Do you think LDH (Exile Tribe) has been fairing well in terms of overseas promotion?

[blank_stare]

Most Exile groups have seen influx of international fans this year, especially on Youtube. There has been many English comments I've seen on avex's channels when it comes to LDH MVs and songs. Fans commenting from different countries too like Indonesia, Brazil, European countries, of course USA/Can, etc. 

 

Do you agree with the title?

 

Also, do you think more fans will get into Exile Tribe with Project Taro's (indefinite group name, bound to change after debuting) upcoming and well anticipated debut?

[Feary]

They are on YouTube?

[Mandilinn]

They are on YouTube?

On Avex's official channel.

[davidguy]

LDH is in a somewhat interesting situation. Musically and aesthetically, their grops fall very much in line with stuff that comes out of K-pop, so it would be much easier for them to attract an international fanbase compared to other Japanese acts. The biggest thing holding them back though is accessibility and content. They employ the pretty standard Japanese business practice of mostly releasing short versions of music videos and in some cases, as with Flower, the MVs get region locked. This will undoubtedly drive away a good number of people that can't be bothered to look for the the full versions somewhere on the internet. Outside of music, I don't think there's all that much content for fans to consume, and if there is, it either gets taken down pretty quickly or there isn't a big enough fanbase provide the content and translations and stuff. Overall, there's just not that much that people can latch onto unless you live in Japan and/or speak Japanese.

 

Will their international fanbase grow? Sure, but it will definitely be really slow unless they change their business practices so that it's more accessible internationally.

 

Surprisingly, I only bothered to check now but most of their groups are actually on iTunes/Spotify, except for Flower which will annoy me to no end, so that should help a bit. Frankly though, the biggest hurdle is probably getting people to become interested in J-pop in the first place. Unless people suddenly take up an interest in Japanese music and start browsing like the Avex YouTube channel, it's gonna be difficult for people to know they even exist.

[Sana Muñequita Linda]

I'd like to see them landing some acting roles in cinema other than Japanese and magazine fashion adverts as well, especially the older members (Akira, Naoki, Kenchi...). Also, is it right to say that LDH is like this generation's Amuse (One Ok Rock, Babymetal...)?

 

LDH is in a somewhat interesting situation. Musically and aesthetically, their grops fall very much in line with stuff that comes out of K-pop, so it would be much easier for them to attract an international fanbase compared to other Japanese acts. The biggest thing holding them back though is accessibility and content. They employ the pretty standard Japanese business practice of mostly releasing short versions of music videos and in some cases, as with Flower, the MVs get region locked. This will undoubtedly drive away a good number of people that can't be bothered to look for the the full versions somewhere on the internet. Outside of music, I don't think there's all that much content for fans to consume, and if there is, it either gets taken down pretty quickly or there isn't a big enough fanbase provide the content and translations and stuff. Overall, there's just not that much that people can latch onto unless you live in Japan and/or speak Japanese.

 

Will their international fanbase grow? Sure, but it will definitely be really slow unless they change their business practices so that it's more accessible internationally.

 

Surprisingly, I only bothered to check now but most of their groups are actually on iTunes/Spotify, except for Flower which will annoy me to no end, so that should help a bit. Frankly though, the biggest hurdle is probably getting people to become interested in J-pop in the first place. Unless people suddenly take up an interest in Japanese music and start browsing like the Avex YouTube channel, it's gonna be difficult for people to know they even exist.

 

This is a superquality post, I applaud!

[________________]

LDH.........hm...

[DocumentaLy]

I'd like to see them landing some acting roles in cinema other than Japanese and magazine fashion adverts as well, especially the older members (Akira, Naoki, Kenchi...). Also, is it right to say that LDH is like this generation's Amuse (One Ok Rock, Babymetal...)?

 

 

This is a superquality post, I applaud!

 

How are they this generation's Amuse when Amuse is this generation's Amuse?

[DRK]

 Also, is it right to say that LDH is like this generation's Amuse (One Ok Rock, Babymetal...)?

 

 

 

No, unlike Amuse, LDH simply have no idea how to deal with international fans (I don't know whether to use this  emoticon or this  ). 

 

Amuse took what could have basically been a novelty that went mini-viral (with a tonne of English comments on their videos) and turned it an act capable of sustaining 3 international tours + 1 US tour. LDH also had a more mainstream  group that went mini viral (with a similar number of views, initially) and a tonne of English comments on their video's page

.

 

Now lets see what LDH did with Happiness, shall we? 

 

 

 

 

The answer: Zilch, nada, nought, zero, bupkis, etc. ,

(Not that the said group is not capable of having an international fan-base similar to some K-pop girl groups)

 

 

How are they this generation's Amuse when Amuse is this generation's Amuse?

 

Bitchy but accurate.

 

LDH is in a somewhat interesting situation. Musically and aesthetically, their grops fall very much in line with stuff that comes out of K-pop, so it would be much easier for them to attract an international fanbase compared to other Japanese acts. The biggest thing holding them back though is accessibility and content. They employ the pretty standard Japanese business practice of mostly releasing short versions of music videos and in some cases, as with Flower, the MVs get region locked. This will undoubtedly drive away a good number of people that can't be bothered to look for the the full versions somewhere on the internet. Outside of music, I don't think there's all that much content for fans to consume, and if there is, it either gets taken down pretty quickly or there isn't a big enough fanbase provide the content and translations and stuff. Overall, there's just not that much that people can latch onto unless you live in Japan and/or speak Japanese.

 

Will their international fanbase grow? Sure, but it will definitely be really slow unless they change their business practices so that it's more accessible internationally.

 

Surprisingly, I only bothered to check now but most of their groups are actually on iTunes/Spotify, except for Flower which will annoy me to no end, so that should help a bit. Frankly though, the biggest hurdle is probably getting people to become interested in J-pop in the first place. Unless people suddenly take up an interest in Japanese music and start browsing like the Avex YouTube channel, it's gonna be difficult for people to know they even exist.

 

It will reduce to a crawl and come to a total stop if they carry on acting like they don't give a fcuk about international demand from the overseas fans they've built up, recently. I hear all this sh!t about them waiting till they open up international offices, but it's all excuses, if they had wanted to do something about it, they would've done so, by now.

 

LDH groups don't tour internationally, forget about interest from foreign media. Babymetal, Perfume and One OK Rock at least tour and all three groups have had, at least some foreign press.

 

LDH Groups' merchandize is notoriously difficult to obtain, if you're not in Japan (don't believe what I'm saying?  All you have to do is ask about this on the E-girls thread). Contrast this with A!smart, Amuse's online store which is machine- translatable and caters to all Amuse acts, internationally, and nowadays does so in a way that does not require that one use the universally hated, pain-in-the-ass forwarding service, Tenso.

 

Not only that, when Amuse found that many Babymetal fans had visited Tokyo for the two Tokyo Dome concerts, last year, they made it  easier for said fans to obtain tickets to see the Babymetal shows in Japan, this month and next. Chances are they'll do this for both Perfume and OOK Rock, as well, if/when there's demand for it.

 

All of this amply illustrates that Amuse is a company that embraces it's international fans, LDH not only dropped the ball when it came to Happiness but continue to also show that they are way behind the curve when it comes to dealing with their overseas fans. 

 

Sorry for this rant but I had to get it off the chest!

[Sana Muñequita Linda]

How are they this generation's Amuse when Amuse is this generation's Amuse?

 

I've been exposed! 

Yes, it was an uninformed comment from me. I should have just said LDH are similar to Amuse xD

[DRK]

I've been exposed! 

Yes, it was an uninformed comment from me. I should have just said LDH are similar to Amuse xD

 

No, you haven't. You just worded your statement inaccurately - happens to all of us at one time or another

[gudetama]

No, unlike Amuse, LDH simply have no idea how to deal with international fans (I don't know whether to use this  emoticon or this  ). 

 

Amuse took what could have basically been a novelty that went mini-viral (with a tonne of English comments on their videos) and turned it an act capable of sustaining 3 international tours + 1 US tour. LDH also had a more mainstream  group that went mini viral (with a similar number of views, initially) and a tonne of English comments on their video's page

.

 

Now lets see what LDH did with Happiness, shall we? 

 

 

 

 

The answer: Zilch, nada, nought, zero, bupkis, etc. ,

(Not that the said group is not capable of having an international fan-base similar to some K-pop girl groups)

 

 

 

Bitchy but accurate.

 

 

It will reduce to a crawl and come to a total stop if they carry on acting like they don't give a fcuk about international demand from the overseas fans they've built up, recently. I hear all this sh!t about them waiting till they open up international offices, but it's all excuses, if they had wanted to do something about it, they would've done so, by now.

 

LDH groups don't tour internationally, forget about interest from foreign media. Babymetal, Perfume and One OK Rock at least tour and all three groups have had, at least some foreign press.

 

LDH Groups' merchandize is notoriously difficult to obtain, if you're not in Japan (don't believe what I'm saying?  All you have to do is ask about this on the E-girls thread). Contrast this with A!smart, Amuse's online store which is machine- translatable and caters to all Amuse acts, internationally, and nowadays does so in a way that does not require that one use the universally hated, pain-in-the-ass forwarding service, Tenso.

 

Not only that, when Amuse found that many Babymetal fans had visited Tokyo for the two Tokyo Dome concerts, last year, they made it  easier for said fans to obtain tickets to see the Babymetal shows in Japan, this month and next. Chances are they'll do this for both Perfume and OOK Rock, as well, if/when there's demand for it.

 

All of this amply illustrates that Amuse is a company that embraces it's international fans, LDH not only dropped the ball when it came to Happiness but continue to also show that they are way behind the curve when it comes to dealing with their overseas fans. 

 

Sorry for this rant but I had to get it off the chest!

 

Which Happiness song are you referring to?

[DRK]

Which Happiness song are you referring to?

 

Ordinary Girls.

 

Happiness had around 3~5 million views with a tonne of comments in English, indicating interest from abroad a few months after Ordinary Girls was released on You-tube.

 

Babymetal had something similar going on with Gimme Chocolate. We had known that they, BM, would be going abroad mainly due to announcements having previously been made at Budokan, before they went viral, but we had no idea when or where. Then suddenly people started claiming to see the three Babymetal girls in New York, on Twitter, eg.:

 

Click here to view the Tweet

 

Later BM posted this on their Twitter:

 

Click here to view the Tweet

 

At that time, we knew something big was in the air, you can imagine the hype on the various Babymetal forums. Later, they announced their schedule in Europe (concerts at Paris and Cologne, a festival gig and a solo show in the UK) and (a show in LA as well as opening for Lady Gaga for five shows in) the US.

 

All LDH did was keep shut.   

 

See the difference?

[searchme]

The fact that a Japanese music company is even promoting oversees is an accomplishment in itself.

Usually they do some foreign meet and greet then just go back to Japan.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using OneHallyu

[DRK]

The fact that a Japanese music company is even promoting oversees is an accomplishment in itself.

Usually they do some foreign meet and greet then just go back to Japan.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using OneHallyu

 

Promoting overseas? It's a heck of a lot more than that! Perfume, One OK Rock and Babymetal have international deals with Universal, Warner (Fueled by Ramen) and Sony for the distribution of their music. Rumour has it that some time ago, Amuse flew a planeload of their acts to the US and the said acts were made audition for a bunch of bigwigs in the music, movie and fashion industries to see which acts has international potential and which didn't.. And it's not only Amuse who has been courting their international patrons. 

 

Take a look at these videos by Hello Project, they're particularly illuminating:

 

1) PV of Brainstorming:

 

 

Look at those lovely subtitles in English - they want their music to be heard and understood internationally. That's what you call courting your patrons.  Not only that, check this out:

 

2) Guide to buying H!P Merch:

 

 

Surprise! Surprise! They actually want you to buy their products (even though it's not as easy to use as Amuse's A!smart website is, it's the thought that counts). Not only that, they gain bonus points for fan-service by actually getting two H!P idols to guide  their fans in English.

 

And they're not the only ones:

 

Here's Perfume trying to talk to their fans in English in LA:

 

 

 

 

Oops, sorry, they had burst onto the global stage in 2014 and were nowhere near ready to communicate with their fans in English, So let's look at them in 2017, shall we?

 

 

 

That's called courting your international fans!

 

From my perspective it's as if LDH is aiming to compete with Johnny's in the international arena. 

[Mudko]

Rumour has it that some time ago, Amuse flew a planeload of their acts to the US and the said acts were made audition for a bunch of bigwigs in the music, movie and fashion industries to see which acts has international potential and which didn't.

 

Any source for this rumor?

[DRK]

Any source for this rumor?

 

I remember reading it somewhere, not sure where, will post the link if I can find it.

[DRK]

Another update on how far behind the curve LDH is:

 

Faky has gone international:

 

Click here to view the Tweet

 

Click here to view the Tweet

 

And Faky want to go to the UK, now:

 

Click here to view the Tweet

 

And yes, some of them can speak fluent English:

 

 

LDH has been pipped at the post, so to speak.

[searchme]

Promoting overseas? It's a heck of a lot more than that! Perfume, One OK Rock and Babymetal have international deals with Universal, Warner (Fueled by Ramen) and Sony for the distribution of their music. Rumour has it that some time ago, Amuse flew a planeload of their acts to the US and the said acts were made audition for a bunch of bigwigs in the music, movie and fashion industries to see which acts has international potential and which didn't.. And it's not only Amuse who has been courting their international patrons.

 

Take a look at these videos by Hello Project, they're particularly illuminating:

 

1) PV of Brainstorming:

 

 

Look at those lovely subtitles in English - they want their music to be heard and understood internationally. That's what you call courting your patrons. Not only that, check this out:

 

2) Guide to buying H!P Merch:

 

 

Surprise! Surprise! They actually want you to buy their products (even though it's not as easy to use as Amuse's A!smart website is, it's the thought that counts). Not only that, they gain bonus points for fan-service by actually getting two H!P idols to guide their fans in English.

 

And they're not the only ones:

 

Here's Perfume trying to talk to their fans in English in LA:

 

 

 

 

 

Oops, sorry, they had burst onto the global stage in 2014 and were nowhere near ready to communicate with their fans in English, So let's look at them in 2017, shall we?

 

 

 

That's called courting your international fans!

 

From my perspective it's as if LDH is aiming to compete with Johnny's in the international arena.

How come these Japanese management companies weren't doing this in earlier decades?

[davidguy]

How come these Japanese management companies weren't doing this in earlier decades?

they never needed to, or weren't interested in doing so. Amuse and Hello Project are like the only big two that have actually bothered to notice that they have an international fan base so they just went with it. Perfume, One OK Rock, Babymetal, and Morning Musume all grew their international fan base without the companies having to do much of anything. So they knew it was at least worth a try since they knew it was there. Even in K-pop, it's only been in the past decade that companies have made a bigger effort to cater to their western audiences.

[DRK]

they never needed to, or weren't interested in doing so. Amuse and Hello Project are like the only big two that have actually bothered to notice that they have an international fan base so they just went with it. Perfume, One OK Rock, Babymetal, and Morning Musume all grew their international fan base without the companies having to do much of anything. So they knew it was at least worth a try since they knew it was there. Even in K-pop, it's only been in the past decade that companies have made a bigger effort to cater to their western audiences.

 

No, no, no. This is a largely over-simplified and unfortunately inaccurate version of events. The excuse that J-Pop fans use about J-Music companies not wanting to, or not needing to, is flawed when you look at the evidence. It's the actions that you've got to look at to obtain a more accurate picture of things. 

 

Part 1:

 

How come these Japanese management companies weren't doing this in earlier decades?

 

Who said they weren't? Did you know that Kyu Sakamoto had a an international hit with the song Ue o Muite ArukÅ" (上をå‘ã„ã¦æ­©ã“ã†, "I Look Up As I Walk â€‹retitled "Sukiyaki" in 1961. The song was hit in Japan, the US, The UK, Norway, Germany, Japan,  Australia and Canada as well - and when I say hit, I REALLY mean a hit selling 13 Million singles worldwide!!! Not only that, his album, also charted @ #14 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

 

 

So it's not as if this hasn't been done before. Isao Tomita (1975), Tsutomu Yamashita (1976), Yellow Magic Orchestra (1980 -1984), Yoko Ono (1980-1984) and Loudness (1986) have had Billboard 100 hits, but nothing long term came out of them. 

[Jeffrey Jung]

I think it’s because they depended on their domestic market too long that they virtually has zero experience when it comes to international management

 

Hell even i just found out Avex put E-Girls’ complete discography up until Love Queen on Spotify and Happiness only has their 2014 Releases and onwards on it meanwhile Flower only has Yasashisa de Afureru Youni and Hitomi no Oku no Milky Way in it (probably because of their deal with Sony if it was Avex i’m pretty sure their lates albums and singles will be there too) and there is practically zero announcement about this too except emails from Spotify themselves if you followed the artists on their app

[davidguy]

 

No, no, no. This is a largely over-simplified and unfortunately inaccurate version of events. The excuse that J-Pop fans use about J-Music companies not wanting to, or not needing to, is flawed when you look at the evidence. It's the actions that you've got to look at to obtain a more accurate picture of things. 

 

 

Who said they weren't? Did you know that Kyu Sakamoto had a an international hit with the song Ue o Muite ArukÅ" (上をå‘ã„ã¦æ­©ã“ã†, "I Look Up As I Walk â€‹retitled "Sukiyaki" in 1961. The song was hit in Japan, the US, The UK, Norway, Germany, Japan,  Australia and Canada as well - and when I say hit, I REALLY mean a hit selling 13 Million singles worldwide!!! Not only that, his album, also charted @ #14 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

 

 

So it's not as if this hasn't been done before. Isao Tomita (1975), Tsutomu Yamashita (1976), Yellow Magic Orchestra (1980 -1984), Yoko Ono (1980-1984) and Loudness (1986) have had Billboard 100 hits, but nothing long term came out of them. 

 

How is that not the case though? I'm sure any company would want to do well internationally, but you can't ignore the fact that it seems like barely any of them wants to try. Amuse and Hello! Project realized just how big of an international audience they had and so it was pretty safe for them to make a bigger push towards that market. If the companies don't think the audience is there, it's not really worth the effort to appeal to them when they could just focus on the market that they do have. Even in your Sakamoto example, the only reason that song even made its way to the west was because a British record company took notice of it and helped push it to be sold in the west. If that never happened, that song probably would have stayed in Japan.

 

A lot of the business tactics that some companies use, such as the short length music videos, are ones that are intended for the Japanese audience. They push that kind of stuff because they know the Japanese audience is more willing to buy it. The fact that the same tactics hurt the chance of garnering an international audience clearly doesn't seem to affect them.

[DRK]

I think it’s because they depended on their domestic market too long that they virtually has zero experience when it comes to international management

 

Hell even i just found out Avex put E-Girls’ complete discography up until Love Queen on Spotify and Happiness only has their 2014 Releases and onwards on it meanwhile Flower only has Yasashisa de Afureru Youni and Hitomi no Oku no Milky Way in it (probably because of their deal with Sony if it was Avex i’m pretty sure their lates albums and singles will be there too) and there is practically zero announcement about this too except emails from Spotify themselves if you followed the artists on their app

 

Partially.

 

 

How is that not the case though? I'm sure any company would want to do well internationally, but you can't ignore the fact that it seems like barely any of them wants to try. Amuse and Hello! Project realized just how big of an international audience they had and so it was pretty safe for them to make a bigger push towards that market. If the companies don't think the audience is there, it's not really worth the effort to appeal to them when they could just focus on the market that they do have. Even in your Sakamoto example, the only reason that song even made its way to the west was because a British record company took notice of it and helped push it to be sold in the west. If that never happened, that song probably would have stayed in Japan.

 

A lot of the business tactics that some companies use, such as the short length music videos, are ones that are intended for the Japanese audience. They push that kind of stuff because they know the Japanese audience is more willing to buy it. The fact that the same tactics hurt the chance of garnering an international audience clearly doesn't seem to affect them.

 

You're jumping the gun. You're talking about digital when I've only covered Physical, and that too, partially. Let me finish. My fault, I should have indicated that I was only partially done.

 

In Kyu Sakamoto's case, no, they never pushed it directly, but don't you think they were astounded by the results? Don't you think they wanted a repeat of that success? Also, they agreed to let it get promoted internationally? The UK label could NOT have promoted the Sukiyaki without the permition of Sakamoto's Jimusho and record label! The Jimusho and Record Label could have said no, but they didn't! The same with the other acts broke the Billboard 100 Singles Chart. The physical market doesn't work like the internet - it takes two to tango, It requires the foresight of the international record label to see that so-and-so artist can be marketed internationally as well as the Japanese side to agree to let it happen.

 

None of this could have happened without the Japanese side agreeing to release the artists music out of Japan.

[DRK]

Part 2

 

Then came the wave of Female Vocalists in Japan. At least 3 have tried to make it big internationally.

 

I'm including Seiko Matsuda here, even though she's an idol, but she released 2 albums in the United States. Both not being too  successful. Here's a single off one album, that charted:

 

 

Mari Hamada then had a go.. She had a monster hit in Asia but failed to make an impact when she tried to break Europe: She did not try to break the US aster her career stalled in Europe.

 

 

​Hikki (or should I say Utada :P) tried a decade later and seemed to have all the ingredients required for international success. She was pure J-Music royalty and had spent her youth in New York and had a grasp of the culture and the language that rivalled any artist who was born born in the west. If she couldn't do it, who could?

 

 

​Not to mention Crystal Kay, Coco Lee, BoA and Tata Young - I know they're not Japanese. I'm just putting them on this list to show that none of these Asian female soloists made any meaningful impact, internationally.

 

​I think this is what finally broke the camel's back. I think that the J-Music's attitude was:  We have tried to give several artists to the world but apart from Sakamoto, nobody really succeeded, If Utada cannot break the international market, no one else can. Also, internet file sharing caused massive fears of piracy back in Japan, especially after it decimated the Korean market, and caused the Japanese to look inward instead of out. They knew the revenue potential of worldwide success, but  there were too many potential problems associated with it.

 

 

Part 3 ​Idols and global exposure coming up....

[DRK]

Hell even i just found out Avex put E-Girls’ complete discography up until Love Queen on Spotify and Happiness only has their 2014 Releases and onwards on it meanwhile Flower only has Yasashisa de Afureru Youni and Hitomi no Oku no Milky Way in it (probably because of their deal with Sony if it was Avex i’m pretty sure their lates albums and singles will be there too) and there is practically zero announcement about this too except emails from Spotify themselves if you followed the artists on their app

 

 

Avex would've had to consult LDH before doing it. That they've done it without any publicity means that they're testing the waters. Amuse put Babymetal on Spotify a few months after people started asking for it on social media, as early as 2014.

 

Click here to view the Tweet