The downfall of J-pop? How the AKBG's biz model & culture get adapted in China

[Rika-Chicchi]

Quoting my replying post from another forum (it's about this PV:

):

(covered topless)

Ok...i just saw this SDN48 PV..*shakes head* this is what things have come to nowadays & i find it disturbing. I'm all for scantly clad hawt & cute partial nudie asian girls...but this is really bad & i don't find it appealing whatsoever. (yes even the unnecessary continuous squeezing) It's a bit upsetting actually..I thought it was suppose to be a singing girl group music video, not a stripper/av idol shoot.The photoshoot parts although pretty,but no..& noticeably uncomfortable for them & it shows.Guess i prefer more classy & tasteful. I'm gonna get flack for saying this..but this is just slutty.. really sad.. And with *48 taking over EVERYTHING & good grav idols & entertainers getting married & preg.. sad times

Agreed w/ what you said above - as I've said here before, the appearance of the XXX48s (some pun intended ) is a sign of the downfall of the J-pop scene, which's already been dominated by K-pop artists nowadays. And if you've seen the PV of a latest AKB48 number scheduled to be released this month (not sure whether the PV & song have been released yet ATM - too lazy to check), you'll have known it contains a number of sexually explicit/suggestive scenes, even tho they're not in the baring-it-all dept. like this one - even some Japanese themselves are criticizing it. *sigh*

What do you think about it?

 

[mamo]

Sex sells.

 

[Usapon]

Sex sells.

Such a flat-out response.

Anygays, I read an article about MoMusu (about a year or two ago, but I think it's still valid), and it said that it'd be expectable for its tone to change into a more mature (read: sexy) way since all the "kids" had graduated and the newcomers were all about 18 or 20.

 

[mamo]

Sex sells.

Such a flat-out response.

It's the truth, though.

Anygays, I read an article about MoMusu (about a year or two ago, but I think it's still valid), and it said that it'd be expectable for its tone to change into a more mature (read: sexy) way since all the "kids" had graduated and the newcomers were all about 18 or 20.

I'm sure it hasn't escaped the attention of those in-charge that this can appeal to consumers outside of Japan as well.

 

[Leia the Rebel]

Sex sells.

you always don't need sex to sell :o

 

[Maya]

I always thought all the sex music videos would go to the Western World musicians...I saw a lot of them during New Years Eve when they were showing the top 100 songs of 2011 (Aria that is)
Now J-pop musicians are doing it too...this is just sad...really sad...thank god I listen to 90s J-pop and only a small number of today's J-pop artists

 

[Millicent]

Sex has always kind of been selling in music since the 80s or 90s I think. It's a common theme for lyrics and image for music and it has been doing that for years.

The only styles of music that I know(so far) that deal with sex in their music are rap, rock, pop, death metal and heavy metal.

Alot of music they do it.

 

[BoondocksMoon]

Listen to GG. They usually have clean lyrics.

 

[Cutiebunny]

I don't think J pop is going anywhere, nor do I think that the industry is doomed. The XXX48 groups are catering to a niche. It's like anime - there's the typical fanservice anime, the fujoshi anime, the Gundam-esque anime, the super shounen adverture-y type anime, etc. every season. They're trying to cater to the different types of people out there. Same thing with every other type of music out there - there are singers that cuss, singers that strip, and singers that do none of these things. In other words, there's something and someone for everyone.

 

[Rika-Chicchi]

The problem isn't that they use sex as a theme in the song &/or its PV at all - as you see in my quote in the OP, the poster I replied to loves sexy stuff himself & is an expert on the gravure industry - but that it's done so cheaply, so unthinkingly, so tastelessly...in a word, so stupidly, if not even disgustingly.

I don't think J pop is going anywhere, nor do I think that the industry is doomed. The XXX48 groups are catering to a niche. It's like anime - there's the typical fanservice anime, the fujoshi anime, the Gundam-esque anime, the super shounen adverture-y type anime, etc. every season. They're trying to cater to the different types of people out there. Same thing with every other type of music out there - there are singers that cuss, singers that strip, and singers that do none of these things. In other words, there's something and someone for everyone.

That's always true, of course, but the current worrying trend is that they seem to be not only going mainstream, but gonna dominate the J-pop scene, if not already so - now that's unhealthy, for both J-pop & the nation.

 

[Cutiebunny]

That's always true, of course, but the current worrying trend is that they seem to be not only going mainstream, but gonna dominate the J-pop scene, if not already so - now that's unhealthy, for both J-pop & the nation.

Entertainment always goes in phases. Remember when the Backstreet Boys and 98 degrees were super popular in the US in the late 1990s and it seemed like every other week that some new boy group would form and they'd be pimped out on MTV as the next, greatest thing? Same thing here. Right now, stripping and sexiness is selling big time and so everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. A year or two from now, something else will come along, and then everyone else will try to imitate that.

Life imitates art.

 

[Usapon]

The problem isn't that they use sex as a theme in the song &/or its PV at all - as you see in my quote in the OP, the poster I replied to loves sexy stuff himself & is an expert on the gravure industry - but that it's done so cheaply, so unthinkingly, so tastelessly...in a word, so stupidly, if not even disgustingly.

Perhaps the nation explores publicly something of a taboo?

 

[Rika-Chicchi]

That's always true, of course, but the current worrying trend is that they seem to be not only going mainstream, but gonna dominate the J-pop scene, if not already so - now that's unhealthy, for both J-pop & the nation.

Entertainment always goes in phases. Remember when the Backstreet Boys and 98 degrees were super popular in the US in the late 1990s and it seemed like every other week that some new boy group would form and they'd be pimped out on MTV as the next, greatest thing? Same thing here. Right now, stripping and sexiness is selling big time and so everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. A year or two from now, something else will come along, and then everyone else will try to imitate that.

I hope it's not gonna turn even worse in the next phase - that's why I formulated the thread title as a question. But my worry doesn't just come from this, but also from other phenomenons I've seen in the industry, & when they're considered together, it really seems that J-pop is now running downhill. Of course, you can always say that everything has ups & downs, which's true - I just hope it could go back up ASAP.

The problem isn't that they use sex as a theme in the song &/or its PV at all - as you see in my quote in the OP, the poster I replied to loves sexy stuff himself & is an expert on the gravure industry - but that it's done so cheaply, so unthinkingly, so tastelessly...in a word, so stupidly, if not even disgustingly.

Perhaps the nation explores publicly something of a taboo?

I see desperateness, especially of the industry, tho, & I'm not even talking about the national mentality here.

 

[Memelord_Yoshi]

Just image googled sdn48. How is this group competing with K-pop artists?

 

[Rika-Chicchi]

Just image googled sdn48. How is this group competing with K-pop artists?

They can't, in both their looks & musical/performance skills - that's why they've to resort to (cheap) sexual appeals. However, some right-wing groups (I'd call them the J-Tea-Party ) have staged public protests against K-artists recently, & it really looks ugly to me.

 

[Memelord_Yoshi]

They can't, in both their looks & musical/performance skills - that's why they've to resort to (cheap) sexual appeals.

Just watching some music videos. I don't think they should be compared to K-pop artist though.

However, some right-wing groups (I'd call them the J-Tea-Party ) have staged public protests against K-artists recently, & it really looks ugly to me.

Just watched BBC recently. I'm surprised K-pop is huge in Japan. I don't think these conservative right-wing groups can win though. The young Japanese have already been brainwashed. Also Korean restaurants have been popping up like mushrooms there. Kind of liked the milk tea bars here.

Edit:
After checking out 4 music vids I like this the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lA9IX7VwBs

 

[Rika-Chicchi]

However, some right-wing groups (I'd call them the J-Tea-Party ) have staged public protests against K-artists recently, & it really looks ugly to me.

Just watched BBC recently. I'm surprised K-pop is huge in Japan. I don't think these conservative right-wing groups can win though. The young Japanese have already been brainwashed.

As consumers of entertainment, they're mostly concerned about product quality/satisfaction, not nationalism/xenophobia.

[EDIT]

After checking out 4 music vids I like this the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lA9IX7VwBs

Well, I've joked in the past that J-entertainment & J-porn are the two remaining pillars of the Japanese economy - now they even seem to have merged.

 

[Cutiebunny]

I hope it's not gonna turn even worse in the next phase - that's why I formulated the thread title as a question. But my worry doesn't just come from this, but also from other phenomenons I've seen in the industry, & when they're considered together, it really seems that J-pop is now running downhill. Of course, you can always say that everything has ups & downs, which's true - I just hope it could go back up ASAP.

I haven't enjoyed American music since the end of the 1990s. There's been very few 'good' songs that I've really enjoyed and wanted to listen to more than once. I feel that music goes in cycles...there's a wave you might enjoy, and then when that's over, the next wave could seem like a let down. I loved the whole British movement in alternative music in the 1990s. It was a new sound, with good lyrics to keep it going. Didn't like the boy bands of the late 1990s, and I don't like the Justin Bieber-esque stuff now.

I wish there was more exposure to J and K pop in the states. If it isn't on an anime, most people don't know about it...and even then, we're dependent on illegal downloads for the music since Itunes US doesn't have the much of it, or we're forced to buy a Japanese Itunes card so we can buy it legally. I ended up doing that. On my last trip to Japan in 2010, I loved this one song I kept hearing (Tee's "Baby I love you", in case you're curious) and the only feasible way for me to get it was to purchase the Japanese Itunes card and create a Japanese Itunes account. Fortunately, if you buy stuff on foriegn Itunes, you can use it on your US one and sync everything together.

 

[Rika-Chicchi]

^ There're still many good, quality stuff in J-pop, especially the older ones.

 

[BanzIVenus]

Saying that Kpop is dominating in Japan is kind of an overstatement. Of course there are a few extremely well known and loved groups but there are only a small number of those. There are a large number of Kpop groups in Japan that are considered very obscure there.

I happen to be a humongous AKB48 fan and I also like SDN48. SDN48 is sadly ending in March but I loved most of their songs, they were never extremely popular but sold pretty well. Most people have to understand that they were originally promoted to be the sexy version of AKB48, more mature and sexual idols. From the start every SDN member was over 18 and you have to be over 18 to watch the shows at their theater(now they do some all age shows with toned down dancing and MC). It clearly was never advertised to children or "families" so they should never be compared to Korean groups.

As for AKB48, they are marketed to anyone who will listen, with their super fans being adult males. While they're not even comparable to Kpop groups considering their extremely diffent concepts, they're a much better comparison with them.

All these XXX48 groups in Japan are just a fad that will last maybe 10 years tops, as the producer wants to open one in every major city. Kpop in Japan is also a fad that will only last a few more years.

And there's no downfall in Jpop considering the extremely well CD sales this year. All the top 5 singles of 2011 were AKB48 with them all selling over 1 million copies each and 3 of them sold 1 million copies in one day. That's never a possibility for Kpop stars and is achievable for American singers because they're CDs are sold all around the world, not in just one country.

lol sorry it's so long I must have alot of feelings about this.