Bands that are loosing popularity

[donwea 13]

On 20/1/2017 at 0:21 AM, Peace Heavy mk II said:

Penicillin is the biggest one that comes to mind, since they were god-tier in 1999 and now hit 5~10k sales at best. Don't get me wrong, that's still better than like 95% of the scene, but comparatively it's a stark contrast.

 

THISSS! Romance in 1998 sold 658,100 copies ... Now they sell less than 10K

[Furik 832]

Merry maybe?

[r... 720]

Eh... I dunno, MERRY seems to be touring in the exact same places they've always played: livehouses (the medium ones, up to 1000 people), the occasional hall and playing smaller houses for their fanclub. Seems ok to me.

 

They did lose a bit of their fanbase during the Beautiful Freaks-era, but things seem to have calmed down.

 

The fact that they aren't on a major label anymore hurt them as well (and that would happen to anyone, see A9 for more). An indies label, no matter how well run and connected, can't compete with the level of exposure that a major can offer you. But, the fact that they appeared on TV shows somewhat recently (the same ones that DIR EN GREY/sukekiyo appeared, so that might mean that a producer on the show might dig those guys or Free-Will in general), show me that "hey, FIREWALL DIV. has SOME cash to spend on 'em."

 

PENICILLIN seems to be doing OK for a band with 25 years on the road. Those fuckers are charging ￥6,500 a piece.

 

As always with Japanese bands, you gotta check how much a ticket cost. Never fails. RADWIMPS, who just might be THE hottest Japanese rock band right now, are charging ￥7,900 for a ticket. I guess the older hardcore fans seem to fork enough money for HAKUEI and co. to be able to produce albums + singles and touring every year. 

 

 

 

 

[sads123 147]

10 hours ago, r... said:

As always with Japanese bands, you gotta check how much a ticket cost. Never fails. RADWIMPS, who just might be THE hottest Japanese rock band right now, are charging ￥7,900 for a ticket. I guess the older hardcore fans seem to fork enough money for HAKUEI and co. to be able to produce albums + singles and touring every year.

I never got how Japanese bands price their tickets; is it via popularity? Charging 7500 yen regardless of the venue (small live houses, large halls)?  

[r... 720]

1 hour ago, sads123 said:

I never got how Japanese bands price their tickets; is it via popularity? Charging 7500 yen regardless of the venue (small live houses, large halls)?  

 

PENICILLIN are charging ￥6,500 to play in 500 people livehouses, I think. D'ERLANGER was charging the same amount and playing the same houses. That's the EXACT SAME AMOUNT I payed to see BUCK-TICK last year in a 2,500 people hall.

 

RADWIMPS are charging around U$75 and playing big halls and arenas, ONE OK ROCK is a bit cheaper, so it's a mix between popularity/name recognition and the kind of venues they usually play. And I guess it also depends on the bands and the fanbase demographic. Older bands usually have older fans and that means more money.

 

I mean, I understand that V系 bands usually charge more than "normal" rock bands (gotta pay for them outfits, right?), but it can get pretty gruesome. BLUE ENCOUNT who is doing pretty, pretty well, charge about ￥4,500. Suchmos are even cheaper: ￥3,500. So, yeah, check how much your favorite band is asking for a ticket. If they are charging a lot, that usually means they are doing ok enough, even if the shows aren't selling out.

Edited February 19, 2017 by r...

[Himeaimichu 1535]

I rarely hear about D anymore, even though they're still active. Though, it is worth mentioning they did have sort of drop after leaving the evil that is Avex. Nightmare is also losing popularity, and it's going to go down from there because of the hiatus. 

 

I remember I used to hear from Caligari more often, even though they never really were popular. Though, ever since Japanese Major Record labels began blocking music in the US, I stopped hearing from them. And their label still hasn't let up the blocks. Neither has other labels, like Sony (Gosh I hate Sony with a passion). 

Why is Caligari even on a major label? Isn't EroguroKei for the most part supposed to be an Indie/Underground movement? I mean, there are many Eroguro Bands that come to mind that aren't exactly underground (Kuroyuri comes to mind. But, they own their own record label now, even if it does have help from Yukika, so in a way they are indie? MERRY also comes to mind, but they're indie now) but even most of the non Indie ones are signed to Minor Labels. 

Also, I don't think The GazettE will ever be less popular. Even though they are running out of creativity in my opinion, Sony still promotes the hell outta that sh*t. Though there is probably a slight dip since Sony started the whole *ssholeish idea of blocking music in the US (Again, I hate Sony with a passion). 

 

Grieva also seems to be dipping, which is odd since they're more creative (Yes, actually creative, as in they don't do Diru covers anymore) than they've ever been. GossiP seems to also be rising more and more, which is good because I was afraid Yukika would abandon them. But then again, I doubt he would abandon the one band that is authentically influenced by his older stuff. 

 

Kiryu is also showing a slight dip, especially since their biggest competitor, Wagakki Band, is rising fast. I don't see how Wagakki Band hasn't had a dip yet. Like, they pulled an MCR and changed sound and image from heavy to soft even before their first album. Kiryu's never full on pulled an MCR, their change in sound is more of a progress, and they still have all that 90's Vkei influence, especially that Gauze Era Dir En Grey influence. The change is really natural, and doesn't feel like a drop in quality, rather the quality is consistent. Though like their change in music, their popularity was progressive. They didn't have a sudden jump in popularity. Rather they slowly rose, plateaued, rose higher after playing Budokan, played Budokan again and rose higher, and are slowly dropping. (BTW, I'm basing this on how much I hear about them.)

 

And finally, the band I practically devote my life to: Kuroyuri to Kage. They slowly rose, and plateaued and are quite consistent in popularity. They never really have been popular, and even when they were officially signed to Ains, they treated themselves like an Indie band. Heck, there were times where they even didn't treat themselves like a Vkei band, Kuro, K, Koyomi and Mutsuki at times wearing casual clothes to lives, while Mei always wears some kind of outfit xD. 

[Tokage 5930]

Talking about """"""""eroguro"""""""""" bands, I'm kind of wondering how Inugami Circus-Dan are doing at this point. Ever since they changed their name they've been pretty steadily releasing at least one album or mini-album a year, and they seem to have been coasting along pretty much at the same pace for the last decade or so, ever since they dropped the major label business. I guess they've been going on for like 20 years by now already anyway, so I feel they must have some sort of 'solid' fanbase built up at this point (no matter how small it may be). Also helps they haven't really significantly switched up their style over all those years, I guess.

 

Strawberry Song Orchestra have also been coasting along since like the mid-to-late-'90s, so I guess they must be doing okay enough as well. Don't know how big their usual audience is though, but I assume it's probably at least in the low 20 or 30 people on average? They don't really release music at a regular pace, but I guess they do a lot of their theater stuff alongside regular concerts, IDK if there's any huge difference in ticket prices for theater performances and concerts over in Japan tbh...

[SadMoomin 289]

On 19/02/2017 at 4:06 AM, AimiGen7 said:

I rarely hear about D anymore, even though they're still active. Though, it is worth mentioning they did have sort of drop after leaving the evil that is Avex.

Yes it's that I thought too. I used to always hear about them but not anymore at the point I thought they have disbanded lol