Vitne Eveille

Welcome to MH!!!  Have fun on here, its a great place

Certainly not a dumb introduction!!...I mean, this thread is listed as "Hot!" !!  Not a bad start I'd say ()
 
Weclome, I feel your frustration.  No one around me is into this kind of music either.  Luckily I found MH as well, it's just the best forum, period!  I've been on some other music forums, and its just people talking crap to eachother.  MH actually is very supportive and nurturing to its userbase.

So, well, I've wanted to join here for quite a while now, but have never had enough confidence to do it. I've actually, just today, decided to join as many social community things (sig..) as I could to try to socialise with the people I want to talk with more (even though I have no clue how to do ANY of these stuff on the internet....), but seeing as I known no one where I live who likes VK and Japanese music in general. So that's why I've decided now to join up here, in a random moment of feeling both scared and excited... So please go easy on me if I say something dumb or wrong, I just want to join in with you guys. There's too many awesome people here so, even though I'm shaking, I'd like to chat with you all as much as I can and make friends and just chat about what we all love.
So thanks for reading my pretty dumb introduction, hah, don't let me bore you, run along now or I might just be overwhelmed if anyone replies. xD Anyway, enjoy your day and see you around (love reading comments from everyone so I'll still probably stay on the sidelines still anyway xD) Aha, well, take care and everything.

I have a small comment in reference to this. Because I've noticed, in Japanese music in general, and in Visual Kei as well, it's all about trends (Well, this is not just Japanese music now that I think about it). So one lolita and one masked member is a thing, just like how it seems song and album titles make the circles. Last year and this year I saw so many refereces to "End of the World/Owari no sekai/World's End". And now I've seen like 3 albums coming out in recently or the next couple of months all named "Supernova". I think while some people value being different, there's still a huge Japanese sentiment of 'following what everyone else is doing so you can be included'. A lot of these bands are simply trying to follow the formula that they believe works for the scene they want to be in. And I think VK has always had a lot of this, I remember there being a lot of bands that had similar looks to X Japan in their heyday, lots of bands who were called "Dir en grey clones" 10 years ago, ect. The popular styles now are just not as shock value oriented as they used to be, but lots of bands are just following what is popular.

You are right, digitalbounce, and probably about most musical genres/scenes honestly.  Once one group makes a unique statement, others try to adopt that formula.  The notable ones I feel may take a formula and then skew it a bit and make it their own, while others just straight up copy something.
 
I'm also a fan of glam metal and 80s stuff, and in Scandinavia it is decently popular, its got a great underground scene.  But you can definitely tell there are a number of bands that think putting on some ripped-up jeans and a t-shirt make them "hair metal" - it just makes them blend in with the rest.

A side-note to what Shmilly said about how many people are busy and won't even take the time to like a video... this is so true, but I've only really noticed it on Facebook so far.  On my official musician facebook page, I have asked serious questions that sometimes would only require a simple "yes" or "no" answer, and I would get 8 LIKES...no answers!  Talk about frustrating, lol.
 
I've begun to feel like a personal facebook account is much more powerful, because you can better interact with friends and fans.  The FB Pages are so one-sided and money-thirsty that it is almost not worth using.
 
Kinda off-topic, but kinda relevant lol

Replying to Tetora, excellent post!  You elaborated on some things I didn't.
 
I think it really comes down to bands and artists must find their way.  My personal opinion, I think bands should do everything.  Put videos on youtube, do limited edition CD+DVD packages (if they have the money), etc.  But if something is wasting their money, like if they print 500 CD packages and only sell 50...maybe that money is best spent elsewhere.  Measure your market.  And just because one thing works in Japan (CDs, for example), it won't necessarily work elsewhere.
 
Also, bands can't expect to be "enigmatic" anymore like they used to be able to be.  Well, I suppose they can, but success based on that is probably quite slim.

Going to give my two cents in numerical fashion, hopefully it doesn`t come off as too `as a matter of fact...`.

1: PV, even if not used on Youtube in their full length are still used in a very promotional way. Television, live-streams, Nico, at live events, or to sell cd`s.

2: They are different way artists and labels run things. Personally I prefer the way some labels such as Danger Crue, and Bandsaid do it ( my favorites promotional-wise) where they put tons of artists comments, goofy videos to build connection with the band, the short PV only until they give you the full PV which they almost always do unless a promotional company asks to pay for the rights to use on their channel, or the artists want it on their channel, and so on. DC and Bandsaid make the sure you know all of the labels bands, and see all you can. Then there is PSC, which you may know I dislike management wise. They restrict access to almost all interesting content and the labels they work with make many copyright claims for any other content ( I have a position in favor of labels putting up content, as for others putting up copyrighted content, no comment).
For PSC, take Kra for example... pretty much no way to know what is going on with them besides fan content and news updates, even though they are a major band and one of the most technically talented bands period. You have to follow Kra Chile, a fan channel or other channels to even know what they look like.
Then there is Resistar, another of my favorite labels, and they put up videos of tons of goofy stuff, and previews, they build good awareness but do not post PV`s in full length 99% of the time.

3: So, then we have buying LE cd`s for the PV, and making of. I see many people who do not buy the LE with the PV if it is posted by the label on Youtube, or even regret buying it. Mostly a foreign thing from my experience, as digital is more acceptable outside of Japan as opposed to physical items in culture. I will admit, I never buy LE`s unless I really want to collect. For example, I only have DIV`s new single preordered for the regular edition, because I know DC will have the PV in high quality. Even if there is an issue, like when JUSTICE was put up with bad audio sync, DC listened to fan comments and fixed it... BUT, I buy all DOG in the PWO cd`s because I know Resistar will only post a PV if the stars align, and even fans will only upload it three lunar cycles later, probably in 90p resolution.

4: Yes I agree with VK interest being in trends. IMO it ebbs and flows, so it will keep coming back, same as things change culturally. For example, we went through the Hair Metal movement, then Grunge, then 90`s Alt Rock, then Pop-Punk, then Emo / Screamo etc to name a few, and now we live in an age where the popular styles are either Hipster, EDM brah`s, or the prevalent rap scene, everything else is a niche which is almost always frowned upon. Look at what is popular and viral now in the US, due to a post 9/11 culture. Not the right time for VK, but you will see KPOP and stuff like Gangnam style going viral. Feel-Good stuff is more in, watch some commercials on tv, and hear the cheerful poppy music, etc... The bands that have the biggest chance now are in the Oshare range, but that is too far out there, and people will eventually shift from current trends, and old stuff will be back along with some new.
As for a comment I saw on South America etc... I think it is different, they always had a very strong fanbase for many kinds of rock, and some ties to Japan as well. Some bands will always be popular there, esp. Hyde, and that will spur more interest in all Japanese rock. Random example of Rock`s history there, but a huge cultural phenomenon there decades ago was the song Hotel California, and so many bands would learn it, even if they didnt understand the words, so in a place like Peru, you would hear it everywhere you went. Even today, many fans I see on Youtube of lots of Rock, even VK, are from South America.

5: Cd Sales in Japan again, this kinda relates to the issue, and I see it mentioned above. So far Japan still has the strongest physical music industry in the world. 2012 was very strong due to many major releases and interest. 2013 was estimated to be the year Japan became no.1 worldwide, but there was a dip in major cd releases, and dip in interest in digital side-markets like ring-tones etc... We shall see how 2014 goes. IMO it is better as a physical market, and I think it will suffer from moving to digital, as the culture has not went there, and other markets have not successfully made that shift. If 2014 is good, Japan will def. become no.1 in the world.

6: Toxic fanbases. IMO the negativity has grown largely from just a first impression kind of view of any forum or comment line. I usually dont even read comments on Youtube, as there is always negativity, and always a comment that says `they used to be better, what is this?`. As for forums, they are also very negative. Things were much more positive from what I saw years ago, when talking about anime, manga, etc... was full of wildly enthusiastic kids and older people who felt free to post about their love in many ways. What I saw was a gradual and natural reaction to this, where people didn`t want to be like that, and wanted to distance themselves from those fanbases and `fan-boys` or `fan-girls` and be cooler, edgier people who began even saying negative things just for the sake of being negative and not looking like those `other` fans. Now on many places it is popular to say negative things, put down bands, act like VK sucks, like they are second-rate, etc... And it is not fun to participate in, and not fun to read a thread or comment section for a video you just watched and loved, while people just pop-in to say `this sucks`, or `this is a rip-off of something else`. So I would rather just buy my cds, and either not read comments, or just ignore them and say positive things, but being positive makes you a `fan-boy` and your opinion isn`t relevant now because you are supposedly one...


7: A million-plus views with minimal ad clicks would be about $500 dollars, so, not that much, but profit margin on an LE is usually $5 or less, so about 100 sales they would have to lose, and it is a strong possibility. Abingdon Boys Howling reached 10mill plus before being taken down, so $5000-$10,000 estimated based off revenues I have seen (but they didn`t even post that video, and their Youtube channels are pretty much never used) So if they posted that vid, and had a cd LE with PV, there is hypothetically a count of 1000 cd sales they would have to lose. So we can either take that into account for popular videos, or estimate revenues based off less popular PV`s plus other vids posted like comments or goofy nonsense. But then you have to take into acccount sales of a PV colection DVD, etc... How much would these sales suffer? Very `if and maybe` reasoning here that is not scientific, but it puts some-what of a perspective on things.

8: And lastly, just to throw this in, Youtube is not used as much by Japanese as foreigners, and foreigners have never shown concrete measure of large sales or impact for most bands, so why should labels care? (Just a question, not necessarily my views, I always want VK to grow, etc..)


And I bolded that part in `6` as I know this post is a lot to read, so many will skim, and that is one more partisan feeling of mine that I wanted to express.
Thanks for reading.

I agree with those who said perhaps it is because the bands want to encourage fans to buy the special ediition CD + DVD with their PV rather than go to YouTube.  It is probably because Japan, up until just recently, has had high CD sales due to its lack of digital "interest" by the record labels.  CDs have had a high price traditionally, and the price is usually printed on the CD like a book to discourage price changes (ie. DROPS).  
 
Recently though, the labels allowed artists' catalogs to be released internationally on services like iTunes (Gackt was a big deal when he released nearly his entire catalog on iTunes.  Was that last year?).  And now, aside from collectors, why buy the DVD of only a PV when you can watch it on YouTube?  (if the label or artists are thinking, they would set up their YouTube videos to gain royalties through something like VEVO or Rumblefish).
 
I feel Japan is beginning to go through what much of the rest of the world has gone through with the decline of CD sales.  Sure, CDs are cool to have, GACKT's CDs particularly are the most impressive CD packages I have ever seen, but it is a dying medium.  Instead of CDs, why don't artists make other stuff, like T-shirts instead?  T-shirts aren't going to be a dying thing until we can just put a hologram of a shirt over ourselves using some device...and that doesn't seem like anytime soon 
 
I don't know these artists personally, but I wouldn't go saying that VK artists are getting greedier.  What if they came back and said "VK fans are getting stingier/cheaper"?  Each is a radical point of view, but its not addressing the underlying issue - Artists need income in order to survive and create.  It has always been this way, even painters back in the 1600s (just throwing out a date there).  
 
How they act about it is a different matter
 
There are rude artists, and there are grateful artists.  The rude artists push push push and expect people to buy their music which no one has ever heard.   Me, I'm just grateful for anyone to hear my music.  

freesia, I might check out barakaman.  I'm in the mood for something lighthearted

Just had to post because of how stoked I am.  I actually beat the blitzball tournament in FFX against the Luca Goers!  First time ever, and I won 5-1

Ah yes, the art of procrastination  I was quite good at that myself in college.  I had many hours (and days) lost in the world of Fallout 3

Just had to post because of how stoked I am.  I actually beat the blitzball tournament in FFX against the Luca Goers!  First time ever, and I won 5-1

Just had to post because of how stoked I am.  I actually beat the blitzball tournament in FFX against the Luca Goers!  First time ever, and I won 5-1

Just got a Wii U with Mario Kart 8.  Its nice to have something light and playful, and mario karts are always fun!

Just got a Wii U with Mario Kart 8.  Its nice to have something light and playful, and mario karts are always fun!

Got a better pic of me -  This was from a photoshoot about a year ago (same photoshoot as the one of my avatar, but this is much easier to see)
 

With Yuji&Nozomi from Carat and Tomo from the Rhedoric!
 

You remind me of a Norwegian Gackt. 

Got a better pic of me -  This was from a photoshoot about a year ago (same photoshoot as the one of my avatar, but this is much easier to see)
 

Got a better pic of me -  This was from a photoshoot about a year ago (same photoshoot as the one of my avatar, but this is much easier to see)
 

Got a better pic of me -  This was from a photoshoot about a year ago (same photoshoot as the one of my avatar, but this is much easier to see)
 

Picked up a PSVITA today!  Pumped!  With FFX HD  Gonna start soon, been messing around with the Vita a bit, love it.

Picked up a PSVITA today!  Pumped!  With FFX HD  Gonna start soon, been messing around with the Vita a bit, love it.

I always preferred french toast but idk if that counts.