How to Find Jpop For Dummies

[Midna]

So, after a bit of contemplation, I decided to create a thread for finding Jpop. It's still in the works, so please bare with me, but hopefully I'll be able to make it the best I can. (skip to the TL;DR vers if you dont wanna read my notes after this).

After reading posts from users, and also experiencing this frustration myself, I decided to create this topic to help others find Jpop easily. Finding J-music in general is easy if you know where to look. But for newbies, the road to finding the songs is a bit difficult (trust me, i've been there!) so this thread was created to make life a little easier for you.

First of all, lets get some of the basics down. Jpop (especially idol pop) is a bit easier to find. Songs from the more popular artists are easier to find (no duh). Songs that are from the early 2000s, and 90s hwoever, are more difficult. J-rock is quite easy to find too, especially visual-kei and the more popular bands. For J-urban, mainstream acts are the easiest, and the lesser known artists require a bit more effort. Just keep searching, you'll eventually get there J-music is like researching. It requires patience and good searching skills. After this, there's really nothing you can't find.

TL;DR

Since I made this thread to help you, I will give you the methods I use to find music. (Other posters probably do the same thing too.) In Jpop, there are hardly any downloading sites (unlike Kpop where there's a TON), so finding songs are very hard. Here are a couple of methods that can help you be a J-music Finding Master.

1. Youtube

Easiest way to find Jpop, yet the hardest to find songs. Companies will delete the videos very fast so if you find the song, you're lucky. Most Jpop fans will rip or listen/watch the video once it gets uploaded (usually on forums or a news site like Arama on LJ). Also, do note that some videos will be hidden: therefore you won't be able to search for a song, but it will exist. Here's an example:

 

 

http://youtu.be/1iHdAP7chME

 

I usually use this method for previewing songs to see if I like them before I download. Some companies (like Avex) have short pvs (Japanese equivalent for music videos) that allow you to preview a song. Pretty good if you dont want to listen to the whole thing. Also, note that when searching, try searching for the song in English, then mix it with Japanese, then in Japanese.

For example:

I want to find JUJU's Gips cover on YT. I will type in JUJU Gips. I get no results. Let's try this in Japanese this time. I type inジュジュ Gips. Still nothing. Then I will try: ジュジュギブス (or you can be lazy and do JUJU ギブス). and what do you know? I found it!!

Try all combinations! Sometimes the uploaders write it in Japanese (song title and artist name). If you can't find the song anywhere after hours of searching, just rip it with a YT to mp3 site. Also, remember that sometimes they put songs in AMVS, so if you see an AMV (anime music video) CLICK IT! As well, you can rip YT vids to mp3s. http://www.flvto.com


2. Googling

This is probably the most common and the first method I use for finding songs. It's usually the best one. Best way to find Jpop? Google that shit. Let's say I want to find Namie's Play album from 2007. I will go to Google and type in, Namie Amuro Play rar. If you wanted a song, you will go, Namie Amuro Full Moon mp3. Depending on what you have, use RAR or zip at the end of your search (ex. Namie Amuro Play zip/RAR) to find the file you can open. Because if you click on a RAR file and you can't open RAR files, you're screwed lol. Also, if you are picky about quality (like me!), do: Namie Amuro Play 320 kps RAR. You need to find the right words to get your results! Check all the sites you can!

Mac users, I use Zipeg to open RAR/Zip files.


3. Video Sites

Similar to the YT method, but with other video sites. If you can't find the song on YT, definitely check out the other video sites. If you use Google as a search engine, type in the song name and click for videos on the top.

Video Sites that J-music are usually on: Vimeo, Dailymotion, Youku, Toudou, Veoh

When I search for music on other sites, I would do: Koda Kumi Aisho Vimeo

http://vimeo.com/25368524

 

4. Tumblr

I'm surprised I didn't think of this earlier. Anyway, I found out that you can also use tumblr to find songs. Okay, let's say you couldn't find the song using all of the above methods. This is usually the last resort (and hope that it works!)

So the song I want is Namie Amuro's Step With it (only the song). I searched YouTube. nothing. music video sites. nothing. googling? nothing. music sites? only have album (wich i dont want).

Anyways, searching for the song is easy on tumblr. All I typed was Namie Amuro Step With it Tumblr (make sure you add Tumblr in the search, or else it won't show results from tumblr!). and it appears!

www.tumblr.com/tagged/step+with+it

Try all different combinations! add play in the tag! sometimes the users tag the songs in a very discrete way!




Ice has made a picture tutorial for you if it's still a bit unclear  in the next post (For methods 1-3). 

How to Create and Use A Nico Nico Douga Account (Picture Tutorial) by Mandi~

5. Jpopsuki TV

This site is still new, but many hard-to-find PVs are uploaded here :D

http://jpopsuki.tv/

Unfortunately the original method 4 has been removed. If you need help, dont hesitate to ask us in the Jpop Fanturd

 

[Midna]

The absolutely public and easiest way to find pvs.(picture guide)

First, find the song / artist on Generasia. Let's say that i am looking for Perfume's fushizen na girl.
Now Highlight the damn japanese title like i have done and copy it. (Ctrl+C on windows and Command+C on macs)
We will use this for pasting the japanese title of the song into search bars


Now, we're going to look for the pv. This is my prefered order of video sites.
1st: YOUTUBE.cOM
2nd: DAILYMOTION.COM
3rd: YOUKU.COM (i recommend starting with japanese title first on here)
4th: TUDOU.COM (here too with the jpn title first)
5th: GOOGLE.COM (any will do)

(i do not recommend deviating from the order but you can if you want)

First thing first: TYPE IN THE ROMANIZED NAME, i have done so and found the full pv on youtube already.



But Oppa!, what if i can't find the pv with the romanized name like Scandal's Haruka
Well, put in the damn japanese title then and i already found it.



But what if it's not on youtube with both romanized and japanese name like akb48's Rinjin wa kizutsukanai
Then stop being lazy and go on other video sites like what i have done. I found it on tudou with it's japanese name.
(It's A TRAP!, Don't be confused, this pv is filmed in black and white and has nothing to do with the website)


(All songs are used for example purposes and can be replaced by any other song that exists)


How to download full japanese singles / albums like a boss the easy way by Icehism

For this, i use jpopsuki or google.
This is the google route as it's the easiest and most public.
I use this formula in the search bar: " (Artist) (Name of single / Album) (Bitrate # (Usually 320) kbps)
Let's say i'm looking for koda kumi's japonesque

So the search title would be "koda kumi japonesque 320kbps"


I get these search results



Wow, that was fucking easy wasn't it? It literally took me 5 mins to make this guide. kay bye.
 

postttt

Edited November 8, 2014 by Midna

[Midna]

How to Create an Account on (and use) Nico Nico Douga

 

 

 

Head to the site and click on the gold button on the left side of the page

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once there you'll be on a page with several drawings and two buttons on the right side. Make sure you click on the silver button, as the gold button is for a premium account.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the next page you'll be asked for your email address. Don't use a fake one, as it'll ask you to confirm your e-mail. Once you've input your address, click the black button to continue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you've clicked the button, go to your email inbox and find the confirmation e-mail. Even if your computer can't read Japanese (see the Japanese thread for how to enable Japanese on your computer), the link in the body of the confirmation email should look like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It should take you back to Nico Video, and from there you'll input your account information. The ones with gold stars next to them are required.The first blank field is what you wish your username to be. The next option down is asking whether you are male or female (left option is male, the right side is female). Then you are asked to input your birthday (the first one is year, then month, then day). Next is your country, state/province, and time zone. The second to last blank field is asking you to create a password (it must be 8-16 characters).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, down at the bottom of the same page you must input an answer to one of the questions (this is in case you lose your password). Just go ahead an and pick the first one as it is something everyone can answer (it's "What is your favorite food?"). Your answer does not have to be in Japanese. Once you're finished, click the black button again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For your very last step it will ask you to confirm all your information, read the terms of service, and input the security code. Once you've done that, click the bigger of the two black buttons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And you're done! Now you can search for videos. Most of them are in Japanese, but people do upload things with English titles. However, you will get better results if you input exactly what you're looking for in Japanese. If the artist you're looking for has done activities in Japan or is a J-Pop artist, most Wikipedia pages have all their song titles and their names in Japanese right next to their English ones.

 

 

 

 

Have fun!

 

 

 

 

post~

[yarky]

A good site for single and album DDL is the obvious-titled j-mp3.info. Sometimes they upload kpop too. There's pretty much anything there, and usually they put a preview of the title-track of each release so you can hear on stream before downloading.

[Midna]

A good site for single and album DDL is the obvious-titled j-mp3.info. Sometimes they upload kpop too. There's pretty much anything there, and usually they put a preview of the title-track of each release so you can hear on stream before downloading.

Lol we had a section for sites but we're not allowed DL links

[YIXINGISM]

Try generasia.com 

Very helpful.

 

 

And if you like boygroups or stuffs, try checking out Johnny Entertainment's boygroups and their songs. Lol I'm a big fan of JE. 

[harro]

4shared is a very good site to download full singles and albums, they're usually in zip/rar files :-)

 

i usually google '[album/single name] [artist name if needed] 4shared'

[Jiho]

Remember you can type the name into google and press on the videos button at the top and it searches a fair deal of video sites. Searching on Vimeo is kind of impossible because of their dumb tags idea but you can search Vimeo through Google Videos. Now Google doesn't have their videos site anymore it just searches pretty much all the big video sites except for Nico Nico, which is kinda gross anyway

[pk@fire]

I don't see nyaa.se on this list, but it should really be on there.

[Emi95chan]

It's my dream to get jpopsuki account but I'm not lucky enough... too bad lol I have to stay with jmp3 ( I love the site though  )

Edited October 31, 2014 by Emi95chan

[Xiaoweiiii]

Stafaband too.

[Suumero]

For girl group idols related stuff, the torrent tracker at H!O is the best way to go. 

[PockyAddict1989]

 

 

Songs that are from the early 2000s, and 90s hwoever, are more difficult. 

 

They pretty much are, especially the lesser known groups from that time, and 70s and 80s are also just as hard to find for me to find.

Edited November 4, 2014 by PockyAddict89

[Midna]

wow the sudden bump lmao

 

also please try not to post download links guys!!

[VINUSHKA]

Otonomai anyone?