[Arama! JPN] Avex Sells Its Headquarters and Has Over 100 Employees Voluntarily Retire

[namidaone]

 

[satoori]

this is a major company in japan right(?)

 

this seems like a big move. i wonder what's going on

 

edit: after clicking through the different articles, seems covid hit them hard. they also plan to drop some of their artists... o.o

Edited December 28, 2020 by satoori

[abra]

8 minutes ago, satoori said:

this is a major company in japan right(?)

 

this seems like a big move. i wonder what's going on

 

edit: after clicking through the different articles, seems covid hit them hard. they also plan to drop some of their artists... o.o

Yeah one of the biggest in Japan although these days probably not as big as they used to be

[satoori]

1 minute ago, abra said:

Yeah one of the biggest in Japan although these days probably not as big as they used to be

interesting

also what makes you say the last part? is the public no longer interested in their acts or is it more the company making bad management calls?

[BAZISSINO]

4 minutes ago, abra said:

Yeah one of the biggest in Japan although these days probably not as big as they used to be

they're still the company that handle SM activities in japan  omg what happaned ???? my girl Beverly is there too 

[abra]

3 minutes ago, satoori said:

interesting

also what makes you say the last part? is the public no longer interested in their acts or is it more the company making bad management calls?

 

3 minutes ago, BAZISSINO said:

they're still the company that handle SM activities in japan  omg what happaned ???? my girl Beverly is there too 

 

It's just that their most high-profile acts like Amuro Namie, Hamasaki Ayumi, Koda Kumi, AAA etc aren't active/as popular anymore. But it's possible that they have other acts that make up for it these days.

[namidaone]

Avex's popular acts are still popular, even though some of them may have passed their peak. 
but a lot of their newer acts don't have a hit. 

Basically anybody that's on the same tier as Ayumi Hamasaki, Daichi Miura, SKE48, TVXQ, and EXILE are prolly still safe. 
But the ones that are on the same level as moumoon or below would be  in danger.  
edit: by comparison, moumoon's last hit was in 2010, when Sunshine Girl reached Top 10 in the Oricon singles chart [x]

Praying so hard for FAKY rn  

Edited December 28, 2020 by namidaone
see edit

[BAZISSINO]

1 minute ago, abra said:

 

 

It's just that their most high-profile acts like Amuro Namie, Hamasaki Ayumi, Koda Kumi, AAA etc aren't active/as popular anymore. But it's possible that they have other acts that make up for it these days.

Ayumi Hamasaki. Namie Amuro retired in 2018 but they still has Da-ice and beverly if you're not familiar with her 

 

 

 

[BAZISSINO]

4 minutes ago, namidaone said:

moumoon or below would be  in danger. 

they mentioned at the end of the article above that they left a few weeks ago 

[satoori]

1 minute ago, abra said:

It's just that their most high-profile acts like Amuro Namie, Hamasaki Ayumi, Koda Kumi, AAA etc aren't active/as popular anymore. But it's possible that they have other acts that make up for it these days.

i'm reading some of the comments on another article on that site, and someone said this:

"..the only acts that had sold well under Avex for the past decade have all been acts they distribute. It's been LDH, Johnny's, and SM...As far as managed acts, I honestly would drop everyone who debuted before 2000 with the exception of Ayu, Kuu, TK, and MONDO GROSSO. What is the point if keeping Ami Suzuki and trf around in 2020? I would give the rest 5 years to increase sales or go."

 

this is concerning

[satoori]

"The employees that Avex is looking to have retire are the same ones who were around during the company’s heyday.

Another Avex employee spoke about the current situation, saying that there is nowhere else to go in the music industry because other labels are in similar situations due to the pandemic. In the end, there are people in their 40s who will be forced to go into an entirely different industry."

(source)

 

perhaps avex feel new younger workers will give then new ideas

[namidaone]

4 minutes ago, BAZISSINO said:

they mentioned at the end of the article above that they left a few weeks ago 

yea i know. that's why i mentioned them as an example 

[namidaone]

Speaking of Avex, Max Matsuura -- the founder and CEO -- stepped down on May 2020 and says he plans to work more as a music producer.
He'll still keep his position as a Avex Chairman and Representative Director. 
The CEO since May is Katsumi Kuroiwa the former COO. [x] 
== 
Also akina's latest song hits even harder now that her group is in danger. 

 

[abra]

8 minutes ago, BAZISSINO said:

Ayumi Hamasaki. Namie Amuro retired in 2018 but they still has Da-ice and beverly if you're not familiar with her 

 

Ayu is still making money for them (as is Namie) but it's far from her heyday. I also know that they have a lot of other acts, but I don't think they have any of the same caliber. 

 

6 minutes ago, satoori said:

i'm reading some of the comments on another article on that site, and someone said this:

"..the only acts that had sold well under Avex for the past decade have all been acts they distribute. It's been LDH, Johnny's, and SM...As far as managed acts, I honestly would drop everyone who debuted before 2000 with the exception of Ayu, Kuu, TK, and MONDO GROSSO. What is the point if keeping Ami Suzuki and trf around in 2020? I would give the rest 5 years to increase sales or go."

 

this is concerning

Yeah that seems legit. Their idol label has not been very successful for instance, but they still do a lot of distribution for big acts. Snow Man being the most notable recently. 

The main issue now is not directly related to music acts, it's that there are a lot of costs and not much income due to all the cancelled concerts. This makes management costs surpass music-related income and is a massive hit to those working in entertainment and entertainment-related industries (such as everything related to live concerts and management). I'm not sure if their cuts are related to trying to renew the company as much as to stop the bleeding, but it's possible that they want to achieve that as well. I know some TV stations (iirc it was BS tele or Nitele) also had issues with money and ended up cutting a lot of shows and focusing on giving younger people the chance to create shows.

[satoori]

8 minutes ago, abra said:

 

 

Yeah that seems legit. Their idol label has not been very successful for instance, but they still do a lot of distribution for big acts. Snow Man being the most notable recently. 

The main issue now is not directly related to music acts, it's that there are a lot of costs and not much income due to all the cancelled concerts. This makes management costs surpass music-related income and is a massive hit to those working in entertainment and entertainment-related industries (such as everything related to live concerts and management). I'm not sure if their cuts are related to trying to renew the company as much as to stop the bleeding, but it's possible that they want to achieve that as well. I know some TV stations (iirc it was BS tele or Nitele) also had issues with money and ended up cutting a lot of shows and focusing on giving younger people the chance to create shows.

You're right, everyone is struggling right now due to lack of concerts fanmeets. Tho I would think a big company would have some cushion room to fall back on short-term. Which makes me think Avex have been having lowkey issues even before Covid. But Covid tip them over.

Seems they might be trying to renew the company. Improve and make changes for the future. I mean, why get rid of all your older employees. But who knows, could be to stop the bleeding too, as you said.

[abra]

23 minutes ago, satoori said:

You're right, everyone is struggling right now due to lack of concerts fanmeets. Tho I would think a big company would have some cushion room to fall back on short-term. Which makes me think Avex have been having lowkey issues even before Covid. But Covid tip them over.

Seems they might be trying to renew the company. Improve and make changes for the future. I mean, why get rid of all your older employees. But who knows, could be to stop the bleeding too, as you said.

I'm not sure how the Japanese labour market works but it is usually easiest to give old employees the offer to retire early by offering them some money up front. Say they would usually retire in 3 years and the company offers them a year's salary if they leave in a couple months. Saves them money, the worker gets to retire early and they don't have to technically fire anyone.

[Damascus Blade]

1 hour ago, namidaone said:

Avex's popular acts are still popular, even though some of them may have passed their peak. 
but a lot of their newer acts don't have a hit. 

Basically anybody that's on the same tier as Ayumi Hamasaki, Daichi Miura, SKE48, TVXQ, and EXILE are prolly still safe. 
But the ones that are on the same level as moumoon or below would be  in danger.  
edit: by comparison, moumoon's last hit was in 2010, when Sunshine Girl reached Top 10 in the Oricon singles chart [x]

Praying so hard for FAKY rn  

Daichi Miura and EXILE record labels aren't Avex avex, so they are safe from Avex-related redundancies, as far as I know. Hell, you can see EXILE members in their 30s becoming newly founded YouTubers and showing off their expensive designer clothing.

[satoori]

17 minutes ago, abra said:

I'm not sure how the Japanese labour market works but it is usually easiest to give old employees the offer to retire early by offering them some money up front. Say they would usually retire in 3 years and the company offers them a year's salary if they leave in a couple months. Saves them money, the worker gets to retire early and they don't have to technically fire anyone.

If all of them were leaving at retiring age then perhaps this would work better. However 40+ isn't typically retiring age. People don't tend to retire till like 65+. Like that article mentioned these people will still have to find jobs to support themselves. Because Avex is cutting so many working age employees, makes me believe they're trying to renew with new young blood.

 

 

 

[evil4life]

oof thats very unfortunate considering Avex's status in Japan that is on par to SM but im not surprised considering how dated the company feels in 2020. 

[namidaone]

46 minutes ago, Damascus Blade said:

Daichi Miura and EXILE record labels aren't Avex avex, so they are safe from Avex-related redundancies, as far as I know. Hell, you can see EXILE members in their 30s becoming newly founded YouTubers and showing off their expensive designer clothing.

I see, thanks. 
So looking at Avex Trax artists and their discography, 

Acts that would prolly be moumoon'ed 
- Ai Otsuka
Last hit single: Bye Bye (2009) - RIAJ digital gold cert
Last hit album: Love Letter (2008) - #44 in Oricon 2008 year end chart; RIAJ physical gold certified 
Most recent single:  Chime (2019); Sales: 1,900 [x] 

- Mai Oshima - ex-AKB48, more active as an actress/celeb than as a singer; 
Most recent single: Second Lady (2011) – Oricon peak: 44, sales: 2,804 [x] 

- Girl Next Door 
Last hit single: All My Life (2012) - Oricon weekly peak: 40; BB JPN Hot 100 peak: 59; sales: 1,560   
Most recent single: Standing for You (2013) - never charted [x]

- Every Little Thing 
Last hit album: Tabitabi (2015) - Oricon weekly peak: 4; BB JP Top Albums peak: 3; Sales: 28,000  
Last hit single: Kira Kira/Akari (2015) - Oricon weekly peak: 41; Sales: 1,600 
Most recent single: Abite! Hikari (2018) - never charted [x]

- TRF 
Most recent album: Watch The Music (2013) ; Most recent single - Memorial Snow/Closure (2009) [x]
sidenote: Idt TRF is gonna be moumoon'ed even if they're inactive/flopping tho bc Sam is Namie Amuro's baby daddy. 
Namie may be retired but she still has some influence. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by namidaone
add missing link

[bzz]

On 12/29/2020 at 7:09 AM, satoori said:

You're right, everyone is struggling right now due to lack of concerts fanmeets. Tho I would think a big company would have some cushion room to fall back on short-term. Which makes me think Avex have been having lowkey issues even before Covid. But Covid tip them over.

Seems they might be trying to renew the company. Improve and make changes for the future. I mean, why get rid of all your older employees. But who knows, could be to stop the bleeding too, as you said.

I read from an article that Avex' sale had been trending downward in last 5 years and recorded 1,700 million yen deficit last year. The inability to adapt to internet era and the absence of its own current in-house popular acts were mentioned as key factors to its fall.

Eliminating older employees is pretty common. Senior employees are paid much higher than junior. Besides, many very new employees likely are freelance/temp and Avex can easily drop them by just not renewing the contract. Lay-off only applies to regular employees.

 

[satoori]

1 hour ago, bzz said:

I read from an article that Avex' sale had been trending downward in last 5 years and recorded 1,700 million yen deficit last year. The inability to adapt to internet era and the absence of its own current in-house popular acts were mentioned as key factors to its fall.

Eliminating older employees is pretty common. Senior employees are paid much higher than junior. Besides, many very new employees likely are freelance/temp and Avex can easily drop them by just not renewing the contract. Lay-off only applies to regular employees.

 

I would think adapting to the internet era would be easy for big entertainment companies, but I guess not. Thanks for sharing.

Good point. Less costs.

[bzz]

1 hour ago, satoori said:

I would think adapting to the internet era would be easy for big entertainment companies, but I guess not. Thanks for sharing.

Good point. Less costs.

Often times, bigger the size, lesser the flexibility. Also, the saying the company being resistant to internet era was vague. What exactly should it do? It seems Avex already released songs on streaming platforms. And, not like song downloading is popular these days. What else might Avex do? Online concert? But, Avex's business already went south before COVID?

[satoori]

1 hour ago, bzz said:

Often times, bigger the size, lesser the flexibility. Also, the saying the company being resistant to internet era was vague. What exactly should it do? It seems Avex already released songs on streaming platforms. And, not like song downloading is popular these days. What else might Avex do? Online concert? But, Avex's business already went south before COVID?

japan is known for being outdated sometimes, so...perhaps it was a general statement of avex not being internet (sns) savvy 

using sns as a tool daily to communicate with fans. having more content online (not blocked or limited). etc. 

also it seems they were not prepared for doing concerts online either.

[namidaone]

Re: concerts, Avex DID switch to online concert when the Covid-19 restrictions were announced. 
For example a-nation, one of the biggest if not THE biggest Avex concert  series recently switched to a-nation online 2020.  [x]
However there's a disparity in the stage quality among the acts,
Where the popular acts (or up-and-coming acts in Faky's case ) get customized stages (even AR stage in Sky-Hi's case )  w/ live band/dj ver and great props, lighting, sound system, and camerawork 
(ex: all Blue stage acts + Sky Hi in Green stage) 
 

While the rest get the default a-nation stage w/ average lighting, sound system, and camerawork. ( ex: all Green stage acts except Sky-HI. Poor lol ) 

side question: is Da-ice losing their popularity? or do they have issues w/ Avex management?
Because it was surprising that they got the default stage. 

Edited January 1, 2021 by namidaone
removed run-ons