BBC Documentaries: Music in Japan

A more neutral attempt at discussing the music scene in Japan. The first interviewed person is not a Japanese band, but a British musician trying to break into the market, to present an interview, focusing on the diversity. "Western music is supposed to dominant the Japanese market. In fact, they prefer their own music..." and "Develop their own styles..."

BBC Music In Japan Documentary
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"Most successful export is techno dance music."

Then move into talk of Japanese music pushing into the International Market. Then they shift into Visual Kei, and the fandom in Japan. "The Japanese music market is very fickle, changing all the time." Then into Morning Musume, the created singing group of girls.

What's interested is they push the created group idea, and the digital overendowed female idol.

Hiphop, "taking something from America and making something new." Wealthy kids--freedom to see society because they've been outside society and can see the society more easily, and then hang out with other levels of class. Interesting here are the comments from the interviewees about how Japanese society prevents people from saying how they feel, so they want to break past this with their music.

"Fushion of East and West." "West is becoming more and more like the Japanese market--rec companies, like manufactured things, easy to sell, easy to control." "It's very interesting to see idol groups are breaking very big in the american market...there's more individuality, more aggressive non-conformist music.

Ultimately not as interesting in terms of Western viewpoint of Japan and the discourse, which is interesting in and of itself. They do push, however, in their closing comments the idea of a fushon of East and Western style in the market, and a contrast between indivudal artists with an individual style and the rec companies enjoying easily manufactured sound.