a feminist. Thinking for myself and being myself is what hip-hop means to me, so the fact that I’ve been publicly vocal about being a feminist means I’m taking hip-hop seriously.
Do people react differently now that you declare yourself a feminist?
I’ve received a variety of reactions. I’ve been told things like, “I like your rapping, but you’re going in a bad direction.” I don’t care what strangers say, but it was hard when people closer to me couldn’t understand.
How did you deal with that?
I did my best to be open with them! Some people came around that way, and some didn’t. But things have changed dramatically over the past few years, and the concepts I was putting out in GRRRLISM are considered normal now by the younger generation I meet at concert venues. To be honest, I’ve forgotten what it was like when people didn’t accept my way of thinking. If anyone makes fun of another person’s sexuality out of ignorance in front of me, though, I’ll confront them head-on and talk to them about it.
While it does feel like times are changing, some values remain the same, and the percentage of women in the Japanese music industry is still small. What do you think are the obstacles?
I think what’s important for minorities to stop being minorities is how the people who aren’t [the minorities] behave. In Japan, when someone who isn’t on the receiving end of gender gaps or discrimination against minorities speaks out and says, “This is wrong,” they’re immediately treated like some bossy class representative or something. There’s a widespread sentiment that only those who are party to the issue are allowed to speak out, but that isn’t true. Unless the people who aren’t party to the issue do better, the world isn’t going to change.
Is there anything you rely on to keep you going?
For me, performing live is the best way to take care of myself. I love those moments when my feelings burst out. I also like seeing people bursting with emotion. So I love live performances the most.
—This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan.
Taylor Swift’s Midnights is already a record-setter. Now, Swift’s new studio album is set to crush the U.K. charts.
Based on sales and streaming data from the first 48 hours in the cycle, Swift could snag the top three spots on the Official U.K. Chart.
Swift’s “Anti-Hero” leads the chart blast and is on track to give the U.S. singing star her second U.K. leader, after 2017’s “Look What You Made Me Do.”
“Anti-Hero” got a push with its official music video, which dropped Friday (Oct. 21), following the release proper of Midnights. Swifties were already tuned-into the track, thanks to the singer previously declaring it “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” adding “I really don’t think I’ve delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before.”
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According to the Official Charts Company, Midnights opener “Lavender Haze” is “not far behind” in second spot on the First Look chart, followed by her Lana Del Rey collaboration “Snow On The Beach,” at No. 3.
Those three songs would represent the limit Midnights and its tracks could impact the singles chart. Based on criteria introduced in 2017, acts can have only their three most popular tracks feature in the Official Singles Chart Top 100, a move intended to prevent mega-stars’ albums from flooding the survey.
“Snow On The Beach,” notes the OCC, could secure Del Rey a fifth U.K. top 10 appearance, and first since 2019 collaboration “Don’t Call Me Angel,” with Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus, which peaked at No. 2.
Midnights bolted out the gate. The set is officially the most-streamed album worldwide in a single day in Spotify history.
If Midnights is crowned on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, when it’s published Friday (Oct. 28), it would be Swift’s ninth leader. Arctic Monkeys, which has swept the U.K. chart with every studio album release, is expected to challenge Swift with their own latest album, The Car.
Meanwhile, two tracks from The Car are set to drive into the U.K. top 20. “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am” is poised to bow at No. 14, the OCC reports, with “Sculptures of Anything Goes” close behind at No. 15.
The midweek U.K. singles and albums surveys will be revealed late Monday (Oct. 24), local time.