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The J-Pop Industry Today…

Posted by NyNy, 30 May 2012 · 1454 views

j-industry j-pop h!p kyary pamyu pamyu akb48 hallyu wave h!o hello!online

A recent updated blog entry on NyNyOnline. You can read the article on my blog with pictures too.

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I realised recently that I don't have much to say about the Japanese music industry these days. It's just come to my attention by how I write my blog entries of J-Pop in comparison to K-Pop over the years. I'm getting there now but still... I've never really got involved in any forums or found any updating new sites until last year. And the entertainment industry is now more cutesy, girl group dominated and money hungry.

Increase in girl group idols: There are so many girl groups that have come out that I have no idea who most of them were especially in Mechaike Idol Battle. The only girl groups I like are in H!P, Perfume, Tokyo Girl's Style...I think that's it. But I'm aware on many others such as AKB48, Fairies, Momoiro Clover Z etc. I just have no interest in knowing more groups because it's too much effort...

AKB48: Of course the biggest idol group in Japan right now but I have no interst in them. I recall liking one song in the past, スカート、ひらり (Skirt, Hirai). Since watching more variety shows of Japanese idols, I've managed to point out a few faces of certain members despite not knowing much about the group. But I wonder since their main girl, Maeda Atsuko is leaving will they still be in Japan's biggest idol group? It seems like it from these elections and promotional voting that I've heard of and it's a good strategy. But who knows?

H!P Today: Hello!Project today seems to be doing alright but in my opinion, UFA needs to stop saving money and spend some of it especially on MV's and promotion for their idols. I don't think I can recall a lot of PV's this year or last year when they didn't have a made set or backdrop and actually spent money on going all out on a pretty good MV! Promotion does seem to be getting better and there is more attention on the new 11 members of H!P. Hopefully Morning Musume's 50th single will have a good MV.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu: Late last year, I discovered Kyary from tumblr and honestly Ponponpon stuck in my head and ever since then, I've loved Kyary and her songs. She has a big impact in Japan being a fashion blogger, businesswoman and now an idol. I think she's extremely cute and am shocked that she is the same age as me but I love it. She's achieved so much that it makes me want to work harder.

Hallyu Wave in Japan: It's probably the only thing I know about the J-industry at the moment but I only really concentrate on DBSK and 2PM in Japan. I have no problem with Korean artists advancing into Japan because many have succeeded and it is the second longest music industry in the world. But the fact that the second wave is out of hand with so many greedy companies trying to make their idols stand out. DBSK and BoA are the first wave successes. The only ones I think are making a good progress in Japan are KARA and SNSD. 2PM seem to be in the middle.

But I also do not know what goes on in the J-Pop fandom. I have such a lack of knowledge of the idols, the shows they are onn and let's be honest, a look into their lives more. Because as a fan, we want to know about our favourite idols or artists when we get more into them right? Then there's industry background and when I compare what I know to the Korean industry, it's not a lot. In fact, I cannot think of anything that I know about the J-industry. The industry is a big question mark for me.

But recently, I have been listening to more J-Pop and more K-Hip-Hop/R&B, a lot more H!P, Dok2, Jungle Ent artists. I find myself going on H!O more than tumblr. Being on forums after so long (since most of the K-Pop ones I liked have been abandoned) is refreshing since everyone seems to have moved to tumblr now but still H!O carries on.

If anyone knows any links to editorials or articles of the Japanese industry and fandom, I'd be grateful.

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Hope you liked it! ^__^

Stevie F T

May 30 2012 10:16 AM

Pretty interesting i have to say, especially the UFA saving money part and the Hallyu wave
but i thought you meant something like the japanese industries as whole... not just J-pop... eheheh... mainly because
if there was some criticism about the japanese game or anime industry...i would say they're doing okay on the gaming and anime side...

it is quite sad that J-pop isn't doing as well as K-pop, but that's to be expected... at least J-Rock is doing fine though -_-...Also didn't know that there was an extreme increase in girl group idols these last few years,

you should also probably note how aggresive AKB are being in terms of promotion in Japan, I mean, they starred themselves in a ton of dramas, made apperances in a ton of variety shows, one of them decided to Beta test for FFXIII-2, done a lot of sexy shots on mags and have also made an anime during... the (spring?) season of anime... trying to bump out some fairly powerful anime competition such as Fate/Zero 2nd and Accel World... all that without releasing a single song that i heard of...

(I am sincerely sorry if i had offended anyone who likes AKB, i am not a fanboy... im just surprised (not angry) at how aggresive they promote themselves... if you want, please PM me if you want me to take that section of the post off...)

iheartmanochan

May 30 2012 08:50 PM

I agree completely with everything you just said!

Increase in girl group idols: I always say "The more idols the better" but I'm actually getting kind of annoyed at all of the new girl groups. Some of them are awesome, and unique, like Cheeky Parade. But others just want to be popular like AKB, and they copy their concept. I always thought girls joined idol groups because they want to have fun; they love to dance or sing, and make people happy. Not because they want fame and fortune, and to be in the spotlight.

One example is SUPER GiRLS. When debuting, they stated that they wanted to be popular, like AKB. Nothing wrong with that. But their concept is so similar to AKB, and the groups singles are all mainstream happy go lucky idolish stuff. I wish they would have more variety in their singles, and that they would stray away from the "We want to be like AKB" concept and just act like themselves.

AKB: I'm a casual fan. I have about 30 songs from them. Their getting increasingly popular, yet my interest in them isn't going up. I like their past works. But after Heavy Rotation, it seemed like they cared more about the quantity of songs instead of the quality. Honestly, I want to really like them, but there are too many things that they do that I disagree with (AKBaby, Senbatsu) so I'll just settle for glancing at them once in a while. This isn't my own journal, so I don't want to elaborate too much or I'd be a pragraph!

H!P Today: I agree with what you said!

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu: Everybody was talking about this PonPon song and I was like "What is PONPON???" So I finally I gave in and watched the video, and I LOVED it! For a while, I only had that 1 song from Kyary, until I added her other songs like Miracle Orange, Candy, and much more. Now, you can officaly call me a kyray fan! I'm also planning to buy her new album.

Hallyu Wave in Japan: I honestly don't mind kpop groups coming it Japan at all because I also like Kpop. I actively follow 2NE1, MissA, and SNSD. My problem is that some kpop groups are coming to Japan, but are making no efforts to properly learn Japanese or release new songs. KARA and SNSD seem to be the two groups that actually put effort into their releases. 2NE1 started off shaky, but they are making progress.

NyNy

May 31 2012 12:07 PM

^^ I really liked reading your view!

LovelyPrincessP

Jun 02 2012 03:33 AM

True, it's pretty much an Idol industry now which being an Idol fan and a fan of female artists in general, I have no complaints. The J-music scene up until this "boom" was pretty much male dominated (the exceptions being the divas like Ayu, Kuu, and Namie) so it's nice seeing the girls take over for a change. I'm not worried about the industry at all since it's honestly doing just fine. Yeah K-Pop is what's wetting the weeaboo appetites these days but there's a reason the groups are flocking to Japan. The industry is only second to the West/USA and what the Japanese do is admirable. They open wide to the music that comes from the world around them but the stuff that's made on the home front is by them and it's for them. The J-music industry doesn't try to be anything it's not: they love their R&B queens, their Idols, and for their rock stars to be as weird as possible and that's what I love about it.

I'm with iheartmanochan on the AKB48 thing, they're definitely more interested in becoming larger than life than actually making quality music and making girls' dreams come true these days. After Beginner, it's like they pretty much went "well, they'll like anything we do now, let's pump the gas out of this pedal". While 2011 was their most financially successful year, musically, it was their absolute lowest point. This year is has been ok but I can't make myself care anymore. I'm tired of the half ass efforts and seeing girls I care about continually get the shaft so they can marginalize on the fans of all the popular girls across the xxx48-verse. On their business model though: I've always admired it. It's pretty genius and with so many girls they're able to pull off what other groups cannot which is literally be EVERYWHERE in every aspect of entertainment without thinning out the home front. I've made a mental note to take myself off of their mailing lists since everyday my phone is flooded with emails about SOME sort of release whether it's a magazine, CD, photobook, drama dvd, anything related to their name basically. It's madness. You have to wonder what will it be that finally pops the bubble. Eh, I think I'll end this here as it's getting quite lengthy... ^^;

Agree with you totally on H!P, once their major players left so did their willingness to take any risks or spend more than they knew they could make back. I'm not the one handling their money so I can't say whether they've done the right thing by doing so but as a fan, it's very disappointing to see all the shortcuts and lack of general imagination when there's groups with smaller sales and budgets doing a lot more. They do seem to have more confidence in this "younger", "fresher" Momosu and are trying to get them out there which I'm thankful for. I still think they could do more though by creating new sub units and getting them back on TV (Hello!Morning) as I feel those were the things that helped their predecessors shine. But baby steps I suppose. They've been in this business for over a decade and they didn't really have the luxury of watching others in similar situations make all the mistakes for them, they'll find that right balance that keeps them successful AND relevant eventually.

Kyary is adorable. I honestly haven't been following her much though

, just haven't felt a need too. The only ystk act I've been following closely is Perfume but even then, that's only really when they have new music out. Maybe once I feel the need to take a break from Idols, I'll catch up on the ystk world.

The Hallyu Wave... I didn't mind it at first but in the end, it contributed to my now total lack of interest in K-Pop (the other being my very annoying friends). Although I understand the reasoning behind it, it still is pretty annoying. Especially since as said previously, there's like a few groups that have really taken it seriously. For the most part, it's just a money grab of re-releasing old or releasing just plain mediocre material.

The J-music industry may seem big and mysterious but that's because it has so many variables and has been around so long that it has "periods". I'd say since you seem to like some Idols (and it's one of the more "recent" phenomena) to just start with that first and then branch into other areas like The Showa Era, J-Rock, Visual-Kei, Enka, the completely underground Rap/Hip Hop scene... I can't pretend to know them all. But yeah, it's something you just dive headfirst into and not be completely overwhelmed, explore some areas, find what you like and the knowledge/information will come to you. That's best advice I can give, I don't know of any articles to direct to you (well, GOOD articles) so sorry I can't be much help on that.