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Like I said in an earlier post in a less eloquent way, TOFU Records is bad for Japanese music in america. What they're doing is marketing it based on anime standards instead of 'multicultural' standards, like spanish music. The media doesn't help as well, because asians are a minority in the media and public eye. (I don't care what people say - entertainment business is white business)
Several of the other Jpop boards I frequent have hatred for anime fans. Well, hatred is a strong word... but anime music is not an accurate representation of Jpop. Most of your favorite anime singers are not that popular outside of anime circles. Most of the more popular Jpop singers to me are people anime music fans have never heard of. And if they have, its because they did an opening theme. I've heard songs before that I liked and didn't know that they were an anime theme until later. It was just Jpop to me. And that's the way they should market it. Jpop is Jpop. If it was used in an anime, then added exposure to it. But don't make the two together.
The thing is, unlike Spanish music, Japanese music would have to have translations. Most of the people I know don't like music unless they know what they're saying. A pioneer cd I bought... err... I forgot her name... Yoko Ishida? Anyway, it had the translations and that was good. Too bad the music couldn't back it up. But the so called 'BEST' of X Japan from Tofu Records had nothing. WTF?! That's like releasing an anime dvd without a subtitle track outside of the dub!
The Jpop cd was weak in my opinion. It either had anime sounding tracks, or tracks from amazing artists that weren't their best work. Before Jpop cd, there was that Made in Japan (was that the name?) from Sony Records... It had some decent tracks, but mostly from artists I had never heard of, and judging from the samples on the website, it wasn't worth it for just 2-3 songs... They even included a 'B-side' from a Buriguri single. O.o;; That cd was going for the artistic lover music crowd... And I still don't like Tofu using T.M. Revolution as thier ship to make Jpop popular in america. He's good, but not that good.
What will make Jpop popular here? I really don't know. Let me take that entertainment business course in the fall and I might be able to come up with a better plan. Of course, the easiest and hardest way would be to make it like spanish, which is a pretty much accepted language here, even if you don't understand it. The way would be having an artist do a mishmash of english and Japanese. I believe... umm... sheesh... From Ruff Ryders (?) a Chinese rapper blended english and Chinese.... I dunno how it turned out though... I don't particulary care for hip-hop much.
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