
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did I put enough exclamation points in there? Here's some more:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As someone who was a fan in her teens, dj'd and wrote academically on it for a while and is every now and then now one of the (non prostitutes) invited to industry parties, the most disappointing thing to me is that there's simply not enough pissed off little weeaboos crying on the Tokyo Damage Report post (link). Dude Schultz, obviously you had to be a bit more obvious in your accusations about Kozi to pull the crazies in.
From my perspective, about half the interview rings fairly true (esp. all the stuff about the finances, the batshit fans, the host boy like rigors of the job, and the control over these bands) and half are a bit farfetched (I really don't believe Yoshiki, someone who until very recently did everything he could to distance himself from visual, is the kingpin of the visual labels. Not the first time I've heard the Yoshiki-is-yakuza rumour, though).
The livehouse situation was probably the most odd one for me. It sounded about twenty years out of date for what I knew of the vis-kei livehouse scene from exes in vis-kei bands. Not to say I'm an authority on it, but visual bands have to pay to play like nearly everyone else in Japan. The audition system was from a time way back when there were actually livehouses valuable to be playing at (aka: LOFT). While I'd say there are obviously venues visual bands almost exclusively play at, there are no visual bands that play at just one venue, "signed" to a "label" or not.
Now, I WOULD believe that record labels and livehouses trying to push out newly competitive venues would use their artists to muscle competing clubs out. If whatever bands of the moment are putting together a damn sweet bandlist every weekend over at club A, club B really doesn't stand a chance. That doesn't require a contract with the venue not to go to the other venue -- that just requires that club A throw shit/young bands a bone every once and a while and put them on as the first act for all the "amazing" popular label acts (which they do) and refuse them those favours if they head over to club B.
Probably the most concise and interesting thing, for me, was this comment from anon which sums up a lot of things pretty well:
I'm a journalist who's covered several VK bands (hey, I get paid for, and it is an interesting phenomenon to watch the scene replicate itself almost exactly in another country, complete with the exact same wierd fan dynamics), and this all sounds spot on to me. Seriously, at no other point in my career have I EVER encountered any part of the music industry as rigidly controlled as VK. American boy bands and teeny-pop singers like Britney have more freedom and control over their careers. It's fucking ridiculous, and a huge pain in the ass to deal with.
I interviewed a person who shall remain anonymous from a very big VK band who shall also remain anonymous, mainly because I don't want the poor guy to get kneecapped either, and they actually had a minder watch him the whole interview and monitor everything he said. I'm not kidding – Mr Creepy Yakuza-looking guy actually interrupted Mr Rock Star to instruct him in Japanese not to say certain things (which wouldn't even be considered particularly controversial in any part of the music industry less batshit insane). Mr Creepy Minder also looked shocked – shocked, I tell you! – when he tried telling me what to do too and it didn't work. I think they're so used to the sytem being a closed loop that it's unfathomable to them that not everyone will go along with their attemps to control everything.
If any VK fans are wondering why their bands get so little coverage and can't seem to make any impact overseas outside of their fan ghetto – this is why. They're a huge pain in the ass to deal with, and the system is so rigid that it only works when it's a closed loop.
Well, also most of the bands suck. That doesn't help either.




