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JO1’s “WHERE DO WE GO” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Oct. 9, tallying the week ending Oct. 6.
The title track of JO1’s ninth single debuted at No. 31 on the chart dated Sept. 18 after being released digitally on Sept. 9. It remained in the Japan Hot 100 since then and soared 73-1 powered by sales with the release of the CD on Oct. 2. The track rules sales this week while coming in at No. 4 for downloads, No. 36 for streaming, No. 2 for radio airplay, and No. 29 for video views. The CD sold 732,009 copies, coming in second to the group’s previous single “HITCHHIKER” (738,776 copies), currently the record-holder for highest first-week sales for the band.
SKE48’s “Kokuhaku Shinpakusu” debuts at No. 2. The group’s 33rd single launched with 319,722 copies to come in at No. 2 for sales, while hitting No. 64 for radio.
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Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” slips a notch to No. 3. The former No. 1 hit continues to rule streaming for the 16th straight week, though showing a slight decrease (94%) from the week before. The track comes in at No. 3 for video, No. 15 for downloads, and No. 5 for karaoke.
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ATEEZ’s “Birthday” bows at No. 4. The title track off the K-pop boy band’s fourth single in Japan sold 154,296 copies in its first week to debut at No. 3 for sales. The track also comes in at No. 93 for downloads and No. 65 for radio. No. 4 on the Japan Hot 100 is tied for the group’s best position so far, previously achieved by “NOT OKAY.”
King & Prince’s “WOW” enters at No. 5. The track off the duo’s sixth album Re:ERA dropped digitally on Sept. 30 and rules downloads and radio, while also coming in at No. 25 for video. This is the second time King & Prince topped downloads, following “halfmoon.”
Official HIGE DANdism’s “Same Blue” debuts at No. 7. The opener for the anime series Blue Box comes in at No. 2 for downloads (11,375 units), No. 4 for radio, No. 20 for video, and No. 27 for streaming.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
HARU NEMURI dropped her collaborative EP with Frost Children called Soul Kiss on Oct. 4, and also shared the new music video accompanying “Burn,” a track off the project. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Frost Children is a duo based in New York, consisting of siblings […]
Wagakki Band shocked fans earlier this year when it announced that the group will be going on hiatus indefinitely after Dec. 31, 2024. The eight-member band has forged out a singular space in J-pop music through its unique ensemble including traditional Japanese instruments and featuring the distinctive singing style of frontwoman Yuko Suzuhana. After a decade of enjoying brilliant success both in its home country and abroad, the group has summed up its career so far in a best-of collection, called ALL TIME BEST ALBUM THANKS – Yasou no Oto -.
Wagakki Band members Suzuhana, Beni Ninagawa (Tsugaru-shamisen), Kurona (wadaiko, Japanese drums), Machiya (guitar & vocals), and Wasabi (drums) sat down with Billboard Japan and spoke candidly about why they chose to take a break on their anniversary year, and the process of producing the 18-track greatest hits album that also includes re-recorded versions of familiar hits and two new songs.
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The announcement that the band would be taking a break indefinitely took me by surprise when it came out in January. Could you tell us how you came to that decision?
Yuko Suzuhana: We formed Wagakki Band and made our debut in less than a year and spent an extremely busy ten years since. But at the time we first got started, all the members each had their own bands or were doing solo work. Wagakki Band suddenly attracted a lot of attention, so we stopped everything else we’d been doing until then and poured everything into this project. We’d been discussing for over a year about how it might be a good idea to stop the band for the time being and focus on our individual activities.
Beni Ninagawa: We figured we’d do our best until the end of our tenth year, then after that, we needed some time to reflect on ourselves and further improve our skills. It’s a positive decision that will allow us to get together again after we’ve improved and make even better music.
Suzuhana: The band wasn’t going downhill, so the timing of the announcement might have come as a surprise for some, but we said the hiatus would be indefinite simply because we haven’t set a time limit. This news is being inaccurately reported, especially outside of Japan, that we’re disbanding and I’ve received many inquiries from overseas.
Listening to this greatest hits album, I was touched by how it traces the history of your past ten years in a very dramatic way.
Machiya: We didn’t want to make a best-of album that just lined up our famous hits. Since it’s the tenth anniversary of our debut, we decided to re-record some of our early releases and make the collection into a retrospective of the ten years we’ve spent with our fans. It’s a pretty conceptual structure that allows you to trace our history by listening to the songs in release order.
Ninagawa: What’s more, the earlier songs that we re-recorded have a completely different sound quality compared to the original recordings, so that’s something for our fans to enjoy.
Wasabi: In particular, the original version of “Rokuchounen to Ichiya Monogatari” sounds quite light. There are parts where we should have made more solid, but it’s a fast-paced song and we weren’t able to express that at the time. But thanks to the things we’ve cultivated over the past decade, we’ve finally been able to give it shape, and I think you can feel the weight of our ten years in the sound.
After listening to the re-recorded version, I was struck by the magnitude of the wadaiko’s presence.
Kurona: Rock music can be made with just a guitar, bass and drums, so traditional Japanese instruments aren’t really necessary. But in this band, they can’t just be discreetly included; they have to become indispensable and the sounds should be there because they’re necessary. There were no precedents before Wagakki Band and we’re still the only ones that do this… We’re still in the process of trial and error.
The tracks “Rokuchounen to Ichiya Monogatari (Re-Recording)” and “Senbonzakura (Re-Recording)” were released digitally ahead of the album. My phrases and calls haven’t changed at all since (the original), but maybe because the way we recorded has changed, I’ve had people tell me that they think I’ve added more wadaiko phrases and calls. In that sense, I feel that my trials and the results of how to make Japanese instruments sound richer, including the significance of my own presence, are expressed in these re-recorded versions.
“GIFT” is a positive up-tempo new song credited to Yuko.
Suzuhana: I imagined what I’d be like, what kind of melody I’d like to be singing at the end of our tenth anniversary before the break. I came up with a positive, bright melody and tempo in a day or so, and wrote it on the piano. I named it “Gift” because this band was a gift to me. My life changed completely thanks to this band, and of course I hope that the music we eight members created will also be a gift to our fans. So this song is about how the existence of Wagakki Band has changed all of our lives for the better.
Ninagawa: Everything we want to convey is packed into this song, isn’t it?
Machiya: If you listen to this song after reading this interview, you might be able to see that our hiatus is a bit different from what those who interpreted it as a negative move thought it would be.
The other new song, “Yasou Emaki,” is credited to Wagakki Band.
Machiya: What’s different about this best-of album from previous ones is that we asked our fans which songs they wanted included. We made the selection based mainly on the top answers from the survey, but those songs are to be expected, right? Among the top 100, there were lots of tracks in the midrange that didn’t make the cut. We wanted to meet the expectations of our fans who voted for such songs, so we started working on this new track with the idea of mashing them up as much as possible. I was the one who did all the actual work, but we made it together in that it samples phrases that we all made, so we put it out under the name Wagakki Band for the first time.
I’ve forgotten how many I ended up using, but I took samples of over 80 songs. I exported all the melodies and chords in the same key, and then spent about two weeks extracting the words from them.
You’ll be touring from November to December with this album and wrapping up your decade of music for the time being. Can your fans expect the tour to be a joyful celebration?
Kurona: We know that our fans have bought tickets with some sadness and feeling of loss about our break in the corner of their minds, so we want to make sure that the shows will outlast those feelings for as long as possible. We want people who were feeling down to go home with a brighter outlook, saying things like, “I had a great time” and “I’m glad I came today.” To that end, we’ll put on an even cooler show than ever before.
“ALL TIME BEST ALBUM THANKS – Yasou no Oto -” is streaming now https://wgb.lnk.to/thanks_digital. Click here for information on tickets to “WAGAKKIBAND Japan Tour 2024 THANKS-YASO NO OTO-” Tokyo show on Dec. 10 for overseas residents https://wagakkiband.com/contents/857663.
—This interview by Tomokazu Nishibiro first appeared on Billboard Japan
Coldplay’s Moon Music has stormed to the top of the U.K. Albums Chart upon its release, becoming the fastest-selling album of the year by a British act, U.K. Official Charts can confirm.
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In just 72 hours, the band’s latest album has already sold over 160,000 chart units, setting Coldplay on course for their 10th consecutive No. 1 studio album, as per the latest Chart blast.
It marks the biggest first-week sales in the U.K. for a British act since Adele’s 30 in 2021, which debuted with 261,000 chart units. If Coldplay maintains this momentum, they might edge closer to Taylor Swift’s record, which claimed the fastest-selling album of 2024 with The Tortured Poets Department, which moved 270,000 chart units in its first week.
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It marks the biggest first-week sales in the U.K. for a British act since Adele’s 30 in 2021, which debuted with 261,000 chart units. If Coldplay maintains this momentum, they might edge closer to Taylor Swift’s record, who claimed the fastest-selling album of 2024 with The Tortured Poets Department.
Public Service Broadcasting are eyeing their third Top 10 album with The Last Flight, which is currently at No. 2, while The Smile — an offshoot of Radiohead — follows closely with their latest effort Cutouts at No. 3. James Bay’s Changes All The Time is also expected to land in the Top 5.
The 1975’s Being Funny In A Foreign Language is projected for a re-entry into the Top 10 at No. 6, driven by the release of an exclusive liquid-filled vinyl.
Alison Moyet is on track for her first Top 10 album in over a decade with Key, marking a triumphant return for the singer-songwriter.
In the lower half of the Top 10, Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II (No. 8) and Jake Bugg’s A Modern Day Distraction (No. 10) are set for strong debuts.
Further down the chart, FINNEAS could score his first Top 40 album with For Cryin’ Out Loud!, predicted to debut at No. 20. Caribou’s Honey is on track to become the Canadian producer’s third Top 40 album, while indie favorite Orla Gartland is set to land her second Top 40 album with Everybody Needs A Hero (No. 25).
Elsewhere, former Black Midi frontman Geordie Greep’s debut solo album The New Sound is on course for a Top 40 debut (No. 31), and Leon Bridges’ Leon follows closely behind at No. 34.
Stay tuned as Coldplay’s Moon Music battles to cement its place as the year’s biggest release in the U.K., with Friday’s final chart reveal set to determine if they’ll match or surpass Swift’s 2024 milestone.
It seems everything Shed Seven touches turns to Liquid Gold, with the rockers scoring their second No. 1 album of 2024 on the U.K. Official Album Charts.
Their latest project, Liquid Gold, follows their first-ever chart-topper A Matter of Time back in January, putting them in some seriously elite company. They now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with legends like The Beatles, Queen, Elton John, Diana Ross, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and ABBA—artists who’ve managed to land two U.K. No. 1 albums in a single year.
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“Can’t quite really believe that we’re standing here once again this year, but this is our second No. 1 of 2024, which is absolutely mind-blowing,” Shed Seven told the Official Charts Company.
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“We would like to thank our amazing label, Cooking Vinyl, all our crew, and most of all, all the fans who’ve been getting out there this week and getting behind us. We’re immensely proud, and we can’t wait to get out on tour and celebrate what an amazing year we’ve had.”
“We’d like to dedicate this to our departed loved ones; our four Dads and Max’s Mum. Thank you”
Just behind Shed Seven, Bring Me The Horizon jumped to No. 2 with POST HUMAN: NeX GEn, thanks to its physical release. The album previously peaked at No. 5 back in June and has now marked the group’s fifth Top 10 album.
Meanwhile, North-West London rapper Nines hit No. 4 with his sixth and final album Quit While You’re Ahead, while Ed Sheeran’s +–=÷× (Tour Collection) secured the No. 5 spot, making this Ed’s eighth Top 10 album.
In a big moment for jazz, Ezra Collective broke into the Top 10 for the first time with Dance, No One’s Watching, debuting at No. 7. The last time jazz had such a big moment in the U.K. Top 10 was Chris Kamara’s Here’s To Christmas in 2019. Ezra Collective previously earned Top 40 success with their Mercury Prize-winning Where I’m Meant To Be in 2022, but this leap to the Top 10 marks a game-changer for the genre.
Elsewhere, Manchester’s Pale Waves made waves of their own with their fourth studio album Smitten, landing at No. 13, while indie veterans Maximo Park claimed No. 21 with Stream of Life, keeping their streak of Top 40 albums intact.
And in a surprise surge, Benson Boone’s Fireworks & Rollerblades shot back into the Top 40, climbing 20 spots to land at No. 37 in what was a week full of chart shakeups and big wins across the board.
Oasis has extended their highly anticipated Live 25 reunion tour to Australia, marking their first shows in the country since the band’s split in 2009.
As confirmed by Rolling Stone AU/NZ last week, the Britpop legends have announced two stadium dates, with a performance at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Friday, Oct. 31, followed by a show at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Friday, Nov. 7.
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“People of the land down under. You better run – you better take cover… We are coming. You are most welcome. Oasis will tour Australia in 2025!” a message posted to Oasis’ X (formerly Twitter) account on Oct. 8 read.
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‘People of the land down under.“You better run-you better take cover…”We are coming.You are most welcome.’Oasis will tour Australia in 2025! 🇦🇺Register for the Australian ticket pre-sale private ballot: https://t.co/lms10x64eUThe pre-sale will take place on Monday 14th… pic.twitter.com/WCpRa8pNRF— Oasis (@oasis) October 7, 2024
The band’s return to Australia comes after a string of sold-out dates across Europe and the U.S., reflecting the huge demand for Oasis nearly 25 years after their debut. U.S. dates include a stop at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 14 and a show at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 21.
As part of the reunion tour, fans can expect to hear hits from the band’s extensive catalog, including tracks like “Wonderwall,” “Champagne Supernova,” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” which saw Oasis emerge as one of the most influential rock bands of the ’90s.
Oasis’ impact in Australia has been major. Their second album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, spent four weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart and is certified eight times platinum. The single “Wonderwall” was also voted the No. 1 song in triple j’s “Hottest 100” for 1995.
Pre-sale tickets for the Australian leg of the tour will be available starting Wednesday, Oct. 9, with general sale beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
The Gallaghers will kick off the North American leg of their tour with two shows at Toronto’s Rogers Stadium on Aug. 24 and 25, followed by a performance at Chicago’s Soldier Field on August 28.
They’ll then head to New Jersey for two nights at MetLife Stadium on August 31 and Sept. 1, before wrapping up the U.S. run with two shows at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles on Sept. 6 and 7. The band will also make a stop in Mexico City on Sept. 12. These are Oasis’ first North American shows in over 16 years.
The last time Oasis played the U.S. in 2008 on the Dig Out Your Soul tour they performed in 10,000-20,000 capacity arenas. The stadiums on their upcoming North American swing will accommodate between 45,000-80,000+ fans.
Oasis 2025 Australia Tour Dates:
Friday, Oct. 31 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, VIC
Friday, Nov. 7 – Accor Stadium, Sydney, NSW
ONE N’ ONLY, the six-member dance and vocal group from Japan, released their third EP, Fiesta, on Oct. 2. In the past, they melded J-pop and K-pop to create a “JK-pop” style, and in 2023 they established a new style, “Jatin pop,” which fused J-pop and Latin music. Their new EP Fiesta has an even freer approach, spanning all kinds of genres, including a foray into amapiano.
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Billboard Japan interviewed the group, which is constantly breaking new ground as a Japanese dance and vocal group. (Note: Member NAOYA was unable to take part in the interview due to a scheduling conflict.)
You’ve made a really lively EP with Fiesta I feel like it has more aggressive songs than your past work. What have your impressions been like?
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HAYATO: Well, first off, when we were creating the EP, we talked about wanting to make songs to lead our autumn tour. We wanted to make something that would get the audience hyped, like “EVOL,” turning shows into real parties. That’s why we made “Fiesta” our lead song. I think it’s an incredibly fun EP.
“EVOL” generates a lot of excitement, so it’s beloved by fans.
TETTA: Right. I think “Fiesta,” like “EVOL,” will turn up the energy levels in our shows.
HAYATO: The chorus is one you never get tired of, the song has a fast tempo, and both the lyrics and the choreography are incredibly upbeat. There’s also a part that we want all our fans to sing along with, so want to build up this song together.
TETTA: KAITA did the choreography for “Fiesta.” A lot of trial-and-error went into the chorus, too, and I think it turned out catchy and memorable. We stripped the choreography down a lot, making it easy to copy, and the dance is a lot of fun.
How many times have you worked with KAITA so far?
HAYATO: This is our fourth song, after “Hook Up,” “OPEN,” and “Last Forever.” The choreography is really catchy and easy to understand, and KAITA’s the same age as us, so he’s easy to talk to. That’s why the end result turned out so well.
REI: Ever since we established the “Jatin Pop” genre by fusing J-pop and Latin music in “EVOL” and “DOMINO,” we’ve written a lot of songs with Latin elements. “Fiesta” is especially catchy, and it has a great call-and-response section, so the audience will get amped up with us. KAITA, the choreographer, is part of RIEHATATOKYO, which has a strong hip-hop focus, so the choreography he created was really groovy. There’s a lot of depth to the rhythm, and that was combined with this Latin feel. They’re a great match. I don’t think there have been any other groups that combined Latin and Japanese elements like we have with Jatin Pop, so, just like our name, I think we’ve created a “one and only” song.
EIKU: And what’s more, it’s a blast to sing. You can really get into it, and I can just imagine everyone going crazy, carried by that Latin sound, so I’m looking forward to performing it live. Also, through our tour of all of Japan’s 47 prefectures, I’ve felt a change in how much more vocal our fans have gotten.
TETTA: Right! There’s this stronger feeling of unity, and in the audience participation parts, the crowd has gotten so much louder that it feels like they’ve all been practicing together in advance.
HAYATO: It’s so much fun sharing that feeling of excitement and energy with everyone.
KENSHIN: I think that by releasing a song like this, we’re helping create an even stronger sense of unity. I love the start of the second verse. It has this speed and this addictive quality that makes you want to listen to it over and over again. The song gets you fired up. The lyrics are also interesting, combining Japanese, English, and Portuguese.
HAYATO: The lyrics are all really easy to understand, too, so they’re easy to absorb.
KENSHIN: Yeah. Through our 47-prefecture tour from October 2023 to April 2024, we improved our live performance abilities. We were able to experience truly hands-on live shows, and we’ve grown so much.
TETTA: But we never had any down time! There were cameras filming us even while we were travelling between shows, so the only time we were truly alone was when we were asleep in our hotels. Partway through, I was like, “Where am I?” “Who am I?” (laughs) But thanks to that, I was able to focus exclusively on our shows, so I refined my vocals, and I grew more confident with each show. It was a great experience.
REI: It really was educational. Playing at small concert venues, close to the audience, I’d look at people further away and think that I needed to make it a fun show for everyone. I think the tour made me much better at performing live.
TETTA: We played several live shows in Brazil, and sometimes there would be a change of venue on the actual day of a show. Coming from experiences like that, the little problems that came up when touring in Japan were a breeze to deal with. (laughs)
KENSHIN: I became a lot more adaptable! (laughs)
That’s great to hear. Going back to the EP, “Burn it out” is a hard rock number, which is unusual for ONE ‘N ONLY. Listening to it, I could just picture you running around the stage.
HAYATO: We wrote that song precisely because we wanted to run around! We have an older song called “OPEN,” which has a strong rock feel. ONE N’ ONLY and rock go together really well. We wanted a song in our set list where we could go wild, so we picked “Burn it out.”
TETTA: I like rock in general, so singing that song is a blast. I feel like with a rock song, the way you perform live is different, so I’m looking forward to doing it live.
REI: The music for “R.U.S.H.” was written by JUNE (ONE N’ ONLY’s music producer) and HAYATO was involved in writing the lyrics. I hope listeners pick up on those creative aspects, as well.
HAYATO: I worked on the rap part. I wanted to use Japanese, too, so I picked words carefully. In JUNE’s songs, it’s pretty common for the Japanese parts to be broken down and given a more Western feel, with English mixed in, but if I was going to be taking part in the writing process, I wanted to have some clearly Japanese parts. I placed a lot of importance on the overall vibe, focusing on creating an atmosphere in which the words were clearly audible.
EIKU: I love “Too Much.” There’s some amapiano in there, so I hope people keep a close eye on our footwork. TETTA and I did the final switch-up, and I love the interplay in that part. It felt like we were jamming together, so I had a lot of fun.
HAYATO: The choreography also had some African dancing, and we’re developing and using some new steps, so I want fans to check out these latest moves, fresh from the floor.
EIKU: These new steps are like nothing I’ve ever seen when practicing the fundamentals. They’re really hard, so I’ve been watching tutorial videos and practicing.
KENSHIN: I like “ALL OUT.” We debuted this song in the final show of the 47 prefecture tour, but we wanted to make it clear in the lyrics that this was just one more step in our journey. NAOYA, HAYATO, and I wrote the lyrics to the song, and I didn’t have much previous experience with writing lyrics, so it was an incredibly fun time.
HAYATO: We wrote lyrics to accompany music from JUNE, and all of us really focused on the details. We’d show each other the lyrics we were working on while on the bus between shows, and we truly put our heart into the lyrics. Because of that, we were able to create a song with a strong message.
—This interview by Kana Yoshida first appeared on Billboard Japan
Shed Seven are on the brink of securing their second U.K. No. 1 album of 2024 as their latest release, Liquid Gold, pulls ahead in this week’s fiercely competitive race for the top of the U.K. Official Albums Chart.
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The U.K. rockers have widened their lead to 2,700 chart units over Bring Me The Horizon and their album POST HUMAN: NeX GEn, according to the midweek blast from the U.K. Official Charts Company.
Liquid Gold, which marks Shed Seven’s seventh studio album, has been a hit with fans, driving both physical sales and downloads. Their creative promotion, including limited edition CDs styled like retro concert tickets, has helped push them to the top.
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Currently the best-selling and most-downloaded album of the week, the band are looking to repeat the chart success they achieved earlier this year with A Matter of Time, which also topped the U.K. Albums Chart. If they hold on, this will be the band’s second No. 1 album in just 10 months.
However, Bring Me The Horizon’s POST HUMAN: NeX GEn isn’t out of the running just yet. Though it trails in physical sales, the Sheffield band is performing exceptionally well on streaming platforms, where they’re outpacing Shed Seven. The album, which is tracking for a new peak at No. 2, initially debuted at No. 5 back in July but has gained significant traction after its release on vinyl and other physical formats this week.
In third place is Nines’ new album Quit While You’re Ahead, making an impressive debut as the rapper looks to land another Top 3 hit after his 2023 release, Crop Circle 2, which peaked at No. 2.
Close behind, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, a former chart-topper, is sitting comfortably at No. 4 midweek, thanks to her strong streaming numbers, and could move higher as the week progresses.
Further down the chart, Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective are holding firm at No. 6 with their jazz-influenced Dance, No One’s Watching, which is on track to become their first-ever U.K. Top 10 album. Also eyeing a Top 10 debut is Smitten, the latest release from Pale Waves, currently positioned at No. 7.
Elsewhere in the Top 10, Ed Sheeran makes a mark with his newly released + – = ÷ x Tour Collection, entering at No. 5, while Maxïmo Park’s Stream of Life is on course to debut at No. 9.
Shed Seven’s lead remains strong, but with streaming continuing to dominate the charts, the race for No. 1 is far from over. Stay tuned until the final chart positions are confirmed this Friday.
Billboard‘s International Power Players list recognizes the leaders that are driving the success of the music business in countries outside the United States. Avex’s CEO, Katsumi Kuroiwa, was chosen from the music industry leaders of the world for inclusion in the list for the second consecutive year. Billboard Japan interviewed Kuroiwa upon his selection for the list and talked with him about the response to ONE OR EIGHT and the issues Avex faces when creating global hits.
You were selected for inclusion in the Billboard International Power Players in recognition of AEGX’s success in bringing artists like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift to perform in Japan. It seems like this collaboration with AEG has truly gained steam in the post-pandemic era.
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Katsumi Kuroiwa: In February, Taylor Swift played four days of shows in Tokyo Dome. There was huge demand for tickets, both from Japanese and overseas fans. There was particularly high demand from overseas fans, primarily in China and Southeast Asia, so I think the shows also had a major economic impact.
The newspapers were talking about it, too.
Kuroiwa: Taylor Swift’s only stops in Asia were Tokyo and Singapore, so the shows really drew a lot of attention. We need to make sure that when major artists like that come to Asia on tour, they never skip Japan, no matter what. For artists, performing in Japan is somewhat of a status marker, so we communicated closely with AEG members to provide a high level of hospitality.
In last year’s interview (https://www.billboard-japan.com/special/detail/411), you said “we can shift from these being isolated successes to a tide that creates a new market.” Just recently, boy band ONE OR EIGHT made their debut and took the top spot on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart dated August 28. How do you see the response to the band?
Kuroiwa: Last May, we strategically invested in S10 Entertainment, a U.S.-based management company, through Avex USA, and we reinforced our overseas expansion efforts. As part of that, ONE OR EIGHT has also been coordinating closely with Avex USA. Their debut song, “Don’t Tell Nobody,” was produced by David Stewart and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, and the band is being managed by an international team with members from the U.S., Japan, and Korea.
Creating a global hit song is extremely difficult, but we’re not one of the big three record companies, so without going after foreign revenue, I don’t think we could survive.
Do you think anime tie-ups are essential to producing global hits?
Kuroiwa: I want a hit anime tie-up so badly I can taste it (laughs). I’ve been really impressed with Creepy Nuts and YOASOBI. Of course, simply releasing a tie-up isn’t all there is to it. It’s also important that the tie-up matches the artist’s vibe. The scale of exports from the anime industry is totally different from the music industry, so I think anime plays an important role in expanding the global reach of Japanese music.
In September 2023, we launched the Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan chart, which ranks Japanese music that’s become a hit overseas. I feel like Japan’s music industry has kicked it into higher gear. Physical media sales still account for a lot in Japan. Do you think there’s any potential for physical media sales in the global market?
Kuroiwa: I think it depends on the country and the artist. I recently went to Korea, for the first time in a while. They’ve seen a lot of growth in CD sales over the past few years, but not because people have gone back to listening to music on CD. Instead, CDs are seen as merchandise, and there has been some discussion about whether or not those sales should be reflected in music rankings. I was surprised to hear that one artist recently sold their CD with an artist-branded CD player. I heard that it sold extremely well, and 30 or 40 percent of the people who went to shops to buy it were Japanese. But the values people have, and the way they listen to music, varies by country, so it would be hard to successfully apply that same approach in the U.S., for example.
What potential do you see for Japanese artists?
Kuroiwa: Looking at the Billboard JAPAN charts, I see a lot of different things going on. There are times when an artist will take a top position in the first week after their debut but then fall immediately out of the rankings, but on the other hand you have artists like Mrs. GREEN APPLE that stay on the charts week after week. For Avex, Da-iCE has been releasing steady hits recently.
Going forward, we’ll be putting even more energy into our overseas efforts, but we need to keep creating hits inside Japan, too. I think the biggest pitfall to avoid now is immediately setting out to take on the overseas market as soon as an artist has had a little success in Japan. The approach used in creating a hit in Japan is totally different than that used to create a hit in the U.S., and (the industry) needs to change the way they think about that.
Japanese anime and games have achieved some degree of market share worldwide, but for music, there’s still a long way to go. What challenges do you think the Japanese music industry still faces?
Kuroiwa: Compared to games and anime, Japan’s music industry has only recently really tried to take on the global market. Japan’s video game consoles saw the world as their market from the very start, and the Anime Expo has been going on for over 30 years now. These industries have been engaging with the world and establishing their own cultures.
If I could digress for a moment, we operate Anime Times, an unlimited anime streaming channel, together with companies like Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan. In expanding it overseas, the biggest challenges we’ve faced have been subtitling and casting voice actors. There have been discussions about the potential for AI to help resolve these problems. If viewers could watch anime in their local languages, but with the voices of the original voice actors, that could further boost exports. So I think the anime industry still has a lot of potential for future overseas growth.
When it comes to music, though, I feel like the number of artists who create music with overseas audiences in mind is still incredibly small. The industry is based around production in Japan—achieve success in Japan and then set your sights on the international market, that sort of thing. I think that’s what’s keeping Japanese music from spreading organically worldwide.
The way you make music differs completely based on what markets the artists and staff are looking to. Over the past few years, a lot of artists have been trying to tackle overseas markets, and those efforts have created a foundation of taking on these challenges. We’re also seeing a gradual increase in the number of successes. As more and more artists achieve overseas success, they’ll form a critical mass that will play an important part in the content industry.
In Korea, this was achieved through the public and private sectors working together. I want us to look to their example as we strive to take on overseas markets ourselves.
Avex has continued to grow by actively partnering with foreign companies like AEG or S10 Entertainment. Are there any philosophies you share with your employees regarding the future growth of your business?
Kuroiwa: Yes, “always generate buzz” and “keep taking on new challenges.” I believe that if our employees do the kinds of things that make friends and family members say “Your company is amazing,” this will, ultimately, contribute to improved business performance. Another is our tag line, “Really! Mad+Pure.” People aren’t receptive to “mad” alone, and “pure” alone doesn’t generate buzz, but I think our company has a good balance of both.
We’re a newcomer to the Japanese recording industry, founded in 1988. We found openings during the height of the CD sales boom, working passionately to do things that nobody else was doing. I tell our employees that it’s vital that we never lose that mentality of looking for new openings and taking on new challenges.
—This interview by Seiji Isozaki and Naoko Takashima first appeared on Billboard Japan
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