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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.
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.
Scooter Braun, CEO of HYBE AMERICA and founder of SB Projects, was invited as a special guest to &AUDITION – The Howling – FINAL ROUND, which took place Sept. 3 in Tokyo. The audition program produced by HYBE, the company behind BTS, was conducted in an unprecedented style with the aim of launching a global group comprised of members selected from a mix of contestants from I-LAND (the project that launched ENHYPEN) — K, EJ, NICHOLAS and TAKI — and 11 trainees.
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One new aspect of this audition was that its nature was cooperative and not competitive. Audition programs tend to promote ruthless rivalry, but &AUDITION – The Howling placed emphasis on mutual support and growth among the contestants. Sometimes the mission was designed to evaluate the overall perfection as a group rather than the excellence of the individual. As the rounds progressed, a strong bond was formed between all 15 participants, and when the nine debuting members were announced as the new group &TEAM in the final round, the men who weren’t selected congratulated the winners with beaming smiles in the end — though they did shed a few tears when they first learned the results.
Braun is a prominent executive and manager in the music industry. One of his companies, Ithaca Holdings LLC, merged with HYBE in May 2021 to become HYBE America, making it easier for HYBE’s artists — BTS included — and related businesses to penetrate the North American market. The close association between K-pop stars popular in Asian regions and Braun’s artists in North America can further expand the huge base that both companies have in the future.
Braun’s presence at &AUDITION – The Howling – FINAL ROUND shows his commitment to music and artists in Asia. At the same time, expectations for &TEAM’s global expansion are growing.
Braun had some heartfelt and profound words of advice for the nine debuting members of the new band &TEAM. Speaking from experience working with some of today’s biggest stars, he noted that “every great artist has a story of adversity. All the global stars that I’ve had the chance to work with have heard more ‘no’s than ‘yes’es” and “that’s what makes them great.” With that in mind, he encouraged the new members to overcome any adversity together, emphasizing that “you have a team, you have a family now to fight through that together, so never forget that [and] lean on each other.”
Braun promised he would return to Japan for the group’s first stadium show to cheer them on. He concluded his warm message to the group slated to debut as &TEAM by telling them, “Never, never give up. And when one of you falters, the other one pick him up, OK? You are family now. You got it. Congratulations! You can all smile, you’re here now.”
&TEAM consists of nine members: K, FUMA, NICHOLAS, EJ, YUMA, JO, HARUA, TAKI and MAKI. The brand-new band will drop their debut single Dec. 7. There’s a hopeful meaning behind the group’s name: “& is about bonding – people & individuals, humans & the world, fans & artists, fans & fellow fans, and ultimately bonding between nine members each with their vivid colors. In a constant pursuit for a better self, the members’ energy synthesizes to create one team that continues to excel and break through its limits.” Fans of the group will be collectively called LUNÉ, and the group is set to take on the global stage with LUNÉ’s dedicated support.
—This article by Suhi Yoon first appeared on Billboard Japan
IVE, a rising girl group known as being “complete” from the time of its debut and now hailed as the “wannabe icons of the Gen MZers,” are now leading the contemporary K-pop scene.
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The six members of IVE are: Yujin (19, former leader of IZ*ONE), Wonyoung (18, another popular former IZ*ONE member), Gaeul (20), Liz (17), Leeseo (15), and Rei (18, hailing from Japan). The name of the group is the contraction of “I have” and is based on the concept of showing what “I have” to the audience with confidence. Confidence is the key word of the group.
As the first group to launch after IZ*ONE’s disbandment, IVE attracted much attention from before its debut. When the girls released their debut single “ELEVEN” in Dec. 2021, it became a smash hit overnight. The six members give a captivating and graceful performance over exotic melodies for this number, and the accompanying music video showcases the girls’ beauty as well as the quality of their confident performance throughout, from the choreography to facial expressions led by the two experienced members. The group’s first album launched with 150,000 copies, the most among all acts that debuted in South Korea in 2021, and the single went on to win first place on music shows in the country 13 times. IVE is now one of the leading acts of the so-called fourth generation girl groups, following ITZY and aespa.
IVE has proven that its hype isn’t temporary. The group has released three singles — “ELEVEN,” “LOVE DIVE” (Apr. 2022), and “After LIKE” (Aug. 2022) — that have all become the group’s signature songs after recording long-running hits in South Korea and abroad. All three tracks are currently charting on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 dated Oct. 5, with “After LIKE” at No. 23 (peak position: No. 13), “ELEVEN” at No. 71 (No. 16), and “LOVE DIVE” at No. 79 (No. 8). 15 of the 100 songs on the list are K-pop, including three each by BTS and TWICE, and two by BLACKPINK, so IVE’s achievement is remarkable considering that the group hasn’t officially debuted in the country yet.
Over on Billboard U.S.A.’s Global 200 list, “ELEVEN” charted for ten weeks after peaking at No. 68, “LOVE DIVE” for 26 weeks (No. 15), and “After LIKE” for 5 weeks (No. 20), all consecutively. In particular, the ongoing record for “LOVE DIVE” is the longest streak for any K-pop song released this year.
Why is IVE achieving such amazing results globally? The first reason is the outstanding quality of their music. The three songs released so far can be described as being captivating, mysterious, and sentimental, respectively, each displaying a different side of the group without limiting it to a single color. Additionally, while the instrumentation and vocals for each song have been meticulously arranged, each features a simple structure — first verse, second verse, chorus, last chorus — familiar to K-pop and J-pop listeners, making them easy to listen to for the group’s core fanbase.
Each of IVE’s songs have distinctive points. In the debut song “ELEVEN,” there’s a bridge leading up to the chorus after the quietly beating first and second verses, in which Rei and Leeseo take turns singing “I didn’t know that my heart was so colorful” in the Korean version and “It’s a colorful suggestion from this point on” in the Japanese. This part where the girls slow down to belt out this line is one of a kind and fans love to sing along when the song is performed live.
“LOVE DIVE” was composed by creators from outside the girls’ native countries, and is a stylish number with a simple, bold rhythm and a deeply reverberated chorus refrain that radiates a sense of mystery. In the latter half of the song, a breath-like voice repeats “hold your breath and LOVE DIVE,” building up to the drop that sonically expresses the concept of “diving into love” through the dreamy sound.
In contrast, “After LIKE” is a danceable pop-house track, sampling Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 hit “I Will Survive” in the interlude. The song gives an EDM twist to the disco sound from the ‘70s and ‘80s, creating a nostalgic, sentimental feel that has led to the track’s popularity among older audiences. The lyrics feature clever wordplay that seem to express the way Gen Zers enjoy romantic relationships. While the members often perform with cool expressions on their faces, they are all smiles in the music video accompanying this song, again showcasing the breadth of their performance as a group.
While IVE’s music shows such wide range, the group’s dance is consistent in that it mostly features elegant choreography that makes the most of the curves of the body. The dancers’ upper body snakes from the waist up and their hand gestures also often ripple from the arms to fingertips. Even “After LIKE,” IVE’s cutest song so far, brims with the group’s signature grace. What’s more, the height of all six members average 169 cm (5’6) — Wonyoung is the tallest at 173 cm (5’8) — so this aspect is another feature that makes their dancing stand out.
All the songs feature lyrics about girls with high self-esteem heading straight into love. “ELEVEN” depicts how a girl’s heart becomes saturated with fantastical colors when she falls in love. In “LOVE DIVE,” she encourages her love interest to make the first move, to “jump in without fear if you dare to love,” and in “After LOVE,” she honestly expresses her feelings: “I don’t just like you, what’s ‘After LIKE’?” The protagonists in every song have inner strength, but the way they struggle with love is endearing. IVE’s way of expressing a girl’s crush is to display a confidence from within, rather than making an appeal through strong words and sounds.
Thus, the sonic variety of the group’s songs, the consistent stance of the protagonists depicted in the lyrics, the girls’ outstanding dance performances and their absolute good looks generate synergy that is powering the group’s skyrocketing popularity.
This year alone, 16 K-pop girl groups have debuted by the end of September. Among the particularly strong lineup of newcomers, IVE is considered a strong contender for Newcomer of the Year awards in its home country. The girls are set to debut in Japan on the 19th with the Japanese version of “ELEVEN,” taking the next step towards global recognition.
–This article by Maho Kakei first appeared on Billboard Japan
Kenshi Yonezu’s “KICK BACK” rules this week’s Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Oct. 19, coming out on top by a mere 30 points against the song at No. 2, JO1’s “SuperCali.”
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The opener for the new anime series Chainsaw Man bowed at the top of the tally after dominating downloads (61,510 units) and streaming (12,556,627 streams), while also hitting No. 2 for Twitter mentions, No. 4 for radio airplay, and No. 49 for video views. JO1’s “SuperCali” launched with 602,958 CDs to hit No. 1 for sales, look-ups, Twitter, and radio, while coming in at No. 5 for downloads, No. 19 for streaming, and No. 50 for video views. “KICK BACK” was fueled by downloads and streaming while “SuperCali” was powered by sales, and the race was so close that either song could have ended up at the top of the list this week.
While Ado had single-handedly dominated the top 10 for several weeks over the summer, this week’s Japan Hot 100 sees Official HIGE DANdism’s “Subtitle” debuting at No. 3 and Fujii Kaze’s new track “grace” at No. 4, pushing Ado’s former No. 1 track “New Genesis” down to No. 5. What’s more, HIGE DAN’s “Subtitle” scored a total of 10,612 points this week, which is higher than last week’s No. 1 song, SKE48’s “Zettai Inspiration” (9,480 points). “Subtitle” is the theme of the new Fuji TV drama series called silent, while Fujii’s “grace” is being featured in NTT Docomo’s ongoing project starring the 25-year-old singer-songwriter, so these two tracks being assisted by influential tie-ins are expected to stay in the upper regions of the chart for a while.
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.
Check out the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Oct. 10 to 16, here.
J-pop boy band THE SUPER FRUIT livestreamed a showcase studio set on Oct. 7 as the featured act of the month on Next Fire, the hybrid program produced by Billboard Japan and TikTok.
Next Fire is a show on TikTok Live that highlights the hottest J-pop artists of the moment, based on Billboard Japan’s TikTok Weekly Top 20 chart. The collaborative project streams live performances and pre-recorded interviews by the featured act of the month to give fans an in-depth look at their artistry.
The seven members appeared in the studio with the opening music in the background, cheerfully greeting viewers, “Good evening! We are THE SUPER FRUIT!” The group immediately kicked off the set with “Seven Fruits” from the mini album THE SUPER FRUIT, released as a limited edition before the band’s debut. The bouncy, airy rhythm filled the studio with a cheerful atmosphere from the start, and the falsetto vocals in the chorus served as a catchy accent that left a lingering impression. From there, the group followed up with a cover of the pioneering ‘70s Japanese idol group Finger 5’s “Gakuen Tengoku” (School Heaven). The beaming members urged fans watching the show to clap and sing along to the classic number, and the sharpness of their dance during the interlude also caught the eye.
After each member introduced himself, THE SUPER FRUIT went on to perform “Kimi wa Riako Seizouki.” The song features adorable lyrics and melody, with a dance during the chorus that people would want to imitate. The excitement in the comment section steadily increased, filling up with messages calling them “Cute!” and cheering them on. The following number, “Bokura no Yoake” (Our Dawn), was performed as a piano-based ballad, with fans commenting that they were touched by the youthful and emotional vocals.
The members then went on to address viewers with some humble words expressing their current position as rookie group: “Today was the first time we got to perform five songs on a live program,” noted one member, while another shared, “We usually perform three songs at release events, so this has been a wonderful experience.” The group then wrapped up its showcase performance with “Chiguhagu,” the title song of their debut single that stayed at No. 1 on Billboard Japan’s TikTok Weekly Top 20 tally for six consecutive weeks. It’s no surprise the tune has a high affinity with the short video-sharing platform, as the positive lyrics celebrating diversity perfectly matches the cute, fun choreography.
When the song ended, the lights faded out as the boys held their final poses and THE SUPER FRUIT’s show came to an end, leaving a lingering impression. The showcase set displayed the freshness and momentum of a group that got started only a year ago. A pre-recorded interview by the members of THE SUPER FRUIT will stream on Billboard Japan’s TikTok channel starting Oct. 14, and excerpts from the livestream will be available on the boy band’s TikTok account.
Japanese record labels historically haven’t felt the need to venture beyond their country’s shores to boost revenue. Japan’s recorded music market, the second largest in the world, has been big enough to sustain companies like Tokyo-based Avex Inc., considered a fourth major label in Japan.
But a rapid market shift in Japan — along with South Korea’s surge onto the global scene with K-pop —have created new impetus for Japanese music companies to try to penetrate the toughest of markets: the United States.
Last year, Japan’s sales of physical CDs and vinyl still made up 68% of the 283.2-billion-yen ($2.46 billion) recorded music market. But digital sales jumped 14% to 89.5 billion yen ($624 million) — the fourth-consecutive year of double-digit growth in the category, which is now 83% streaming, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
Avex, an entertainment conglomerate founded in 1988, has developed legendary J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and Namie Amuro, and forged a live-music partnership with AEG Presents to co-promote artists in Japan. But it has struggled to create new superstars, or to successfully expand to the U.S. and China.
A 2016 effort to set up a U.S. operation fizzled after about two years. Now Avex is trying again. This time, the brass in Tokyo have turned to Naoki Osada, an 18-year company veteran with an M.B.A. from UCLA, a passion for West Coast hip-hop and several years of familiarity with the U.S. music business.
The new entity, which features a publishing arm, a record label and an investment fund, is based in Los Angeles, where Osada holds sway at the Avex House, a recording studio and artist-producer hangout, which has an infinity pool and a rooftop deck with 360-degree views of West Hollywood. During the pandemic, Osada oversaw extensive renovations to the five-bedroom house, which the company says it is renting.
“One of the reasons why we weren’t successful in our past endeavors to expand into China and the U.S. was that we didn’t have a clear mission, an agenda that we shared across the entire company,” Katsumi Kuroiwa, Avex’s CEO, tells Billboard from Tokyo, adding “we weren’t able to pick the right person to expand the business outside of Japan.”
This time Kuroiwa believes the company has gotten it right — and he has given Osada, who serves as president of Avex USA, a longer runway: five years to make the U.S. entity a success.
Naoki Osada the Japanese exec is leading the project/entity Avex USA.
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Avex started its latest U.S. effort with publishing. The initial focus is on building U.S. intellectual property with U.S. and Canadian songwriters through songs that can be placed with U.S. pop stars like Justin Bieber, and Japanese – and even Korean – artists. Osada created a publishing joint venture with Brandon Silverstein, manager of Normani and Brazilian star Anitta. Silverstein was looking for financial backing for his S10 Publishing and says he bonded with Osada over his vision to make the Avex House into a creative hub. Osada also hired Lucas Thomashow, 29, a Google-trained data and social media marketing specialist, to run Avex USA’s new label, SELENE, which is named after a Japanese spaceprobe that orbited the moon in 2007.
Avex has 13 writers on its U.S. roster, including six signed jointly with S10 Publishing: HARV, who co-wrote Bieber’s hit song “Peaches” (before S10 signed him); Jamaican dancehall artist Shenseea, who shared the stage with Anitta in Las Vegas during the Billboard Music Awards week; Cxdy (Internet Money), who works with The Kid Laroi; Toronto-born David Arkwright, who co-wrote “Build a Bitch” with Bella Poarch; Belizean artist Kosa; and Declan Hoy.
One challenge is working both globally and locally. “There’s that double edged sword where we’re always thinking strategically about how to bridge that gap [between Asia and the U.S.], because there’s a lot of cross over,” Thomashow, Avex USA’s senior vp, tells Billboard, sitting with Osada by the Avex House pool one morning. “And that’s whether it’s our U.S. writers and producers putting together hits for some of the biggest Japanese or Chinese artists, or how do we think strategically about Japanese artists.”
In one of the publishing arm’s biggest overseas successes, Arkwright and J. Que co-wrote a debut single for Japanese-American singer CAELAN (real name: Caelan Moriarty), “Forever With You,” which went viral with CAELAN’s sprawling Asian social-media fanbase, hitting No. 1 in China on the Weibo Asia New Songs Monthly ranking in September of 2021.
SELENE, meanwhile, has signed five artists so far, notably Austin George and 19-year-old singer-songwriter Sadie Jean, who had a TikTok open verse challenge hit with “WYD Now,” which counts over 200 million aggregate world-wide streams across all DSPs (she has more than 88 million on Spotify). The label says Zach Hood’s three singles on SELENE have generated more than 150 million aggregate streams. Sophie Holohan’s “Butterfly Effect” has 120 million hashtag views on TikTok, and the artist has more than 322,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. In finding rapid streaming success for newer artists, the label, says Arkwright, “is doing something that major labels, in my opinion, kind of wish that they could do with that kind of efficacy.”
(Sadie Jean is the only SELENE artist with any Billboard chart history. She spent seven weeks on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart, peaking at No. 35 on the Dec. 25, 2021-dated chart. “WYD Now” spent a week at No. 91 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.)
Lucas Thomashow the American exec leading the new U.S. based Avex label, SELENE.
Caity Krone
Silverstein has built a relationship with Avex founder and chairman Masato “Max” Matsuura back in Japan, but credits Osada for the initial progress out of Los Angeles. “We’ve gotten our successes based on [Osada’s] support from Japan, given the writers that we’ve signed,” he says.
Osada, who was previously in charge of corporate venture capital for Avex back in Tokyo, also oversees Avex USA’s Future of Music Investment Fund, which has $25 million to spend on seed and Series A startups, mostly music-tech companies like WaveXR, a VR music platform that created Bieber’s 2021 avatar concert. (The fund has also attracted investment from Bieber and his manager, Scooter Braun.) He sees his Avex USA role as “half investor, half music executive.”
Trying to Catch The Koreans
While Avex executives say they don’t see the Korean labels as direct competitors, they nevertheless want to emulate their formula for success. With a much smaller domestic market than Japan, the Korean music industry naturally had to look outside for growth, which led acts to work harder to create global fanbases. “The Korean companies are at this stage more superior and advanced in terms of breaking global artists,” says Kuroiwa. “Unfortunately, Japanese artists haven’t been able to gain fans around the world like South Korea…and that’s where we have to learn.”
The Koreans labels have also been making moves in the U.S. over the past few years. JYP Entertainment and HYBE, home to BTS, have set up offices and entities in Los Angeles, and even created joint-venture labels like HYBE’s imprint with Universal Music Group’s Geffen Records, which plans to launch a girl group together.
Back in 2014, Avex surprised the industry when it beat out Sony Music for the largest mid-year share of the recorded music market in Japan at 16.1%, according to the Soundscan Japan. More recently, however, Avex held an 8.6% share of the Japanese market in 2019, placing them in third place behind Sony and Universal Japan. The Japanese company’s total assets have been declining in value for four straight years, according to company filings.
Among its challenges, sales of the company’s biggest J-pop artists, Hamasaki and Koda Kumi, peaked more than a decade ago. “We’re in the middle of trying to create a next generation of artists,” says Kuroiwa.
The pandemic also hit the company hard. Avex recorded a net loss of 1.1 billion yen ($10 million) in fiscal 2020, which led Avex to downsize staff and sell its 18-story Tokyo headquarters. The sale price of more than 70 billion yen (more than $673 million in late 2020) generated a profit of 29 billion yen ($279 million), a company spokesperson says.
Sales rose 20.7% to 98.4 billion yen ($686 million) in fiscal 2022, while net income fell 92.8% to nine billion yen ($62.7 million). The income drop-off followed a surge in net income to 128 billion yen ($892.6 million) in 2021, which related to the sale of the building.
Escaping the Past
Avex’s previous foray into the U.S., in 2016, involved Universal Music Japan executive Kimi Kato, former Warner Chappell Music Chairman and CEO Richard Blackstone and Avex executive Ryuhei Chiba. The trio spent about $30 million buying content, including a worldwide publishing deal for a Bruno Mars album, two people familiar with the matter tell Billboard. Matsuura, upset the group had blown through so much money, rallied the board to fire Chiba and then shut down the U.S. entity, the sources say. (A spokesperson for Avex says the $30 million was not restricted to buying content and noted that “the strategy in the U.S. didn’t change because Matsuura got angry, but Avex did decide to change its approach in the U.S. to [a] lean startup model.”)
Osada says the previous team was “trying to do too much at the same time,” including bringing U.S. artists to Japan and launching local businesses. “At that time the company was more about aiming for support to the headquarters’ [Japanese] artists,” he says. “We had a dream, but we didn’t actually try seriously to be successful as a U.S. company. I was like, ‘Why don’t we try to expand the business here because that eventually supports the global operation of Avex?’”
Osada, who started at the company in 2004 as a newly minted J-pop A&R manager fresh out of college, had a front-row seat on the legendary tussle between Matsuura and Tom Yoda, Avex’s co-founder. Yoda wanted to expand Avex into other entertainment-related ventures, including movie production. He accused Chiba, then the company’s executive director and president, of pursuing personal profit from some of the label’s biggest artists, according to Japanese media reports.
The Avex board backed Yoda’s bid to get Chiba to resign. Matsuura resigned along with Chiba, who denied any fault. Osada recalls a staff meeting with about 300 people where Chiba and Yoda were screaming at each other from across the auditorium. “I saw the battle [play out] in front of me,” he says.
But with the support of the staff and artists, including Hamasaki, who said she would leave the label (a declaration that led Avex’s stock price to dip by 16% in one day) – and the threat of bankruptcy looming – Yoda resigned. Matsuura and Chiba later rejoined the company.
A few years later it was Matsuura who gave Osada his instant blessing to study business administration in Los Angeles, at a time when the physical music industry was still in freefall from piracy site Napster. Not only did he avoid the chaotic company restructuring happening back in Tokyo, Osada says he was able to immerse himself in Los Angeles’ music and startup cultures, and inadvertently train himself for his current assignment.
Harv at Avex House
Courtesy Avex
At the Avex House, Osada holds lunch for writers and producers, and his Friday night dinners have drawn an eclectic group of artists and industry types. Thomashow fondly recalls the night Normani‘s cousin cooked authentic New Orleans food for a small group. Events there have drawn the likes of A$AP Rocky and James Blake. Harv hosted Bieber’s “Peaches” release party at the house. (On one evening, Billboard met DJ Richie Hawtin and Dean Wilson, Deadmau5’ manager, along with music executives from Meta.)
The house has also become a magnet for artists, writers, managers and A&R execs to connect and collaborate. Blake, Normani and Anitta have worked on songs there. Arkwright says he’ll sometimes grab an acoustic from the wall of Gibson guitars hanging in the living room and head up to the roof to jam with artists like Austin George, and then pop down to one of the three studios to lay down a track.
“It’s just like this beautiful hang spot that you don’t get very often,” Arkwright says.
Additional Reporting By Rob Schwartz
GARNiDELiA are a J-pop duo who launched their career on the Japanese video-sharing platform Nico Nico Douga and have since produced numerous songs tailored for animated works.
The male-female pair released their latest digital single called “Gen’ai Yuugi” on Sept. 30, created as the opener for the Japanese TV anime series My Master Has No Tail. The track, inspired by vintage Japanese pop and anime songs, breaks new ground for the unit that has produced signature tracks infused with traditional Japanese music-flavored melodies.
In a recent interview with Billboard Japan, MARiA and toku of GARNiDELiA spoke about the production of their latest single and shared their thoughts on the music that accompany animated works.
You recently launched an NFT art project using numerous stage costumes as motifs called the GARNiDELiA 3.0 Project. You always seem to be challenging yourselves to try new things. Could you tell us your thoughts on releasing this new NFT project based on your stage outfits at this point in time?
MARiA: We have many fans based outside of Japan so we’re often asked to take on new challenges on a global scale. We’re experimenting and challenging ourselves as we go along. We participated in its launch, but we’re also looking forward to seeing how the project will expand from here. I think there will be unexpected developments in the future that will make us go, “Oh, I didn’t expect this to go in that direction.” We think there are various ways to do this, so we’re still exploring and hope to make this something we can enjoy with all of our fans.
You also restarted your J-pop cover project, GARNiDELiA Cover Collection, in March.
MARiA: This project originally got started on YouTube due to the pandemic. It’s become something of a hobby of ours, so we enjoy doing it just for fun.
toku: The songs we cover are well-known, so I thought people would enjoy the difference after we infused them with some GARNiDELiA flair and presented them with MARiA’s vocals. The series allows us to see people’s reactions right away, like when we used to upload our songs to Nico Nico Douga and get a reaction immediately upon release.
MARiA: It’s really like those vocaloid cover challenges on video sharing platforms (that originated from Nico Nico Douga). We’re originally from that niche pop culture, so I guess it’s just that the focus has shifted from vocaloid numbers to J-pop songs. The boundary between vocaloid culture and mainstream J-pop is blurring now, and songs written by producers of vocaloid music are now leading the current mainstream J-pop scene. So a strange phenomenon where whenever I cover a hit J-pop song, I still end up singing vocaloid music (like in the old days) is happening. [Laughs] I think this mix of cultures is what makes the current J-pop scene so interesting.
“Kaikaikitan” Cover by GARNiDELiA from the GARNiDELiA Cover Collection
Let’s talk about your new song “Gen’ai Yuugi.” It contains elements of vintage and current J-pop while maintaining the feel of a standard anime number. The song is signature GARNiDELiA in the way various essences are condensed into it. This song was created as the opener for the TV anime My Master Has No Tail. How did the collaboration begin?
toku: The producers of the anime series said they wanted “a dance track with a traditional Japanese-style melody, and also add horns to make it flashy.”
MARiA: Our previous song, “Otome no kokoroe,” was the opener for another anime series from last year called Taisho Otome Fairy Tale that was set in Japan’s Taisho period (1912-1926), so that was the same (as My Master Has No Tail). What’s more, the request for horns for a big band feel was the same as our previous track, so we had to find a way to differentiate the two. So after some discussion, we came to the conclusion that we wanted “Gen’ai Yuugi” to have a glaring edge to the flamboyance.
What do you mean by “glaring edge”?
MARiA: My Master Has No Tail is a story about mastering an artistic skill, and although the visuals of the anime is pop, the characters say some edgy things about the world they live in. The story starts out with the idea that you have to be out of your mind to want to live in the arts, and I thought that applied to us (GARNiDELiA) too. [Laughs] As someone who has been in the arts for a long time, I felt a strong connection with (the anime), so in the end we were able to differentiate the new song from the previous one.
toku: My Master Has No Tail is about rakugo [traditional comic storytelling], so I thought it’d be good to pack words into it, with more notes in the chorus than our usual numbers. That way it’d sound more flamboyant when the horns were added in-between. That’s what I focused on.
Combined with the vision depicted in the lyrics, it makes for a thrilling track, while also tapping into the genres of vintage J-pop and oldies-but-goodies anime music. All that while maintaining your signature sound. So it’s really a perfect balance.
MARiA: We’re not sure how we’re giving off that GARNiDELiA vibe anymore, actually. [Laughs] We’ve worked on such a wide variety of genres at this point that everything we create together just ends up like, “Well, that sure sounds like us, doesn’t it?”
toku: Anime music itself is a mixture of various genres and it’s where lots of music that will become the cutting edge of contemporary J-pop is born.
MARiA: It has rock and EDM and even vintage J-pop styles, too.
toku: Anything is possible, and it can be taken as cute or cool depending on the listener, so I guess anything goes so long as it’s effectively linked to the anime work. I feel that people who listen to a variety of anime songs are really in tune with things. That’s one of the things that makes us nervous every time we write a song.
And you’re already set to drop your next digital single called “Oukaranman” on Oct. 19. This is the latest song from your Odocchattemita dance challenge series featuring GARNiDELiA tracks, and it’s different from “Gen’ai Yuugi” in that it’s a pretty straightforward GARNiDELiA number that mixes modern EDM tracks with traditional Japanese music.
MARiA: Miume, the dancer we were working with on the Odocchattemita series, is retiring from the stage at the end of October. This will be the last piece the three of us will work on together, so we started out by discussing what kind of piece it should be. We wanted the song to be a culmination of what we’d built together.
toku: I included a little bit of the melodies and arrangements that give a glimpse of parts of each song in the dance challenge series so far, so it’d be great if listeners take it as a summary of the series.
It’s an irresistible tune for those who enjoyed the series. You really did come up with two completely different songs.
MARiA: It’s interesting, isn’t it? We have so much fun. Both titles are inspired by Japanese four-character idioms, and from the time we wrote the song “Kyoukiranbu,” we thought we’d run out of songs flavored with traditionally Japanese sounds that have four-character idiom-like titles. But we still managed to make a few. [Laughs] Since we’re fortunate that our fans, not only from Japan but from around the world, ask for more, we can’t just say we’ve run out and have to come up with what they want.
toku: I was thrilled when the song that’s an extension of the Odocchatta series was chosen as the opener for My Master Has No Tail.
MARiA: That is how big an impact the Odocchattemita series had on us. It’s a project that changed our lives. It helped us meet lots of people and gave us opportunities. I think it was reason why we were able to create the song “Oukaranman.”
GARNiDELiA’s catalog can be heard here.
—This interview by Tomokazu Nishibiro first appeared on Billboard Japan
Takanori Iwata — a performer in EXILE and J SOUL BROTHERS Ⅲ, an actor, an artist, and a creative director — is a versatile and busy creator. Roughly a year after his debut as a solo singer with the single “korekara,” he launched his first album, The Chocolate Box, on Oct. 12. According to Iwata, “COVID made me reflect on my own purpose and the basics of my work. It was a huge turning point in my singing career.”
Billboard Japan talked with him about the album — his expectations for it and the spirit he poured into it — and about him as a person.
Why did you name the album The Chocolate Box?
Iwata: Looking back on the finished album, I felt that it delved deeply into the topics of love, in a broad sense, my life experiences, and my beliefs. So at first I was considering keywords like “LOVE” or “LIFE,” but choosing a grandiose title like that for my first album would be a little embarrassing for me. [Laughs] Then I recalled a line from one of my favorite movies, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Like the single that preceded it, you also drew the illustration used on the album cover, right?
Iwata: I couldn’t pass up the chance for self-expression presented by the album and other artwork. A lot of people leave things like that up to the creative director, but I really like to draw. As a creator, it brings me a lot of joy to express my worldview through one of my creations, and that encompasses both music and artwork. For packed products, especially, the artwork is the “face” of the product. Being able to represent my album the way I want is nothing but upsides for me.
The illustration shows a couple embracing. Should we see this as the “love” you were referring to earlier?
Iwata: Yes. There are a lot of different types of love, though, and trying to express them all in a single image would just result in a very abstract cover. That’s why I tried to create artwork that you could associate with all kinds of things, while also adding a personal touch and doing what I wanted to do. I also paid close attention to the color palette and tested out various palettes. The pastel colors are striking, and I chose them to represent skin tones. When I finished the album, I felt that it had a warm, human feel, so I expressed that through the pastel colors.
The artwork isn’t the only great thing about the album; every single one of the songs is wonderful. I’ve heard that the theme of the first streaming single, “Ready?,” is a night drive.
Iwata: I wrote the lyrics to match the tracks, but at the same time I also created the jacket (for the streaming release). I wanted to try my hand at creating an image that expressed the world-view of the song, so I just listened to the track and drew. That became the artwork for the album, and the music video was also an embodiment of that art. I used some of what came to mind during the drawing process in the lyrics. When we met to discuss the filming of the music video, and when we scouted for locations, what I had drawn connected to ideas like “the magic hour” and “going for a drive.” As for my performance, I had a clear vision of presenting an image of an artist who can both sing and dance.
“Ready?” Music Video
So the drawing was the start of everything. “Ready?” is in the same genre as the track that came before it, “korekara,” but it feels like it has a different groove. You also worked on the lyrics to “korekara,” right?
Iwata: When I first heard the track, I felt like the strange addictive quality of the main vocal melody of the intro and chorus was key. The intro is catchy, so it stays in your head. When writing the lyrics, I tried to really take advantage of that. There was also a sense of speed, which is why I went with the straightforward concept of going on a drive. On some other songs, I sang about what I wanted to communicate, about the messages I wanted to share with the world, about love. With “Ready?,” I avoided abstruse lyrics and instead sang about an everyday scene from daily life. When you hear that the concept is “going on a drive,” you might imagine music that you’d listen to while driving, but for me the concept was like taking the steering wheel of life itself. I’d like for the listeners to think of the road they’re driving down as their own life. It’s a message of being positive and carefree, living life the way you want. From the hook in the second half of the song, “Turn up the base line,” it feels like a jazz club. This song is all about the vibe. [Laughs] You don’t need to understand it, just feel it and enjoy it.
Where there any songs that were easy to write, or any songs you struggled with?
Iwata: Things went really smoothly on the third song, “Keep It Up.” This song is a song of personal encouragement. The lyrics contain a lot of things I’ve said in interviews and the like. It’s the kind of song that my fans would hear and say “That sounds like Iwata.” I don’t try to rush through life, but I do often say “the time we have is limited.” I tell myself that, as well, and I try to stay active, because you can’t turn back time. That’s the spirit of this song. I also tried using a rap-like flow. I’d chop it up, taking care to make it sound good, and then fine tune it. I repeated that process a few times, and the whole writing process went smoothly. One of the lyrics is “like the shimmering summer heat” (“kagero” in Japanese). Last summer, I was looking at a mayfly (also “kagero” in Japanese) and thinking about what a sad sight it was. Mayflies only live for a few days after they hatch. It reminded me of how short life is and how our time is limited. I didn’t put the expression in there as a seasonal expression to give the song a stylish, poetic feel, but because it was a specific experience of mine.
What songs did you struggle with?
Iwata: One song that it took me a long time to develop the concept for was “Can’t Get Enough.” When I heard the melody, at first I thought making it into a love song wouldn’t be a bad approach, but I decided to try out two different directions. I wrote down a lot of different words. During this process, I started thinking that I wanted to make it a powerful, passionate song, so for the chorus I wrote strong, straightforward lyrics. Then, based on that, I built up the verses and the bridge. It ended up being a really fiery fight song. [Laughs] Once I decided I wanted to make it a motivational song that would give you that extra push, the words just started flowing out, but it took a long time to decide on that concept in the first place.
You’ve written lyrics for songs with diverse concepts in all kinds of genres, so your lyrics use a wide range of words. Where do they come from?
Iwata: Whenever a word jumps out at me in day-to-day life, I write it down on my phone. Words that strike me when I’m reading a book, words that catch my attention when I’m watching the news, things that people say that make me nod my head. I write all kinds of things down, even really little things, and sometimes I use them. When I decide on the concepts of songs, sometimes the inspiration wells up inside me and the words just flow. I also get ideas from movies. The song “Monday,” for example, was somewhat inspired by the risqué American love comedies that were so popular in the early 2000s. I wanted to write a love song that’s light, mature, and a bit erotic — kind of like a hangover.
It’s been a year since you started your solo music activities. How do you feel you’ve changed during this time?
Iwata: When I started last year, it created quite a stir, but it hasn’t really hit me yet. However, I have announced a tour, so I expect that things will look very different to me once this year’s schedule is all finished. I’m looking forward to it. For now, I just want to make the tour a success.
Looking not only at your work as a soloist, but also as a member of a group, as an actor, and as a creator, you’re truly versatile.
Iwata: People say that a lot, but I don’t think of myself as being all that versatile. It’s not something I really feel. People say it, but it doesn’t quite click. I always like to stay moving. I also work in a lot of different fields, so if I get all stressed out with one kind of work, then when I do other work it allows me to unwind. I’m kind of a career-minded person, so I’m just doing what I want to do. Fans often ask me what it is that I’m working towards, but I don’t have my sights set on anything in particular. [Laughs] I’m not aiming to achieve specific goals, I’m just doing what I like. To be honest, I’d like to ask myself what I’m working towards. [Laughs] If you set goals, then you start seeing the end approach.
I think that your versatility is what enables you to succeed in so many different fields.
Iwata: In my case, I can do it because I started out as a member of a group. I think it all ties back to group-work. So the question is what I’ll do one day in the future, as I get older, if I’m no longer working as a member of a group. Another thing I constantly struggle with is the quality of my work. All I can do is make incremental changes to improve the quality, but I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so sometimes I feel a little down.
You’ve taken a really multi-faceted approach in your work on The Chocolate Box and in your other activities. What stimulates you?
Iwata: I’m inspired a lot by music and film. Recently, I watched Green Mile again, for the first time in a long time. I don’t just watch Hollywood films, though, I also enjoy European films. Even just gazing at the scenery is a joy. When I write lyrics, I picture vistas in my head, and I transform what I’ve seen and heard in my own personal way. That’s why I listen to music and watch movies from all genres. I constantly keep up to date with new hip-hop tracks and trends.
How would you define “stimulation”?
Iwata: Hmm…I guess it’s when something moves me. Of course, that includes music and movies, but also the words I jot down on my phone — they’re words that move me, so they’re stimulating, too. Also, no two days are alike in this line of work, so I’m never at a lack for stimulation. However, when I’m pushed to my limit, sometimes I want the thrill of just kicking back and drinking to my heart’s content. That’s “stimulation” in the same sense as splashing some cold water on your face when you think your mind is just going to explode. It’s a kind of stimulation that’s vital to maintaining your own mental balance. Ultimately, it all ties into the process of creation. In that sense, I might not need to take a trip overseas to seek out new stimulation. My everyday life might just be stimulating enough on its own.
This interview by Azusa Takahashi first appeared on Billboard Japan.
By: Billboard JAPAN / Photo: Yuma Totsuka
https://www.billboard-japan.com/special/detail/3694