WHAT IS Jpop in 2016? - Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai
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  #1  
Old 23rd August 2016, 03:50 PM
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WHAT IS Jpop in 2016?

So I was thinking the other day...I haven't listened to any NEW jpop artists lately. Why is that? Well, I'm not into boy bands or girl groups. I don't like music that's too ridiculously poppy or things like KPP or hatsune miku. I've tried to get into some other female soloists like Nishino Kana, who just released an album while I was touring Japan, but I don't think I found any songs that made me really excited or wanted to check her other music out. Am I really out of the loop, or is there really just not much new that's worthwhile?

I was thinking about my favorite artists, and they all debuted over a decade ago. Some are still releasing, some have pretty much faded into obscurity. It's sad.

Also, an account I follow on Twitter stated that the #2 album for the week on Oricon sold only little more than 6k. That's depressing as hell. I understand that Oricon is basically meaningless since it doesn't take any digital sales into account, but it's still a shocking number to see.

I guess I'm just worried about where my favorite genre of music is going to be in a few years. I know my favorite artists can't possibly release music FOREVER, so I wonder what's next.

I've been a huge fan of the following for some time:

ayu
namie
koda kumi
utada hikaru
BoA
MINMI
JASMINE
JAMOSA
Crystal Kay
BENI
Otsuka Ai
DOUBLE
EMI MARIA
Miliyah Kato
lecca
AI
Sowelu
Meisa Kuroki
thelma aoyama
yuna ito
jay'ed
emi hinouchi

So I suppose I'm wondering...what are your opinions on the current jpop scene? The future of jpop? Who are the artists that you enjoy who may be relatively new and why do you like them?
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  #2  
Old 23rd August 2016, 04:37 PM
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To me the current Japanese music state has been stagnant for a very long time . When I 1st started listening almost 10 years , it was more exciting & fun

Over the years KPop has overtaken JPop in many aspects but what JPop lost out to KPop was marketing & also the KPop artistes who toured extensively worldwide

JPop artistes are still very pigeonholed & I don't know if it's their mentality but most I feel are very contented to just solely tour domestically (aside from GRANRODEO's frontman KISHOW who has a terrible phobia of flying until it's so bad that he only will take train rides within Japan from 1 prefecture to another =__=)

And at times when they do tour overseas , they always felt genuinely surprised they do have fans outside of Japan

Some JPop artistes have the foresight to tour both within & outside Japan but it's still not as good as what KPop artistes have done . Likewise I noticed that KPop concerts tend to be more international geared friendly unlike Japan concerts where provided only if you speak/know Japanese , only then you will thoroughly enjoy yourself

Almost 10 years ago , most if not all will bemoan how Johnnys artistes kept on dominating Oricon . Now that has changed & the spotlight has to be shared/overtaken by idol girl groups who I don't support + I feel the amount of copies on what they sell which's documented on Oricon doesn't tend to justify the quality of their material

Lastly when I 1st started to listen to Japanese music , I only focused on solo female acts . It took me quite a while of coaxing before I decide to listen to male solo acts & eventually JRock groups + Johnnys groups

Typing this makes me a bit sad seeing that abingdon boys school who was the 1st JRock band I know/listen ain't active anymore while on the other hand , not able to go for a girl next door concert is still a big regret for me as I supported them from their debut until when they broke up
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  #3  
Old 23rd August 2016, 08:42 PM
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For me personally, I just sort of grew out of Japanese pop music. My interest started going towards Western mainstream pop as well as EDM (I'm an EDM junkie at the moment). I really stopped caring for J-Pop starting 2012. A few reasons is because K-Pop started overtaking the Japanese market, and a lot of the artists I loved listening to slowed down on releases or are out of the scene (still waiting on Yuna Ito or Meisa Kuroki...)

In the end, I just don't find any new acts interesting and I'm not interested in boy groups/girl groups. The only artists I honestly follow are Ayu, Utada, Kuu, Namie, and Ai Otsuka. The J-Pop scene to me is stale, while my interest in EDM is at an all-time high.

It's sad, honestly. I used to listen to nothing but J-Pop. It helped me a lot through middle school and high school. But now it's like, okay whatever lol
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Old 23rd August 2016, 10:01 PM
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Its trash.
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  #5  
Old 24th August 2016, 12:39 AM
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I think about this ALL the time.
I got serious about Jpop in 2007 and it's been a massive part of my life ever since. Even Though Ayu is one of my favorite artists ever, it was hitomi that made me fall in love with Jpop. I found her by randomly clicking on one of her music videos on Youtube. Then I searched more and more for her and was so blown away. I thought the music was so creative and different from American music.

From then on I discovered Visual Kei music as well, and also other artists like BoA, Rie fu, Utada, Crystal Kay, and many many more. I can't list them all, just quick examples. I also became OBSESSED with all things Yasutaka Nakata. Perfume, Capsule, Meg, Am Suzuki, etc. I was so crazy about the late 2000's electro/pop scene in Japan. I don't want to make this too long so I am trying to summarise because I could go on and on about my Jpop story and the many artists I love.

But you are not alone in your feelings on modern Jpop. Things have changed. I feel that it just isn't as good as it was in the 90's and 2000's. For me that is the best time for Japanese music. With the golden age being 1998-2002 roughly. I think the reason that many people feel this way is because we are getting older. Our generation has passed. In the 90's and for the most part the 2000's there was a demand for REAL artists and bands. The 80's was about Idol pop: Seiko Matsuda, Akina Nakamori etc. The 90's saw an increase in acts that had more input in their music. Just like Ayu, she has been writing her own lyrics since her debut and has done some composing/producing. Utada is similar. I feel those two were the peak of this craze of artists who sang but also worked on the music and just had more creative input in their artistry. It also continued into the 2000's but once this decade(2010's) came in full swing, things changed.

Now Jpop is all about Idols again. Both solo and groups. Male acts are now a minority as well. And of course Vocaloids are also popular. So many of the biggest names today do not have input in their music(them being idols). Kyary PamyuPamyu, Babymetal, AKB48, Hatsune Miku, etc. While I do enjoy everything I just mentioned, it is not the same as say Gackt, Ayu, Garnet Crow, Globe, TM Revolution, Mika Nakashima, Hitomi Yaida, Bonnie Pink, so many artists that just make creative, meaningful music that can have such an impact on you that it can change your life. Name one song by Kyary PamyuPamyu that touched your soul, made you cry, changed you, gave you an experience. Sure her music is so much fun and interesting thanks to Yasutaka Nakata mostly. But what big recent artist makes music that touches you, stands the test of time, sucks you in wanting to know more about them. Not all music needs to be so deep and meaningful of course! Not what I am saying. But I feel at this point, Japan has almost none of that. Besides older artists that are still active or have faded away into the underground.

Perhaps Jpop will return to how it was. Maybe the tables will turn and people will go back to wanting artists like the ones we know. I think one of the biggest reasons that Ayu is suffering from declining sales is because of what I have talked about previously. She makes music that the young generation just isn't interested in. They make up most of the market so her sales are low. Yes there has been other factors like Ayu's inconsistency the past few years and asian media giving her a negative image, as well as fans themselves and asians on social media. But a big reason is that the current mainstream just isn't interested in this kind of high concept music. They want pretty dancing girls like AKB48 and Harajuku fashion like Kyary. I guess everything but the actual music.

It is sad and disappointing but we should not let it bother us too much! Just keep following the acts you love. At this point Ayu is like our secret. When I ask people who have an interest in Japan or Jpop if they like Ayumi Hamasaki, they have no idea. They are too busy with their weaboo music. They don't know anything about the history of Jpop or about artists that make high concept music and videos and tours. They just don't care about those kinds of artists. So as for the future of Jpop? We don't know. Things will change eventually, just like all trends. That we do know. But we don't know if the next trend will be a demand for true artists.


Thanks for reading.

Last edited by EndOfTheWorld; 24th August 2016 at 12:44 AM.
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  #6  
Old 24th August 2016, 07:25 AM
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Wow, very nice and meaningful posts here! I have nothing special to add to discussion, because everything was already said.
I am on the same boat with you, guys. When I started to listening to Jpop back in 2006, it was really exciting. There were a huge genre diversity in japanese popular music. Good rock/pop music (Ayumi, Ai Otsuka, hitomi, Nanase Aikawa), good RnB/hip-pop (Namie, Miliyah Kato), ballads (Mika Nakashima), good dance/electro music which was still very different from rest of the world (capsule) etc. etc. etc.
Now Jpop scene is only focused on idol groups which I totally don´t care about. Actually, I think it´s the definition of trash music (Babymetal, AKB48 ...).
Jpop scene stopped to be diverse and that´s the shame. I really cannot find any artists debuted since 2010+ that grabbed my attention.
I still support artists I used to love back in 2000s (like Namie Amuro, Mika Nakashima, globe, move, Utada Hikaru, Miliyah Kato, DOUBLE, Ami Suzuki, Anna Tsuchiya, Nanase Aikawa, Olivia Lufkin, capsule, Origa, Aco, Nami Tamaki ... maybe few more I cannot remember right now) but most of them don´t realese so much new music nowdays (well, except Namie Amuro, fortunately she is still widely popular) or their music is not what it used to be and that´s why my interest in Jpop declined drastically in recent years. And I personally think that all of its glory has faded out.

Six years ago, I actually shifted my interest to Cpop which is not so much dance-pop oriented but there is still a huge genre diversity, escpecially in recent years.

Last edited by maddy1111; 24th August 2016 at 11:08 AM.
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  #7  
Old 24th August 2016, 07:27 AM
Chibi-Chan Chibi-Chan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EndOfTheWorld View Post

I think about this ALL the time.
I got serious about Jpop in 2007 and it's been a massive part of my life ever since. Even Though Ayu is one of my favorite artists ever, it was hitomi that made me fall in love with Jpop. I found her by randomly clicking on one of her music videos on Youtube. Then I searched more and more for her and was so blown away. I thought the music was so creative and different from American music.

From then on I discovered Visual Kei music as well, and also other artists like BoA, Rie fu, Utada, Crystal Kay, and many many more. I can't list them all, just quick examples. I also became OBSESSED with all things Yasutaka Nakata. Perfume, Capsule, Meg, Am Suzuki, etc. I was so crazy about the late 2000's electro/pop scene in Japan. I don't want to make this too long so I am trying to summarise because I could go on and on about my Jpop story and the many artists I love.

But you are not alone in your feelings on modern Jpop. Things have changed. I feel that it just isn't as good as it was in the 90's and 2000's. For me that is the best time for Japanese music. With the golden age being 1998-2002 roughly. I think the reason that many people feel this way is because we are getting older. Our generation has passed. In the 90's and for the most part the 2000's there was a demand for REAL artists and bands. The 80's was about Idol pop: Seiko Matsuda, Akina Nakamori etc. The 90's saw an increase in acts that had more input in their music. Just like Ayu, she has been writing her own lyrics since her debut and has done some composing/producing. Utada is similar. I feel those two were the peak of this craze of artists who sang but also worked on the music and just had more creative input in their artistry. It also continued into the 2000's but once this decade(2010's) came in full swing, things changed.

Now Jpop is all about Idols again. Both solo and groups. Male acts are now a minority as well. And of course Vocaloids are also popular. So many of the biggest names today do not have input in their music(them being idols). Kyary PamyuPamyu, Babymetal, AKB48, Hatsune Miku, etc. While I do enjoy everything I just mentioned, it is not the same as say Gackt, Ayu, Garnet Crow, Globe, TM Revolution, Mika Nakashima, Hitomi Yaida, Bonnie Pink, so many artists that just make creative, meaningful music that can have such an impact on you that it can change your life. Name one song by Kyary PamyuPamyu that touched your soul, made you cry, changed you, gave you an experience. Sure her music is so much fun and interesting thanks to Yasutaka Nakata mostly. But what big recent artist makes music that touches you, stands the test of time, sucks you in wanting to know more about them. Not all music needs to be so deep and meaningful of course! Not what I am saying. But I feel at this point, Japan has almost none of that. Besides older artists that are still active or have faded away into the underground.

Perhaps Jpop will return to how it was. Maybe the tables will turn and people will go back to wanting artists like the ones we know. I think one of the biggest reasons that Ayu is suffering from declining sales is because of what I have talked about previously. She makes music that the young generation just isn't interested in. They make up most of the market so her sales are low. Yes there has been other factors like Ayu's inconsistency the past few years and asian media giving her a negative image, as well as fans themselves and asians on social media. But a big reason is that the current mainstream just isn't interested in this kind of high concept music. They want pretty dancing girls like AKB48 and Harajuku fashion like Kyary. I guess everything but the actual music.

It is sad and disappointing but we should not let it bother us too much! Just keep following the acts you love. At this point Ayu is like our secret. When I ask people who have an interest in Japan or Jpop if they like Ayumi Hamasaki, they have no idea. They are too busy with their weaboo music. They don't know anything about the history of Jpop or about artists that make high concept music and videos and tours. They just don't care about those kinds of artists. So as for the future of Jpop? We don't know. Things will change eventually, just like all trends. That we do know. But we don't know if the next trend will be a demand for true artists.


Thanks for reading.

I have actually nothing to add here. =) Jpop isn't dead or something, it's just that what's trendy right now are idol groups which haven't much in common with the solo artists or rock bands of the 90's and early 00's. So there isn't much interesting stuff for people who came to love old school jpop.
I started listening to jpop in late 2002 and loved to discocer all those artists but I have stopped caring about new acts in the late 00's. But a lot of my favourite bands and solo artists are still active, so it's ok.
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  #8  
Old 24th August 2016, 04:14 PM
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Hm, if you looking at the mainstream market, that's probably true. Especially solos aren't really widely popular.
But there is still enough different stuff in Japanese music out there, you just have to take a closer look.
Also not all idol bands are making the same kind of music.
Btw. Babymetal and AKB48 are damn different. Babymetal isn't even pop...
Also for example E-Girls are making pretty good pop music. I like to check their new stuff out.
For newer artists you could check Faky, FEMM or Scandal for female bands, or for solos Mariya Nishiuchi or GILLE.
There's also a thread for new female artists here on AHS.
Ever checked that?
Here it is:
http://ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121729
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  #9  
Old 24th August 2016, 04:41 PM
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I'm more into JROCK and there are really cool new bands, but JPOP I'm not sure, I've seen some new artists but they're kinda lame (my opinion, no offense), Fhána are pretty good, it's like pop indie tho and they're not that new (2012/2013 I think).
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  #10  
Old 1st September 2016, 08:07 AM
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SunshineSlayer SunshineSlayer is offline
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I would recommend that you check out Superfly since you seem to primarily be into female solo artists. She is basically the only newer solo artists I've really been able to get into. And even she now debut around 10 years ago-ish. But she is very well liked in Japan and very talented.

The music scene, especially for solo artists, has disappeared. Nishino Kana, while popular, is not anywhere near the likes or Ayu or Namie at the height of their popularity. Artists like Namie and Ayu have had far longer shelf lives than solo female artists have ever had in Japan, due in part to the fact that just no one else has really super broken out since them that could really compare.

Watching music specials these days is just sad. Nearly the entire performer's list is made of either an AKB48 related group or an Exile related group. And I actually like several boy bands and idol groups in Japan, but dear god is it stale and overdone now.

And just to throw a counterargument into here regarding the popularity of idol groups and it just being a passing trend: There hasn't been a time in Japanese pop music that there wasn't some wildly popular idol group. And in the 90s to mid 2000s, the most creative time in J-Pop by most counts, it was Morning Musume. But even they in that period did not have typical idol sounding music. It was wildly musically creative, which is why you still hear songs like Love Revolution 21 and The Peace, etc. But now, everything is just so samey sounding. It's really boring to watch a music show these days. It's really unfortunate.

Last edited by SunshineSlayer; 1st September 2016 at 08:18 AM.
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  #11  
Old 2nd September 2016, 07:58 AM
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^ frankly I feel the Japanese media has a part in over covering the idol girl groups extremely extensively over the years , whether you're a fan of them or not

It got into a point where I feel suffocated until it felt like brainwashing

As for the EXILE associated led male groups , I feel that their peak was in 2008 where it was literally a perfect year for them . Until they started adding in new members into the already big group & then EXILE became so large size wise until my sister began to feel really disconnected from them

The very 1st concert my sister went to see in Japan was EXILE at Kyocera Dome Osaka , the same year when their group leader HIRO was leaving from the group but he's still CEO of LDH . Now my sister doesn't care what EXILE does anymore which's a really sad thing as she was a really big fan of theirs

End of the day Japanese music doesn't = idol groups only . There're frankly still tons of talented acts out there , you just have to be more open minded & widened your search to try to listen to other different types of music genres

Also while it's true in recent times solo artistes' focus have been shifted , some are still doing well even though they don't appear / get invited to perform on TV but yet they still can sell out hall & arena tours each time they embark on 1
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Last edited by KarenPang; 4th September 2016 at 03:13 PM.
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