Music

Billboard‘s International Power Players list recognizes the leaders 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 first time.

Billboard Japan interviewed Kuroiwa in recognition of his selection for the list and discussed the challenges involved in creating global hits and the potential of female artists.

You were selected for the 2023 Billboard International Power Players list in recognition of the success of XG’s debut and their appearance in the Mediabase Top 40 Radio Airplay charts, the first time ever for Japanese female artists. Could you start out by discussing some of the challenges you faced with XG’s debut?

Kuroiwa: We launched XGALX, a global artist project behind artists like XG, six years ago, in 2017. This was when the world’s attention was first turning to K-pop. Of course, K-pop already had its fans at the time, but this was about when it started to establish an overwhelming presence due to BTS. Avex has a long history of producing K-pop artists such as BoA, TVXQ, and BIGBANG. We formed a partnership with S.M.entertainment in 2001, and we created a label with YG Entertainment. The strong impression I got through our activities with them was that they were keeping a close eye on the Japanese and global markets. Leveraging this experience, we launched the XGALX project with the aim of creating global hits. Initially, we were aiming for a 2020 debut, but the COVID pandemic but a halt to any major moves, so the debut ended up being in 2022. We built up even more knowledge in the intervening time, so in the end it turned out for the best.

XG is based in Korea, but all of the members are Japanese. How does it differ from K-pop?

Kuroiwa: We have a great respect for K-pop, but what really sets XG apart is their originality and freshness. We built the group together with our partners around the world, taking the best elements from Korea, Japan, and the US. The potential of the members, the music production, the video, and the fashion all came together, overlapping and giving birth to XG. We didn’t want to make them a J-pop or K-pop group, but instead create an all-new genre, X-Pop.

The members of the group had a lot of different ideas about what language the lyrics should be in. Some said that since the members are Japanese, they should sing in Japanese, but ultimately they came to the conclusion that since they’d be targeting the global market, including the Korean market, English would be best. None of the members are native speakers, so we really focused on pronunciation from the very start of their artist development.

Comparing the Japanese and US hit charts, it feels like in Japan, songs are often supported because of their strong melodies, while in the US and K-pop charts, songs with distinctive rhythms enjoy a lot of support. Do you take things like that into consideration?

Kuroiwa: Yes. Part of our company’s DNA is dance music, but we want to create an “XG rhythm” that features the originality of the members.

Could you talk a bit about the future you see for XG?

Kuroiwa: We don’t have any experience or expertise with creating global hit artists. That’s why we’ve been working with marketing firms and digital streaming platforms (DSPs), sharing ideas with each other. Thanks to these efforts, we’ve achieved organic growth, and I believe that the knowledge we’ve accrued will provide extremely valuable.

In the world of sports, like baseball and soccer, Japanese players have become really prominent presences, but that’s not the product of the sporting scene suddenly changing. No, the world has changed because of the efforts of all kinds of players, like Hideo Nomo, over the course of decades.

I don’t want the XGALX project to just shut down after a year or two. I hope it keeps going for 10, 20 years, creating a world in which Japanese artists thrive in the mainstream music world. Of course, I’d love it if XG were the breakthrough artist, but by having various artists take on the challenge, we can shift from these being isolated successes to a tide that creates a new market.

When YOASOBI took the top position in the US Billboard “Global Excl. U.S.” chart in June 2023, it created quite the buzz. Artists like Ado, Fujii Kaze, and imase are starting to build up support around the world.

Kuroiwa: It’s extremely encouraging. Every artist gains ground in a different way, so I think we need to take a close look at the data to see just how they’re growing in each individual country, including Japan. Right now, roughly 30% of XG’s listeners are in Japan, 20% in the US, and 50% in other countries. I think this is an ideal distribution, and if Japanese artists from all kinds of genres become widely listened to — if people say “Fujii Kaze’s great and YOASOBI’s great, but XG’s also great” — then I think the future of the Japanese music market will be a bright one.

In August 2023, NewJeans took the number 1 position in the US Billboard200 album chart for the first time. Overseas, female artists like BLACKPINK, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo have been very successful, but looking at the Japanese charts, most of the artists have been men for a while now, and there are still few high-charting female artists. What do you think about that?

Kuroiwa: Male artists, especially male groups, enjoy a lot of support from female fans, which makes it easy for them to generate revenue. However, we’ve made a lot of female artists, like Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki, into hit artists. Around the 2000s, what happened is that although these artists had some male fans, there was a societal phenomenon of female fans who aspired to be like these artists. For both men and women, it’s common for an artist to enjoy a lot of support from the other gender when they debut, but once they reach a certain level, female artists also have a lot of female fans. They have the power to create a kind of culture of their own. I’m not sure if, in our current age, it’s right to speak in terms of gender, but I think female artists have the power to transcend gender and generation barriers.

In closing, the rise in streaming sales is driving ongoing, positive music market growth in Japan and worldwide. However, the rate of growth of that streaming is slowing, and new market development is starting to take place. What plans does Avex have for the future?

Kuroiwa: I think that issues like that affect the countries who were at the forefront of the adoption of music streaming, but in Asia, including Japan, in the Middle East, and in Africa, the streaming market still has a lot of room for growth. I think that Japan has come out of the gates late with respect creating global hits, including hits in those regions. We’re not a major foreign-funded record company, so we don’t have the kinds of internal resources those companies have. That’s why we established Avex Asia Pte. Ltd. in 2013 and Avex USA Inc. in 2018, and we’re adding new Avex sites around the world. In August of this year (2023) we established a new company, Avex Saudi Arabia Entertainment LLC. I think the strategy of connecting all of these sites in Japan, the US, China, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia organically will be an effective way for us to generate global awareness of the IP we create.

So you’re setting up new sites around the world?

Kuroiwa: Singapore, where Avex Asia Pte. Ltd. is located, is our Southeast Asian hub, and Avex USA plays an extremely important role in our creative and marketing efforts. I feel there is tremendous market potential in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. As far as creating global hits, Japanese anime is an important form of IP, and it’s extremely popular in Saudi Arabia. That’s why in 2022, we produced the “Anime Village” event area.

In the fields of music, video, and anime, we’re going to sell original Japanese IP, which we create, around the world, and feed the results back into our future efforts. I hope we can become a company that keeps doing that for decades to come.

—This interview by Seiji Isozaki and Naoko Takashima first appeared on Billboard Japan

J-pop musician Nishina is the next featured guest on Billboard Japan’s Women In Music interview series highlighting female players in the country’s entertainment industry. The series is one of many projects being conducted as part of the initiative launched last year, honoring female artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work.

Nishina began her music career while still in high school and her smooth singing voice has steadily gained popularity through social media and performances in night clubs. The 25-year-old artist is also popular for her lyrics depicting relatable and genuine emotions. Billboard Japan chatted with the rising singer ahead of her Women In Music Vol.1 performance set for Nov. 3 at the historic Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall and asked her about maintaining a healthy mindset and her mission to spread a message of self-love.

You’ll be performing at the upcoming Billboard Japan’s Women In Music Vol. 1 event. How did you feel when you were asked to participate?

I’m so honored to be a part of this project. I’m not thinking of doing anything special and hope I can properly convey who I am to the audience. 

The three artists/acts set to perform that day have different styles, so we’re really looking forward to seeing your respective live performances. Were there any women you looked up to growing up?

I didn’t have any particular image of an ideal woman when I was little, and honestly speaking, I remember being embarrassed about becoming more feminine during my adolescent years. I wasn’t put off by it, but I guess I was embarrassed by the changes in my body. It felt strange. But I did admire musicians, regardless of their gender. I liked singing but felt shy standing in front of audiences, so musicians who gave commanding performances onstage looked really cool to me at the time.

It’s amazing that you’re now doing what you used to admire.

I’m so grateful. I’m pretty pleased with who I am right now.

That’s such a good space to be in. There are people who have trouble getting over their hang-ups and accepting who they are.

I know. I mean, I say I’m pleased with myself but of course I have a lot of hang-ups. In Japan, all kinds of ideals in terms of how one “should” look still run rampant, regardless of gender. Like, “the skinnier the better.” I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to want to change to like yourself more, but I’d like people to first accept themselves as who they are now. I’m fortunately in a position where I can deliver a message to people and I want everyone to know they should love themselves properly.

I see, so in a way, the message you want to get out to people is also coming back to you. Do you think there’s a trick to maintaining that state of being pleased with who you are?

For example, the idea that “skinny is more beautiful” is a way of thinking that stems from the culture you grew up in or was imposed on you by others. Different things may be considered beautiful in different countries, and what seems like common sense at first doesn’t mean it’s absolutely correct everywhere. So I think it’s important to change your environment to question that common sense. 

Try not to think that the world around you is all there is, you mean. How did you come up with that way of thinking?

I’ve always been a bit of a contrary person, so maybe I have a habit of looking at things from a different angle. For example, even when I’m in a situation where people don’t like me, when someone rejects me, I think, “Why should I be told that by you?” and feel like affirming myself instead. I can’t give you any specific examples, but when one of my complexes is triggered by something, I have a tendency to want to accept myself because of that.

Accepting yourself because others don’t. If you can think like that, the noise around you could sound different. Do you think being a woman has any influence on your music career? 

I’d like to say no but I think it does affect me in some ways. I call myself Nishina because I didn’t want to limit my gender. I wanted people to value who I am without letting my gender influence them.

I imagine you probably think differently since you started calling yourself Nishina. How did you develop that awareness to recognize and value your own individuality?

I’m not sure how it happened… I think it means that my mind has matured. There are some things I’ve come to understand as I’ve grown older. Some people have a clear idea of who they are from an early age, while others, like me, gradually deepen their understanding as they gain more experience. These days, I have this strong sense of my inner self being formed.

So you’re still changing in a positive way. At what moments do you update the way you think?

I guess it’s when I feel really down. The first year of my professional music career coincided with the pandemic, so there were periods when I couldn’t perform live or release songs and all I could do was keep producing music. No matter how much I worked, I couldn’t get any feedback and it was so hard. I felt stuck and thought, “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t keep going.” But I shared my feelings with my manager during those times and took some time off from production to slack off and just go have some fun. After doing that and letting myself hit rock bottom, I wanted to sing again. By hanging in there somehow without quitting, I managed to get through the tunnel and began to enjoy singing again. Looking back now, it was a good experience.

I see. I imagine it takes a lot of courage to let yourself fall like that.

Yes, I think I was at my limit at that time. Also, I read a book back in junior high where the question of “What’s the point of my existence?” was answered by something along the lines of “That’s a problem everyone encounters at least once, but it’s no use thinking about.” I was taken aback by that reply because I was asking myself the same thing and was surprised to learn that everyone has similar thoughts. You might not notice something when you’re in the midst of it, but you begin to see it when you set yourself apart from it. Once I realized the importance of changing my perspective and looking at things from a wider angle, my thought process changed a little. There’s more than one way to look at things, and it’s OK to look for an easier way to navigate by looking from above or below or whatever.

Since you admired musicians from a young age, did you ever hesitate taking steps toward your dream of becoming one, or feel ambivalent about your direction? What would you say to people who don’t like themselves or don’t have the courage to take that first step?

I did feel anxious, but had no hesitation. I spent a long time thinking, “I want to be like that,” so I couldn’t let go of the opportunity that came my way.

The thing I’d say to people would be about changing your perspective, like I mentioned just now. Most of the time it won’t kill you whether you choose right or left, and that step you think you can’t take might not be such a big deal. If you take that small step, it may lead to a surprisingly big change. If you don’t like yourself, try to find one thing about yourself that you can like, whether it’s something on the inside or out. Once you find that, think of ways to cherish it and make it shine.

Last question. This project began in response to the fact that men make up the majority of the Billboard Japan charts every year. Could you share your thoughts on this?

Until I was asked to do this interview, I wasn’t aware of this fact at all. I’ve gone through phases of listening only to works with male vocalists. Or maybe it has something to do with the power of women supporting male artists. I don’t think it’s necessarily something to be pessimistic about, though. It’d be a shame if there’s an air of female fans being made to feel out of place among a sea of male fans, but events like Billboard Japan’s Women In Music Vol. 1 are happening and there are many opportunities for people to listen to songs on social media now. I hope there will be more opportunities for everyone to freely encounter the music they like, regardless of gender.

–This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan