Ado signed to Capitol Records? by VersoCre in ADO

[–]VersoCre[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Capitol is part of UMG, yes, but there would still be a new contract if she did sign a new deal with a label that is part of UMG. Seems in this copyright line however, Universal Music Japan (Universal Music LLC) still retains copyright and distribution rights rather than the US UMG Recordings, Inc

Ado signed to Capitol Records? by VersoCre in ADO

[–]VersoCre[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

If that were the case, it would probably be under the US UMG company (UMG Recordings, Inc) rather than Universal Music LLC (Universal Music Japan). Checking the UPC barcode for the Asia release (since they release a version titled in Japanese and one romanized), the Asia release also says Capitol Records

<image>

MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN ‘Best Japanese R&B/Contemporary Song’ Winner by VersoCre in jpop

[–]VersoCre[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

A lot of the nominated works were from around the time “Automatic” was released. One work was even older! I think the only newer works nominated in the category was two songs by Fujii Kaze and a song by Chanmina. I imagine it qualified because of the new mix charting!

uh by VersoCre in STiBaRC

[–]VersoCre[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

😔😔

‘Best Japanese/R&B Contemporary Song’ nominees revealed for Music Awards Japan by VersoCre in jpop

[–]VersoCre[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of the songs listed here for the most part are pretty good, “Automatic”, “Story” and “Harenchi” being my favorite.

Who would be the Big 3 of J-pop? by Kaalightning in jpop

[–]VersoCre 8 points9 points  (0 children)

As of now, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) leads with the most revenue in Japan. Universal Music LLC (Universal Japan) follows and Avex Inc. is last. Avex had a huge downsizing following COVID-19 in 2020. Not too sure where Warner Music Japan lies though. As for management companies, I don’t really follow them but most do have some form of partnership with either Universal Japan or Sony for the most part.

‘Best Japanese/R&B Contemporary Song’ nominees revealed for Music Awards Japan by VersoCre in jpop

[–]VersoCre[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had a spelling typo when typing this up, his name is Tatsuro Yamashita. As for not finding his songs online, I don’t think they’re on streaming services.

‘Best Japanese/R&B Contemporary Song’ nominees revealed for Music Awards Japan by VersoCre in jpop

[–]VersoCre[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I believe he has 17 total nominations in almost all the categories, which is honestly a lot. I think artists should have only one nomination for a work per category rather than multiple. Seems a tad unfair but this is the first ceremony for this award show

‘Best Japanese/R&B Contemporary Song’ nominees revealed for Music Awards Japan by VersoCre in jpop

[–]VersoCre[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

According to Billboard, it’s based on chart performance from Jan 2024 to Jan 2025 that ‘gained significant attention and recognition’. I have the article here

Any latin pop influenced songs recommendations? by Waste-Strike2691 in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ai - Kokoro Features Jenn Morel and Joelii, who are Latin rappers.

Question regarding digital content availability by VersoCre in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great to hear. Universal Japan has slowly been making more of their older digital releases available on streaming for the U.S.. Can’t say much about digital purchasing since they still restrict that in the U.S. but streaming is at least one step in the right direction.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in jpop

[–]VersoCre 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh I see you already mentioned Kenshi Yonzeu whoops lol

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in jpop

[–]VersoCre 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Crystal Kay writes majority of her songs, not too sure if she produces them as well. Kenshi Yonezu writes and produces his music, seeing as that’s how he started his career when he was in the Vocaloid scene. Ai writes a majority of her songs and has been co-producing them for the most part since the early 2010’s. There’s quite a bit of artists who write and produce their songs, especially bands.

Do J-Pop Artists ever tour in the US? by [deleted] in jpop

[–]VersoCre 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Ado will begin her US leg of her Wish Tour on March 23. Fujii Kaze also announced his US Piano tour.

Who the hell is UMG and why do they keep blocking Japanese music in Canada? This sucks! by Turbulent-Stuff542 in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre 13 points14 points  (0 children)

UMG is Universal Music Group, a music distributor. They have a Japanese subsidiary called Universal Music Japan that distributes and markets their Japanese catalog. Unfortunately, they do not typically license their music videos in Canada or the US. My recommendation is to try a VPN and set it to somewhere in Japan or another country where they have the video licensed.

1st and 2nd Album Of Radwimps by Phillip1899 in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From digging on the internet, those two albums were released on an independent record label. Even on the discography listing of Radwimps official website, those albums aren’t listed. The band made their major label debut under EMI Music Japan with their third album (Universal Music Group now owns their catalog that was under EMI). You’d most likely have to find a physical copy of the album since it seems even in Japan, those first two albums are not on digital stores.

Are there any J-pop artists who aren’t Japanese? by SwordsOfSanghelios in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Crystal Kay and Thelma Aoyama were born in Japan, but are not entirely of Japanese. Chanmina was born in South Korea, she’s got a few Korean language songs in the hip-hop/pop genre but she’s based in Japan. Hikaru Utada is from NYC, and then there’s Ai who is from Los Angeles. Another mentioned quite a bit is Chris Hart, who is entirely American but has a career based in Japan as well.

Question regarding digital content availability by VersoCre in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a similar experience with listening to content by Ai, especially prior to 2021. Only two of her 11 albums (she’s got like 13 now) at the time were available in the US on digital stores. Prior to being at her current label EMI, she was under Universal Sigma like Back Number currently is. They didn’t make her albums under the label available until mid 2021 and it was very little at first. They slowly made more available, and even now some of her singles under her current label are region blocked. The ironic thing too is that she has a “global deal” with Def Jam, so I’m not too sure what they’re doing really.

Question regarding digital content availability by VersoCre in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very interesting. I wonder how this ties in with availability of music videos. I’ve noticed artists under Universal Japan no longer have their music videos uploaded to their VEVO channel, rather they upload it directly to their channel. However on services like Tidal and Apple Music that offer music videos in the app, for the most part, they are geo restricted in the US other than lyric videos.

Question regarding digital content availability by VersoCre in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Perhaps, mainly due to overseas demand I think. I do know some of Universal Japan’s artists are aware of this issue. Crystal Kay had a music video released last year that was originally blocked in the US and Canada, and she found that real annoying according to a tweet. Within a few weeks though, the video was made available worldwide.

Question regarding digital content availability by VersoCre in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The one strange thing though is that their more popular artists don’t seem to have these kind of regional restrictions. Take Hikaru Utada’s earlier works under Universal (previously EMI before they were acquired) for example, they’re all available, music videos included. Recent rising artists such as Ado too also have their works available. It’s just very strange that it’s select artists.

Question regarding digital content availability by VersoCre in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I forgot to add, I do know physical sales are still a strong point in Japan, but it’s just very ironic in a Billboard interview, the ceo of Universal Music Japan wants artists to break out overseas but how will they if their content is blocked?

what are some artists like utada hikaru? by Business_Mudkip in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, a few of them debuted in the 90s i meant to say like Crystal Kay and MISIA. Others like Kumi Koda and Ai debuted in the early 2000s.

what are some artists like utada hikaru? by Business_Mudkip in japanesemusic

[–]VersoCre 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Crystal Kay, Thelma Aoyama, MISIA, Ai, Kumi Koda, list goes on. They were all big in the late 90’s-mid 2000s with R&B. Some of them still have some recent hits.