Could the Japanese music industry experiencing the 90s boom all over again?

[Mandilinn]

While the 90s is remembered as the peak time for the band boom and the "ice age" for idols, there was another sort of idol that flourished during the band boom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3E7LazA1bQ

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TdLwKDr2hE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fashionable, trendy, and modern (for the time), these groups left a strong impression with their dancing and singing.

 

Now as the idol boom starts to lose strength, these sorts of performance groups have been on the rise again in recent years right alongside all kinds of bands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could the industry experiencing a similar boom to the one in the 90s? Or will these performace-centric groups die out quickly as the band boom continues to get stronger? Or is it too soon to tell? Also, could there be another female soloist boom in the near future? (Like the one experienced after the band boom in the early to mid 2000s.)

 

Discuss.

 

Note: I shouldn't have to say this, but even if you don't agree with a response, be respectful.

[KiraDoru]

The problem I'm having with J-Pop rn (and probably one of the reasons why i majorly moved to K-Pop) is that it's not accessible enough. If there really IS another boom for the culture, I'm afraid it'll stay exclusive to Japan anyways

And the idol boom is going down? Receipts pls, cuz I might actually get back to it then

[diphylleia grayi]

I hope not...do we really need more idols that have all the musicality and artistry of a tin of refried beans?

[Sorecer]

The problem I'm having with J-Pop rn (and probably one of the reasons why i majorly moved to K-Pop) is that it's not accessible enough. If there really IS another boom for the culture, I'm afraid it'll stay exclusive to Japan anyways

And the idol boom is going down? Receipts pls, cuz I might actually get back to it then

this

 

download jp songs is difficult and almost everything is being blocked on YT even MVs of k-idols releasing jp music 

it's annoying and tiring to find something. 

[hlynb93]

If they stop rehashing the 90's sound, catch up with modern music and make everything more accessible, maybe there could be a boom.

[MimiB]

Why don't some of you guys just go to Jpopsuki or en.musicplayon for jpop music by the way I really don't want idols back but then again it won't be to bad butI need artist and more indie bands.

[Yuckfire]

Japan refuses to work with the rest of the world when it comes to entertainment.

 

The music is very old, which I do enjoy. But they continue to fight the internet to protect the work of their artists. It is not a fight they can win, people like free stuff even if it's illegal.

 

so no, Japan can't have a global boom

they can still have a domestic one which is fine since they are self sufficient

[Delphine]

I don't see a global boom coming when Japan is still not embracing the most basic stuff such as Youtube.

[A Saint]

Not as long as they are being super extra with their copyright shit

[palechibi]

yeah i would love to see the female solo boom happen soon i miss it

[Amaya]

Don't you guys read it says Japanese music industry boom more specifically the band boom, it says nothing about global boom. And for the millionth time jpopsuki I have no problem finding a jpop music video. Downloading music is simple, put a little effort into something if you claim to be interested in.

Excuse my rant.

But addressing the question I do see these ldh acts filling those trendy Idol spaces but the band boom is really strong and I won't mind a female soloist boom again I want some r&b though.

[tousle]

its all about bands now!

shameless plug

 

[mochichan]

.....Scrolling down and I was confused af  ...You guys know the OP was asking if they'll have a boom of less traditional idol groups and more performance based groups like SPEED or MAX right?.................

 

And yes. I means trends come and go in Japan all the time. We already got Egirls that is more performance based group, if more groups hit it big then it can ignite people interest again. it will prob happen after the band boom tho since they're the thing right now. 

[Joga]

As someone who really likes Japanese idols the way they are now, I really hope not. For me, the 90s were the dark ages. The vast majority of artists in Japan want to be trendy or unique. Why do the idols have to do that, too?

[sakurahanabira]

this

 

download jp songs is difficult and almost everything is being blocked on YT even MVs of k-idols releasing jp music 

it's annoying and tiring to find something. 

 

it's funny because back before they started being all strict about copyright and stuff, J-pop content used to be extremely accessible on Youtube. Back in the early 2000s for example, you could find all of Arashi's discographies on there. 

 

But Youtube isn't the only place for video content. There's also DailyMotion, and you can find every new Jpop MV releases on Jpopsuki. 

 

also, you can download Japanese songs on aichun.co. 

[Sorecer]

it's funny because back before they started being all strict about copyright and stuff, J-pop content used to be extremely accessible on Youtube. Back in the early 2000s for example, you could find all of Arashi's discographies on there. 

 

But Youtube isn't the only place for video content. There's also DailyMotion, and you can find every new Jpop MV releases on Jpopsuki. 

 

also, you can download Japanese songs on aichun.co. 

jpopsuki is restricted only, dailymotion videos take years for load to me lol

 

i will check the site if I can download some nogizaka songs I like lol 

[Baby Don't Cry]

I personally wouldn't mind a female solo boom.

 

 

The problem I'm having with J-Pop rn (and probably one of the reasons why i majorly moved to K-Pop) is that it's not accessible enough. If there really IS another boom for the culture, I'm afraid it'll stay exclusive to Japan anyways

And the idol boom is going down? Receipts pls, cuz I might actually get back to it then

 

 

this

 

download jp songs is difficult and almost everything is being blocked on YT even MVs of k-idols releasing jp music 

it's annoying and tiring to find something. 

 

You guys should read the OP instead of just the title. And it's not that hard to find PV's or variety shows, if you just look properly for it.

[Midna]

Y'all are so lazy. It is easy to find videos. GOOGLE.

 

Anyways, I don't mind another female solo boom TBH. But no idols please. I don't mind more performance-based groups, but I need fierce and sexy. Not cute.

[Mandilinn]

The problem I'm having with J-Pop rn (and probably one of the reasons why i majorly moved to K-Pop) is that it's not accessible enough. If there really IS another boom for the culture, I'm afraid it'll stay exclusive to Japan anyways

And the idol boom is going down? Receipts pls, cuz I might actually get back to it then

If they stop rehashing the 90's sound, catch up with modern music and make everything more accessible, maybe there could be a boom.

Japan refuses to work with the rest of the world when it comes to entertainment.

 

The music is very old, which I do enjoy. But they continue to fight the internet to protect the work of their artists. It is not a fight they can win, people like free stuff even if it's illegal.

 

so no, Japan can't have a global boom

they can still have a domestic one which is fine since they are self sufficient

I don't see a global boom coming when Japan is still not embracing the most basic stuff such as Youtube.

Not as long as they are being super extra with their copyright shit

I feel like you guys didn't actually read the first post.

[KiraDoru]

I feel like you guys didn't actually read the first post.

I did,I was just expressing my frustration

I even asked you for receipts. Where are they?

[DocumentaLy]

Ignoring all the people who can't read and aren't able to find things on their own and don't know about how the industry is using the internet, no, I don't think performance groups will be the thing. I think they've linked themselves too closely with idols, operating in the same spaces as them. I mean, when people talk about the pillars of idoldom now, they talk about Johnny's, AKB, and LDH. Maybe if the others weren't really around, like how it was in the 90s, they would stand a better chance. There was no AKB in the 90s, and Johnny's had a significantly smaller numbers of acts, so it allowed these performance groups to stand out more because there were less groups in general. But as far as a female soloists boom happening again, I don't see it for a while, in part because none of the current idol girls can pull off a Namie. But then again, Namie got her solo thing going due to being part of the TK boom, and there really isn't a super producer around nowadays who is really creating the zeitgeist as far as Japanese pop music goes. Things are a lot more fragmented now. And I also think people are a bit over pop music right now. In the past 20 years, it went from TK boom to female soloists boom to idol boom, so maybe people want a break?

 

 

And the idol boom is going down? Receipts pls, cuz I might actually get back to it then

 

Falling sales physically and digitally, acts getting chopped from Kohaku, other kinds of acts getting promo spots that would've went to idols a few years ago, less idol acts getting signed to major labels...

 

 

Japan refuses to work with the rest of the world when it comes to entertainment.

 

Why would you need to work with the rest of the world when you actually make your music yourself? A lot of Japanese acts don't need outside producers because they do everything themselves. But some have worked with outside producers in the past year:

 

Afrojack

 

 

SOPHIE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAGwY9ODTEQ

 

Owl City

 

 

RedOne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5s9aVH_sVg

 

Don't you guys read it says Japanese music industry boom more specifically the band boom, it says nothing about global boom. And for the millionth time jpopsuki I have no problem finding a jpop music video. Downloading music is simple, put a little effort into something if you claim to be interested in.
Excuse my rant.
But addressing the question I do see these ldh acts filling those trendy Idol spaces but the band boom is really strong and I won't mind a female soloist boom again I want some r&b though.

 

Thank you!

[miimuutan]

There is definitely a full-blown band boom going on right now and I love it. Girl bands are popping out of the woodwork like starved mice and it's exciting as hell cause so far all the ones I've seen (indie and recently major) or made up of incredibly talented individuals. And a female soloist boom?....Honestly that would be my dream come true. Although Namie was one of the artists that first exposed me to the Jpop world way back when, I didn't like the majority of her music or the general music style from the 90s (probably cause I grew up in the 2000s). Nowadays (at least in my opinion) the Jpop scene is more diverse than it ever has been and my favorite artists of all time have debuted only in the last 3-5 years. 

 

And honestly while I will admit to going through an AKB phase, if the idol boom is truly dying out (although it doesn't appear that way too me) than I'm on board 200%. Usually when you see a 'Kpop vs Jpop' video on Youtube or whatever, they almost always use sugary-cute idol groups to represent Jpop, even when comparing against Kpop soloists. As a result most Kpoppers looking to get into Jpop, or maybe having just stumbled across such videos, are turned off instantly and go off to join the club of Kpoppers who will never take Jpop seriously even when on their deathbeds. If the idol boom dies out enough for such videos to be filled with seriously talented bands and soloists, than that will be one of the markers of the start of a drastic new boom maybe even another international one. 

 

I personally think Jpop is doing well these days (despite declining sales and such mentioned before). Thanks to Youtube, Soundcloud, and Twitter, a lot of indie Jpop artists are getting their name out there. I mean, have you been on the Jpop-indie side of Twitter? It's one big basket of hidden gems. Same with Soundcloud; I've found many singer-songwriters on there that have some serious composition skills. Seeing all these indie acts putting so much effort into getting their name out there is one of the reasons I started a blog for promoting lesser known artists in Japan. So much talent is buried beneath the overly-promoted mainstream stuff (not suggesting that there isn't some awesome mainstream stuff too). 

 

From what I've seen; nowadays 'mainstream' (mostly to international fans) means either idol or anisong. While anisong isn't really that much of a problem, the idol part is. I'm not gonna lie, I like idols. I follow a few groups and look forward to their new releases. But I've been drowning myself in Japanese pop culture and anime for almost a decade, and it's apparent from various reaction videos of westerners watching Jpop or Japanese commercials, that many westerners don't take Japan/Jpop seriously. 2016 has just only started but I can already tell it's going to be a good year for Jpop, considering all the international and local touring everybody seems to be doing. 

 

My hope is to have Jpop exposed and recognized as a talent-filled genre, and I'll accept any boom going out or coming back if that helps Jpop become more known. 

 

I hope this stayed on topic. Sorry for the long post...

[Sun☼Shine]

I really hope so, and I hope that other j-genres that have been ignored will get some spotlight too.

I remember when I got into J-pop I felt like,even though there was different booms, everything was balanced. That all went a way with the idol boom. And while there were some great idol acts that came out of it, the majority just got on my nerves.

 

And while I'm happy there's a band boom, please don't let tons of bands be just what we see. More variety on these shows and radio please.

 

The problem I'm having with J-Pop rn (and probably one of the reasons why i majorly moved to K-Pop) is that it's not accessible enough. If there really IS another boom for the culture, I'm afraid it'll stay exclusive to Japan anyways

And the idol boom is going down? Receipts pls, cuz I might actually get back to it then

 

As someone who follows the idol scene, it is going down. There are a lot that are disbanding or losing members. Also sales aren't like what they used to be.

 

Don't you guys read it says Japanese music industry boom more specifically the band boom, it says nothing about global boom. And for the millionth time jpopsuki I have no problem finding a jpop music video. Downloading music is simple, put a little effort into something if you claim to be interested in.
Excuse my rant.
But addressing the question I do see these ldh acts filling those trendy Idol spaces but the band boom is really strong and I won't mind a female soloist boom again I want some r&b though.

This^

[DocumentaLy]

There is definitely a full-blown band boom going on right now and I love it. Girl bands are popping out of the woodwork like starved mice and it's exciting as hell cause so far all the ones I've seen (indie and recently major) or made up of incredibly talented individuals. And a female soloist boom?....Honestly that would be my dream come true. Although Namie was one of the artists that first exposed me to the Jpop world way back when, I didn't like the majority of her music or the general music style from the 90s (probably cause I grew up in the 2000s). Nowadays (at least in my opinion) the Jpop scene is more diverse than it ever has been and my favorite artists of all time have debuted only in the last 3-5 years. 

 

And honestly while I will admit to going through an AKB phase, if the idol boom is truly dying out (although it doesn't appear that way too me) than I'm on board 200%. Usually when you see a 'Kpop vs Jpop' video on Youtube or whatever, they almost always use sugary-cute idol groups to represent Jpop, even when comparing against Kpop soloists. As a result most Kpoppers looking to get into Jpop, or maybe having just stumbled across such videos, are turned off instantly and go off to join the club of Kpoppers who will never take Jpop seriously even when on their deathbeds. If the idol boom dies out enough for such videos to be filled with seriously talented bands and soloists, than that will be one of the markers of the start of a drastic new boom maybe even another international one.

 

I personally think Jpop is doing well these days (despite declining sales and such mentioned before). Thanks to Youtube, Soundcloud, and Twitter, a lot of indie Jpop artists are getting their name out there. I mean, have you been on the Jpop-indie side of Twitter? It's one big basket of hidden gems. Same with Soundcloud; I've found many singer-songwriters on there that have some serious composition skills. Seeing all these indie acts putting so much effort into getting their name out there is one of the reasons I started a blog for promoting lesser known artists in Japan. So much talent is buried beneath the overly-promoted mainstream stuff (not suggesting that there isn't some awesome mainstream stuff too). 

 

From what I've seen; nowadays 'mainstream' (mostly to international fans) means either idol or anisong. While anisong isn't really that much of a problem, the idol part is. I'm not gonna lie, I like idols. I follow a few groups and look forward to their new releases. But I've been drowning myself in Japanese pop culture and anime for almost a decade, and it's apparent from various reaction videos of westerners watching Jpop or Japanese commercials, that many westerners don't take Japan/Jpop seriously. 2016 has just only started but I can already tell it's going to be a good year for Jpop, considering all the international and local touring everybody seems to be doing. 

 

My hope is to have Jpop exposed and recognized as a talent-filled genre, and I'll accept any boom going out or coming back if that helps Jpop become more known. 

 

I hope this stayed on topic. Sorry for the long post...

 

The indie scene really is blossoming. And they're actually the acts that go overseas. Next Sunday, I'm going to 2 different shows, and then another one the following Tuesday. It really is amazing.

 

 

I really hope so, and I hope that other j-genres that have been ignored will get some spotlight too.

I remember when I got into J-pop I felt like,even though there was different booms, everything was balanced. That all went a way with the idol boom. And while there were some great idol acts that came out of it, the majority just got on my nerves.

 

And while I'm happy there's a band boom, please don't let tons of bands be just what we see. More variety on these shows and radio please.

 

 

As someone who follows the idol scene, it is going down. There are a lot that are disbanding or losing members. Also sales aren't like what they used to be.

 

This^

 

I don't think it's just bands really, because you do get some acts like Hoshino Gen and Suiyoubi no Campanella who are part of this trend.

[choa501]

Man, we should have a huge banner advertising aichun and alljpop because there's not a month when people don't complain about how inaccessible J-Pop is. Is google not available in every country around the world or what?

 

Anyway, back to Mandilinn's discussion, if you give me more acts like w-inds who sing and dance well but more importantly who do different and interesting stuff musically, then I wouldn't mind this boom at all but right now I just see it as individual groups breaking through much like EXILE, Tohoshinki and w-inds did at one point of their careers. I mean, there have been a ton of this kind of groups debuting but I only see Sandaime and E-Girls getting mentioned on sites and boards. Everyone else is quickly dismissed, ignored or just unknown to most. 

 

I think that's quite different to the indie and band boom where you literally see a considerable amount of bands and musicians finding success and being the talk of town. Even lesser known acts get a fair amount of attention and thus you see all these discussions about who will be the next one to break through.

 

I could be wrong though, if I've learned something in all these years is that the Japanese industry is very fickle and the unexpected can and will often happen so I guess time will tell.