Features
Asia: X Japan, MassiveMusic, Streaming, Visas
Yoshiki Surgery Stops X Japan Tours
AP Photo – Yoshiki of X Japan
Asia Girls Explosion, Tokyo, Japan
X Japan drummer and founder Yoshiki is to undergo an emergency cervical artificial disc replacement surgery, which will affect X Japan’s summer tours as well as solo Yoshiki dates.
“As a result of Yoshiki’s intense drumming style and the impact it has had on his physical health, he was diagnosed with cervical foraminal stenosis in July 2009, and then underwent a cervical laminectomy and a cervical foraminotomy,” a statement from the band’s management read. Yoshiki’s tour plans included a July tour of Japan, Yoshiki’s Premium Dinner Show in August, and a yet-to-be announced summer world tour that was to begin in Los Angeles.
These dates are being rescheduled with booking agency William Morris Endeavor, the statement says. The drummer has been suffering from a herniated disc that has gotten worse over the past six months, and will undergo the surgery in Los Angeles May 16.
MassiveMusic Expands To Tokyo
International music agency MassiveMusic recently opened a Tokyo office. Based in Europe, the company has five other offices (Amsterdam, London, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai) and mostly “produces and composes music for … advertising, broadcast design and interactive [projects],” according to an article in Music Week.
A local staff has been hired to “enable the company to redouble its efforts in Asia and place professionals within the local market.” Accordingly, they will also build a studio in Tokyo in order to “communicate as perfectly with the market as can be,” managing director Junya Terui said. Hans Brouwer, the CEO and founder of MassiveMusic, told Music Week that he has done a lot of work in Japan in the past few years and felt it was time to engage with the market in a more dedicated way.
“Our aim is to work better with brands and agencies in Japan and drive innovation through diversity,” he said. Brouwer also mentioned working for the 2016 Olympic Games, so he hopes he can also be involved in the Tokyo Games in 2020. Business development manager Tamon Fujimi said that Japan continues to be an evolving music market, even though it has a reputation for being “isolated.” “Companies with an international mindset are quite rare here,” he said. “We want to be one of those companies and blend local global creativity.”
Still Catching Up With Streaming
With streaming yet to make a big impression on the second-biggest music market in the world, Japanese record labels are turning to various events to make up for falling CD sales.
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King Record, for instance, has started a series of aerobic fitness sessions featuring music that King licenses for famous anime productions. So far it seems to be a hit, according to Kyodo News Service. Sony Music
Direct is using its Zepp concert halls to show music-oriented movies using superior sound systems at premium prices. A representative of Sony told the news service that “you can’t raise the volume too much [in cinema complexes] because it might bother people watching movies in adjacent theaters.” The movie series is called “Outcry,” and the first screening will be at the
Tickets, which cost 2,000 yen ($17) for standing and 4,000 yen for seating, are now on sale and Sony says they are selling well. Avex Group Holdings, which owns Japan’s biggest independent label, is now busy setting up partnerships to expand its music business, including financing artists on its roster to come up with their own investment ideas. The project is called Avex Ventures.
Hidden Agenda Or Just Visa Mishap?
Four musicians from the U.S. and the UK as well as a venue operator were arrested in Hong Kong on May 7 at a venue in the territory, with reports of riot shields, police dogs and visa confusion.
The founder of the venue,
Apparently, immigration officers posed as patrons and attended the concerts, during which they “collected evidence” that the bands had been “hired by the venue.”
Following the concert they “asked to conduct an investigation of the premises.” Somehow, this action led to an altercation and police arrived at the venue with riot shields and police dogs. Later, the Immigration Department told HKFP that the four foreign performers were suspected of violating the conditions of their stay, since they did not have work visas. The venue owner and the two staff were charged with obstructing police activities and common assault.
The four foreigners, accompanied by “pro-democracy lawmakers” Jeremy Tam and Tanya Chan, were interrogated at the Immigration Department offices the next day. Tam told reporters that the musicians were cooperating with the Immigration Department and police investigation. It is presumed that the three UK musicians departed Hong Kong on Tuesday to return home and the sole U.S. musician would leave on Wednesday to fly back to America via mainland China.
However, Tam also said all four would return to Hong Kong to “assist in the department’s investigation” at some point in the future “if required.” As of May 9, the venue owner and staff were still in custody. Immigration told HKFP that Hidden Agenda had in the past applied for and received visas for foreign performing artists, but in this instance they did not apply for visas “for the performers in question.”
Tam told reporters that he thinks Immigration has changed its policy with regards to issuing work visas for foreign artists.
“Previously, they would not ask whether the location of the performance is an industrial building,” he said. “But in these past few months, they ask whether you are performing in an industrial building. If so, they would not issue work visas.”
This change in policy affected not only musicians playing at Hidden Agenda, but for artists performing at other “unlicensed industrial buildings” throughout Hong Kong.
The lawmaker speculated that these kinds of visa refusals were caused by the department’s “fear of getting into trouble” with other government offices that hadn’t strictly implemented licensing regulations.
“This creates a very bad image as to how we treat overseas musicians in Hong Kong,” Tam told reporters. “I’m actually very proud of the achievements of Hidden Agenda. It’s a well-known live house, but it’s not supported by the government at all.”
According to Immigration law, violation of visa conditions carries a maximum fine of HK$50,000 ($6,425) and two years in prison, while a person who unlawfully employs a foreigner faces a maximum fine of HK$350,000 and three years in prison.