Yeah, Namie songs aren't about sex at all :B
hahaha

Actually one of my friends that is only into like the urban music scene here in the US, thinks that koda kumi could be very popular here.

if only she could just keep singing in japanese lol

But they would hate Kuu songs like Moon Crying I guess... Kuu is like erm I don't know, I think she has her own place in J-Pop, and her/her label know how to make sales in Japan.

Her dance songs are so great... but she also has those great ballads that Japan loves, lol... which I don't exactly think will be well received in the West. Just my 2 cents.

Well...honestly...I didn't show her any of the ballads...because I don't like them so...

she kind of only saw the sexy kuu.

Most of my friends like the sexy kuu lol the ballady kuu is :/ here lol

but yeah...Japan sure loves their cheesy barrads.

Yeah so if Kuu were to come to the US or whatever then her ballads would sell badly lmao, but I think her sexy/dance songs are so good to play and let everyone dance to them!

Umm...Asian music without doubt. The chances that you will find a good Asian artist are much bigger than finding a good Western artist. I think that Asian artists add more style to their songs, which are way better to listen to.

Asian

as long as none of them changes their music and style then yes. Otherwise no.

Also, there is a difference between being an elegant ***** and a cheap one, imo Asian people who have songs that are in a way about sex don't look as cheap and pathetic doing those if nothing else, at least when it comes to Japanese mainstream music.

I always fail to see a point of many popular American artists doing music when in fact they are ready for hard core porn industry:

http://images.askmen.com/galleries/c...-picture-6.jpg

http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/a...gger_boobs.jpg

http://rumorsinmusic.com/wp-content/...pears_vmas.jpg

so yeah to me they pretty much scream "We're all about sex and what comes after..." Can they really concentrate on anything else?

Thank god, I am resistant to those ^^

That pic of Britney scared me.

Yeah... like... women should not show any skin or being sexy! That's why japan's pedo-pop market is so amazing! They don't sell naked women, they sell children with "rape-me" printed on their backs! yay!

I really doubt anyone thinks of Britney in that pic as sexy lol god knows there are drag queens (no offense anyone) that look more feminine and less junky than her in that pic. Showing off SOME skin and being SEXY doesn't require boobs the size of a medium sized aquarium imo. So does anyone think it's weird that some of the most famous American divas all have huge breast? Does that say anything? And those "children" you're talking about are called idols and they aren't singers, at least not the successful ones and we all now that only hard core otakus buy their stuff and not the general public and I am pretty sure those 3 are really hot in USA :P oh and don't put words in my mouth :) Once again I think you're mixing music with pornography and those 2 should not really be related, ne?

A+ LOL

There's nothing wrong with being sexy, but there's a big difference between a sexy person, and a *****. I think that njanjayrp is trying to say that western artists (not all, but the most of them) use sex and other vulgar stuff to gain a popularity and fame. That happens in Asia too, but not as much as in US. :) (Just look at those pictures he posted, they may be the most popular western artists). :)

For an example, I can't compare any western artist to Ayumi Hamasaki. There are persons who have better voice than her, but nobody can beat her in terms of creativity and lyrics. :) They just can't... gain success with that.

showing skin =/= *****.

idu why anyone is putting asia on a pedestal. not everything selling over there is ~beautiful~ and ~meaningful~. seriously, look at japan, what's selling like hotcakes over there?

o rite ugly boybands who all sound the same.

um wow, this thread got so unnecessary.

Like Andrenakoi said.

I guess having mature women with big fake boobs as the sexy image is a lot worse than having a girl who looks like she's 15 with fake boobs acting all innocent as the sexy image.


And..."they aren't singers"? *cough* *Morning Musume* *cough*


Cory was right. Neither is any better than the other.

Wow haha if it's mainstream, then it's Western music. More sounds/themes/artists.

People here tend to forget the diverse music Asia has to offer~ So as a whole music spectrum, all the countries in asia @_@~ Has their own traditional music, which all sounds remarkably different. So overall Asian music is way more creative due to traditions. :)

I don't understand how a bunch of people who don't like western pop and for this reason don't know the singers besides radio hits and some internet pics can say how good or bad they are o_O

And i'm going to say it again... cuturally, to japanese men, a sexed up woman in the way they are over here is not sexy, a cute kawaii girl with inocent look is... Ayu doen'st have a "kawaii girl segment" in everyone of her concerts for no reason, is sexier a girl can be over there!

So, I don't understand how someone can say that western pop is all about sex if jpop is as sexual if taking in consideration cutural differences!

I agree with emi and Andrenakoi,

I rather see a full grown, legal woman in complete control of her sexuality and who she as a person than a 15 year old girl still going through puberty wearing skimpy outfits she may not be comfortable in and having pictures of such being sold to be bought mostly by 40 to 50 year old men.

Also, a woman's breast don't stop growing naturally until you are 25. Beyonce could have a late bloomer. Or maybe she did surgery. Either way, I don't care.

I watched The Beyonce Experience those days, and the girl still boobless :P
Those pic it seens bigger 'cuz of the outfit

BTW, Beyonce, Britney or Mariah would be terrible porn stars in Japan:

http://mob198.photobucket.com/albums...o_0023_454.jpg
Hikaru Koto

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cMxLk9ZZpB...xnetwork03.jpg
Airi & Meiri

http://lambrtz.blogsome.com/wp-admin..._kawashima.jpg
Azumi Kawashima

http://www.picture6.com/uploads/alli...S8-1-16293.jpg
Yua Aida

=D

Hope there is no problem in posting those japanese pornstar pics... If there is any, I can remove them...

Aww they are so cute.

God, I hope I'm a late bloomer, too!

Didn't you post a link somewhere about the age of consent in different countries? I think the list said the age of consent in Japan is 13 years old, so maybe that has something to do with the young idols.

And how did this all turn into boob and sex extravaganza? I thought the "sex" image works in both markets so what does that have to do with anything? :shrug

^It started because I guess njan thought it was necessary to point out how "ready" Western Mainstream stars are for "hard core porn".

The age of consent in Japan ranges. It is 13 in like one prefecture...and then in others it's as high as 18. So, like in the US, it ranges where you're at.

And you're right, it doesn't have to do with anything...so I think we should drop it...since both markets seem perverse and THE SAME.

I think present day Western music is more creative, but if you're talking about traditional music from Asian and Western, I think Asian may have it beat because wasn't it the Chinese that... I don't know, discovered music? xD; lol Sorry if I sound ignorant right now, it's almost 3 am and I'm too lazy to google any of this.

I get what you're trying to say but really, you've only proved that even Japanese porn stars look more decent and less "all about sex" than your western "artists" :thud

In terms of creativity, I would pick Asian music.
I never got tired of listening Jpop or any kind of Asian pop music.

Western music gives me a feel of "they're all the same".
I really don't know why but I just feel it that way.

Yeah, they are very kawaii when they are raped on the movies!

Ew! :irked

Now you're just really being childish. Those movies don't air on channels that Japanese kids watch on daily bases, while I am pretty sure that at least a few millions of people saw Britney's MTV Awards performance. And you've already proved that she looks worse than the Japanese porn stars. And I don't really know what they're doing in Japanese kawaii porns with girls as I don't really watch them, on the other hand you seem perfectly familiar with the way they scream while they are being raped :) But I see that you finally understand what I meant as otherwise you wouldn't be comparing Japanese porn girls with Western "stars" :rolleyes

:rolleyes

They don't look anymore decent. And it's not just porn stars. It's all the cutesy, bubblegum pop girl bands out there that appeal to japan's general population.

Besides, just because a 15 year old looks like a conservative, 20 year old student, doesn't make it okay.

Or I guess, just to be safe, a 20 year old dressing like a conservative, decent 15 year old.

Those porn stars represent what the Music Industry is trying to put out. The fact that the industry is so ingrained on the culture is actually really disturbing.And there's so many instances in the culture where you can really see the effects of this "lolita complex".

I'm sorry you have to look down on the Western Industry and their stars...but the Japanese industry is no different. They're just as perverted, commercialized, and overexposed as the Western Industry is, and just because they flaunt their sexuality in a different way in order to attract people doesn't make them any more "decent".

To me, it's actually quite sick.

and btw, Britney Spears is a person who needed help. I think it's pathetic that people have to keep hitting a person while they're down.

B.Spears is doing much better and for once, I'm actually happy for her :yes. Now can someone rescue L.Lohan, please? Girl is straight trippin'.

And what about Korea? or China? I'm almost positive Korea uses the same sex tactics that the US uses to sell records. I mean if you see Lee Hyori in a music video and see her candid shots, it's like a totally different person. She's sexed up to the max for her music persona. So in all reality, the "sex sells" rule is no different in any music industry :shrug. It just depends on how you use it. If the general public finds women in bear suits sexy and you see a bunch of artists in bear suits in order to sell records, it's the same damn thing lol. So I don't think sex should be the foundation on which music industry is better than the other. Considering how they sell the record (with sex) isn't so creative, but the record itself is the subject here lol.

Sure I agree with your for the most part :) Can't argue with most of the things that you've sad.

Let's simply put it this way, I prefer the ways Japanese market and their singers work :) even though they might be as perverted (which I am pretty sure they are for the most part), but once again there is a difference in being cheap and vulgar which I consider most of the mainstream Western artists to be and what they're doing in Japan. I don't consider most of the j-artists I listen to neither perverted nor vulgar, I am aware that there those in the US as well, but that for the most part they aren't whats popular over there :)

Don't worry Britney was just an example, you could've placed anyone else's name there instead, I don't hate her nor love her.

Oh and Koreans are another story, as they do in fact rely on western culture way too much for my taste :)

~<3 emiko

I watch japanese porn (and not only japanese), that's why I know it! Porn is not only fun, but an amazing indicator of cultural aspects of a society... Like the rise of mid-eastern porn stars on the US after the WTC terrorist atack for example.

Japanese men are not interested in sexed up powerful women, that's why most of Koda followers in Japan are girls, while men are more interested in Ai Otsuka ;)

If japanese men are sexual interested in kawaii girls, when a female jpop singer act like that, she is being sexual.... So, considering most of japanese female popstars, Japan's pop market is as sexed up as western.

And I'm considering that you are so concerned about those singer looks that you are comparing them to pornstars without really knowing how they works really are... And sorry, but I think it's a little strange to judge an entire side of the world ('cuz when u say that western pop music is all about sex, you are talking about North American music, Latin American music, Europe music and African music) as sex oriented if you obviously don't really know anything about it....

Sure, I am aware of the things you said ^^ But how come Otsuka and all those girl projects aren't selling now? I watch Japanese porn, just that the ones I watch do not involve girls and I know how perverted they can be. If you count the number of female artists that are actually successful nowdays in Japan you'll that in fact it's not as sexed up as the other one, just look at the top 10 yearly for now :) GReeeeN is ruling the charts and they don't even know how they look :)

I already said before that we shouldn't generalize as it all depends from an artist to the other one, but people simply continued and continued. I have previously said that I do not know a lot about the American music market but simply what I saw/heard on TV. I really didn't want to argue..

Ok, sorry^^
Let's just be friends and forget it... It just get's a little on my nervers when I see someone talking about something they don't really know (and yeah, you said that you don't know american music market, but I think u have the right of having ur own opinion). Just if you are interested, take a further look on some american pop stars... Madonna's and Beyonce's works for example have a considerable amount of depth, even if they have a very sexy image...

I've really loved Madonna (2Unlimited, Snap!, Thalia and loads of others) when I was a kid and I grew up listening to her music and western music in general :) I even had her Hungary concert on a VC and I used to watch it like crazy. I kinda lost interest in her since 2000 :( Don't get me wrong I listen to Blackmore's Night, Within Temptation, EvaneScence and Jade's and Geo's works :) so it's not that I don't listen to non Asian music. I used to be into many german pop acts around 2002 too, but in time I've simply lost interest as it all seemed pretty similar one way or another. I don't really mind their sexy image, but here where I live people don't even consider trying out anything else if it doesn't have an "over-sexed" image :( you don't even want to see Serbian turbo folk stars (most of them actually have porn tapes not to mention they literally only sing about cheating and sex) so I guess that's one of the things that makes me dislike the whole idea :)

I see a lot of female sexed up artists not to do a "I'm to sexy for my clothers" thing, but more like a girl empowerement about their own sexualit... Something like "This is my body, and I'm hot, but you only can have it if I let you", what is very against sexism, where sexy women need to play the prostitute role everytime...^^ But I know some female singers from europe from some countries whose music market don't have much appeal worldwide, and some of them are REALLY sex-oriented, in a porn-like way.

About everything sounding the same, it's common when a music style is not ur cup of tea... I have this problem with most metal bands, punk rock and indie rock^^

Yeah I have the same probs with most of those, espec. visual kei (styled) bands, even their vocals tend to sound the same to me :( as I think that adopting a single genre is very limiting someone's creativity :)

Well, that's why I like pop music, it's one of the only music "genre" (cuz it's not really a genre, it's only a way to say it's mainstream) where you can mix everything you want on ur music, and still need to make it appealing

Yeah, though I tend not to like calling everything pop, as one can hardly classify Kalafina (<3) and Namie Amuro (for example) both as pop, but yeah over all I agree :) I like it better if people don't stick to one genre even if we simply have to call it pop. Sadly many people have a wrong image of the "pop" term.

In order to make a fair judgment, I'm not going to be biased. I feel that both cultures have very strong artists and weak artists in terms of authenticity. I adore Asian music because of the fast pace, catchy songs available. Besides Asian music takes a good amount of its influence from other cultures and christen it their own.

When it comes down to the more heartfelt, poignant songs I go with Western music. For instance Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, John Mayer, One Republic, Michael Jackson or Mariah Carey. I have yet to find any artist in Asia to match their level of originality.

Overall I vote for Western music

In all honesty it's very hard to say what's more "creative", just because some of my most favorite Jpop and Kpop songs are very western-sound influenced and etc.

If the question comes down to what kind of music I prefer, I'd say western. I enjoy a more diverse field of artist in the western genre whereas generally I find that I just tend to stick to a handful of jpop artist. And a lot of western artist's voice appeals to me more, so...

I feel like it's a lot of misconception from the jpop and asian pop fans that western music is just Britney Spears, and dismiss western music as being "oversexed", and while some of the very prominent western artists do have songs like that, the western music scene is very diverse and some of the best selling western artists in the past few years you wouldn't categorize with someone like Britney Spears. (For example, one of the best selling female artist last year of this year is Taylor Swift, and she's not really someone you would put in the same category with Britney Spears)

Also, a lot of people mentioned Britney Spears, but honestly she's more known for her scandals than her music. And tbh it's kind of baffling how people always use her as an example of western music because in terms of musical influence in the America mainstream she barely registers.

...I'm rambling...lol...but my point is both industries have its share of good and crap. music is music, and if I don't like this song I'm not going to like it regardless of where it came from.

Asian...
Sometimes western is too boring because most of the lyrics are just 'bout love?
Nothing else... T.T

Sweet Jesus it's obviously "Western" music isn't it? Asian music is inspired by Western music 99.9% of the time anyway.

Asian music

Asian music for sure :yes

Overall, I have to go with Western music, but then again I don't listen to a lot of Western Top 40 pop unless I'm in the car. Most of my favorite bands and artists are British, and the vast majority of those are from the electronic/new wave and indie categories.

I also listen to a lot of Slavic music (Ukrainian, Russian, ETC) because I love the way the languages sound. I'd still say these are "Western" artists as well, even though they're from the easternmost end of Europe. As for their style/creativity, I used to listen to a lot of cheap Slavic pop when I first discovered it, but now my tastes are closer to what I listen to in English but with a more "folky" flair.

To be honest, I think Asian pop is not inherently better than Western pop. ACO (a trip-hop singer) is my favorite Japanese artist, though I still do love Ayu's older albums and Namie is also pretty great when I want something truly "pop."

However, I do have to admit that I'd like the Western pop I hear on the radio a lot more if the lyrics weren't so dumb. It might be fun to listen to while driving or dancing, but I'm really starting to get tired of this "party rap" fad. It seems like everything played on American radio NEEDS to have a rapper to be a hit, and most of it makes women out to be pieces of meat. Now, I don't mean for this to turn into a feminist rant (or a discussion about the merits or non-merits of rap --- I listen to some local stuff on occasion), but it certainly does make me wonder if many of the English-speaking people on this board who say they prefer Asian music 100% do so because they want catchy and upbeat music without being distracted by the dumb lyrics!

Exactly!

http://i30.tinypic.com/1070v4p.jpg

:luv2:luv2

Posting a .gif of Britney Spears isn't the best way to prove that Western > Eastern music. "Womanizer" isn't entirely original in this current wave of pop with strong beats and electronica sounds...

^ Well, posting a Namie gif doesn't really help either, most of her music is as creative as Britney's...

lol the results really would be biased since we are in an ayumi forum..

i go for western music~ theres hardly any successful experimental artists in japan anyway.. and those who try to categorize ayumi under experimental should just jump of a cliff..

havent seen any japanese as creative as bjork, florence or gwen stefani. ;)

^ RURUTIA, KOKIA, Hitomi Shimatani, Gackt, Yumi Matsutoya, Shéna Ringö. :)

^ Why did you spell Shiina Ringo's name like that? xD;

rurutia is just ethereal fancy pop, her song structures and vocals are all standard, kokia is just folk, hitomi shimatani is more of a pop artist these days, shiina is rock (cant stand her!!). these artists follow the standard song structure and vocal performances, so they're not really experimental.

i dont know about the others.

Cuz, on most of her releases her name is written either 椎名林檎 or Shéna Ringö. :)

I don't think that RURUTIA's vocals are at all standard, I don't think I've heard another Japanese artist with her whispering, raspy vocals. Her lyrics are ingenuous, even if her music is "standard structure".
KOKIA is folk, but you can't deny that her album trip, trip is VERY experimental. :P
Hitomi Shimatani still has that Spanish feel about her music that I've not really encountered much.
Shéna's music isn't JUST rock, take her new album Superficial Gossip, a lot of the tracks on there are barely rock and lean more towards jazz or swing, also her earlier music also has an experimental edge to it. :P

honestly i don't believe in a global "western music"

germany pop music is different to england music ,north american music is totally different of central american music, and that is different to south american pop music)

maybe the USA music is similar with England music..but that's all i think.

and if we are talking about tradicional music...well... you have options as countries in the world

Why don't u try listening to latin music instead of fake latin music then? :P

^ Because I'm not learning Spanish but I'm learning Japanese. :P

^Read a translation :P
There is nothing that Shimatani did with latin music that isn't VERY common on latin pop

^ Well, actually I do sometimes listen to this one guy...uh but I always forget his name. XD
He sung La Camisa Negra? XD

But I prefer Hitomi's vocals to most Spanish female vocalists I've heard. XD

^Juanes^^
Well, I just listen to what make sucess over here, so, I myself don't really know many singers (like... I listen to them on radio or something, but don't care about knowing who is singing)

Asian music (Japanese, Chinese, Korean...) ^^!~

Honey look at the gif a little closer.

Western artist performing her English song on TV in Japan. Influencing the masses. Never the other way around.

;) Live with it, honey.

There we go. This is me.

Why should he/she? "fake" latin music can turn out to be a great genre full of originality and as fun and enjoyable as any other.

In my opinion, both industries have their share of original, innovative artists (who are usually more on the indie side imo), and the mainstream part of it which is usually the same formulas that work over and over again. The J-Pop industry is full of the same old cliches and the same structures repeated a thousand times... you have the cute bubblegum song (Sakuranbo, Depend on You, Morning Musume's songs, Koi no Tsubomi, etc.), the overdramatic string ballad (Together When..., Planetarium, Kuroi Namida), the rocker stuff (Everlasting Love, Forever Love, SLAP THAT NAUGHTY BODY), the dancey stuff (WILD, BUT, TABOO, Sparkle...) and many other. The thing is, I prefer the japanese style of making music, even when heavily influenced by the american style, is different, and so is the marketing of the artists and the general aura of the industry, so at the end of the day, I prefer the asian industry hands down. But in terms of creativity, both are money-drived industries which will always do what the masses want.

Asian !!
Western music is kinda boring for me
look at how epic Ayu, 2NE1, Kuu, Tohoshinki & of course Namie ~

Thanks God he/she noticed I was kidding ;)

He. :)

^Thanks God he noticed I was kidding ;)








:laugh

That .gif is part of my signature, which appears under every post I make on this forum..

Not really. Britney Spears for the most part has only done pop. Namie at least has a more wide variety to choose from.

For me it's Asian music no doubt. I'm not being unjust just because I'm an Asian. But Asian music is really experimental especially Japanese music. I used to listen to western music before I discovered J-music. I admit Westerns are the ones who invented modern pop and it did influenced the world. But as time goes I got tired of same generic sound of the west. Asian music specifically J-music is deeper experimented.

But there are Asian artist who are influenced by Western pop like Utada, BoA, Koda, etc. but still they put Asian touch. OK I said too much already.

There is just something in Asian music that blends into my persona.

I agree with you! Unlike Ayu who writes more than "Love (BF-GF)" concept.

I know that this thread has been done to death...

but if we're gonna keep discussing it, can we leave ayu out of it a bit...because honestly...

Ayumi Hamasaki =/= Jpop, Cpop. Kpop.

@rusuke: That particular Love theme is huge, HUGE in the Asian industry. Bigger even than in the West. So, please don't think of that as something that sets them apart...because honestly, it really isn't.

I think it's cool that Ayu has the whole cool lyric repertoire, but even she has her large share of sappy love songs. I think she's just more vague about it most of the time.

^:yes
And there are western pop artists that don't sing always about love, like Madonna or Beyonce...

What do you mean by this?

She's saying that you shouldn't use Ayumi as a sole example because Ayu doesn't fully represent Chinese music, Japanese music, Korean music, etc.

Definately asian. :) There's more emotion in Asian songs. And they do't sing about MP3 Players (yes, Utada, I'm looking at you)

I chose Asian music, I don't listen to Western music at all. I only have one or two Western songs i like and those i discovered by accident LOL.

thanks :)

Technically Utada is Asian. :\

No problem. :)

Yep, she is technically asian, but I mean her USA works as Utada, not Utada Hikaru

^ all of her american releases are very asian when we compare them to usual western pop stuff... But her japanese releases are VERY american too...

If her 2 first japanese albums were released in the USA, she would be the most generic r&b singer ever xD

So? Fame in America = instant fame everywhere, regardless of how talented you are or not. Look at the big picture. It's all about marketing, not talent, not to mention the pre-concieved notions Americans have about Asians which makes it hard to succeed in the States + having to change their music a lot to fit the US music scene to where it doesn't make them stand out at all. That's why Asian artists hardly make it in America. This is common knowledge...

As for Britney performance-wise, she's not half the performer she once was. Which is too bad, because that was one thing she could at least do well. Now? Not so much... And the Circus theme isn't all that original anyway, even certain Asian artists were using it before Circus came out.

=/= means two things are different. Ayu is a part of j-pop, which doesn't make her irrelevant at all. :no

Asian. For sure.

I avoided this thread for so long because I knew it would make me mad.

Asian music, aside from folk/traditional music, is usually just inspired by Western music. I don't understand how people can say 'oh Western music is uncreative and all the lyrics are the same and there's no emotion and it's shallow, there are no good US artists, blah blah'. Not all Western music is good, and yeah, quite a bit the mainstream variety is shallow and cruddy, but most people on this board listen to mainstream Japanese/Chinese/Korean artists, so, what's the difference, exactly? Look how many popular Asian artists don't write their own lyrics or compose the music and are basically just a pretty face with an ok voice. I love Mongolian music, for example, but really, the music there is only strating to modernize now (even albums released a few years ago have a horribly dated sound), and you know what, most of it sounds like Western music :O homg.

Western music is not limited to what you see on TV/hear on the radio, nor is it bad. Geez, people...

^ So basically what you're saying is no one is allowed to prefer Asian music? :rolleyes

^No. Just that the notion that Western music is uncreative, unoriginal, and commercialized and that Asian music is better than it, because of those things, is stupid, espcially since most Asian music takes cues directly from the Western industry.

Which is true. I think...it's kinda sad that a lot of people still believe in those stereotypes about Asian music as well, and the ones against Western Music.

while i prefer Asian music and the Asian market, i have to say that Western music has a greater breadth. statistically and stylistically, modern popular music originates in the US. it also seems that Western artists are more likely to try alternative styles and take greater risks because there is a bigger audience to support in the West than in the East.

I think most people in this forum mostly listen to Asian music :innocent

asians FTW

^ I agreed, western music is boring for me nowadays

I also voted for asian music :yes

depends on what music you mean.

do i find music like Hello Project, Johnny's, SM creative? Well, unless you mean creative in the sense that they "create" super groups, not so much. Mass produced songs, mass produced images even, given to pretty people to attract buyers isn't what I'd call musically creative. And that goes for girl and boy bands all over the world--it just happens that Asia seems to be the only one with hugely popular groups like this anymore.

Artists that take control of their image and know who they are and create moving music, art even, are creative. If all they do is sit their and sing a song that's handed to them over and over again, that isn't creative no matter what part of the world you're in. People may enjoy that music, but please don't claim that it's creative--or at least say you think the writer of the song is creative.

Enjoying or not enjoying music is different then thinking it's creative or uncreative.

For instance, I think Marilyn Manson is ridiculously creative. He speaks volumes with his music and videos and he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. But do I listen to his music? not at all. I don't like that type of music. But his lyrics and images are striking and they do something to stir the listener/watcher. It's inspiring and it makes me think.

And rap? Rap came from something that was extremely creative. it was originally used to express immense amounts of emotion, troubles, loneliness etc. even though eminem uses words that i don't like, some of his songs are genius and they have such sadness in them that pop songs don't have. (and to be honest, pop songs have just as much sex in them, it's just not as blunt.)

music lends itself to being used all over the world, influencing people of all kinds. saying all western music is uncreative, or vice versa, is stupidity. there are extremely creative and uncreative singers in asia and the west

:)

^ Well spoken! :)

Its hard to vote, really... I like the way Japanese artists release music constantly, but I like how Western artists are usually the first to do things, since the truth is that the great majority of Asian music is inspired by (and sometimes completely lifted from) Western music.

Tie ( :P )?

you can always find a reason to talk about porn stars! porn stars FTW!!!


:innocent no, this was not spam :innocent

I agree :yes

In all honesty, Western, without a doubt. It's just that you have to look beyond the typical Britney Spears image of Western music. There is so much variety and creativity in more alternative and indie music industries.

Beyond a handful of amazing Japanese artists (Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, Namie Amuro, Hidemi Uematsu, alan, Ai Otsuka), not to mention Sa Dingding :luv2, the mainstream Asian music industry is just as bland and over-processed as Western mainstream pop.

Besides, most Asian artists site Western artists as their major influences and 95% of the music industry is based upon Western sounds and instrumentation.

EDIT: Ultimately I do agree that music is unbounded by geography or race and every part of the world has something musically inspiring.

Basically, I look at it like this.

Western producers come up with new sounds that become big. Asian producers here these sounds, and copy them but make improvements and make them better.

:P

well said. As for the CREA comment.... sorry but she isn't as creative as everyone thinks. I give her props for what little songs she has composed. I am sorry to burst some bubbles here but the [ DUTY, i am..., RAINBOW ] era is probably the only era in wich her music sounds the best. Newer stuff isn't so great with the exception of a few select songs from Memorial Address, (miss)understood, Secret, GUILTY, Next Level...

I am not meaning to trash ayu in any way, shape or form... this is merely my opinion, please repsect it.