Quote:
Originally Posted by SunshineSlayer
Yeah. This whole "westernized", "not westernized" thing is kind of moot. All Jpop and Jrock are inherently westernized. Actual Japanese music sounds nothing like Ayu, Koda, Namie etc etc.
Even those songs, at their core are westernized music. Basically anything post WWII has the western stamp on it unless it is music that comes from Japanese groups/individuals that specifically play actual Japanese music only. But of course the westernization of Japanese music is what made me love it to start with. 
Actually Superfly had the best selling female album of 2009. |
SS good post and you're absolutely right on all points, but for this discussion, I think it would be much more fruitful to define japanese (pop) music by the traits that developed within the context of japanese music differing from those in other areas after WW2 and the (second, because technically the first one came with the meji restoration and resulted in what became known as enka) big reception of western culture and in this case particularly pop music. This is because the concept of "modern pop music" is a western concept originating in the US, like you already mention, consequently discussing how westernized it is in its origins is moot. Comparing apples to apples would be to try to point out the differences between the two the way the are at the same given time.
Using this as a basis, I think his post makes more sense, especially where it mentions track length and differences in style. Keep in mind that we're talking about main stream pop music meaning the music that's commercially most successful and enjoys a certain popularity and recognition among the general public at any given point usually following a more or less set release pattern.