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Majors Doing Everysing
Despite friction on the diplomatic front, several Japanese record companies have forged wide-ranging deals with Chinese and Korean partners in recent weeks.
Two of Japan’s major labels, Avex and Universal Music Japan, have officially joined hands with South Korea’s SM Entertainment to form an entity called Everysing Japan.
The goal is to “provide more innovative and unique services” for the labels’ digital music in Japan. Everysing is a karaoke application developed by SM that allows the user to not only sing and record music, but to offer those recordings as audition files that can be shared through social media.
It is Korea’s No. 1 Karaoke app. Universal Japan CEO Naoshi Fujikura said in a statement,
“By expanding Everysing to Japan we hope to provide a new form of entertainment by using the company’s ample musical repertoire to suit people’s lifestyles.” Shinji Hayashi of Avex said, “With the establishment of Everysing Japan the three companies will be able to construct a new business scheme to face the current social trend.”
Eventually the three companies want to expand the model further, to cover all of Asia. Another major label, Japan’s Victor Entertainment Inc., announced its own tie-up with Korea’s biggest entertainment conglomerate, CJ E&M, to form a new venture called CJ Victor Entertainment Inc.
In a joint statement, CJ E&M senior vice president Joon Ahn and Victor vice president Nobuhiko Yonemitsu said, “Our goal is to combine the powers of K-pop and J-pop to discover and nurture new artists who will represent Asia.”
According to the Korea Times, the new company will promote Korean singers in Japan and Japanese artists through the vast CJ E&M network while sharing expertise and business systems.
The main difference between the two countries’ music enterprises is that distribution in South Korea is almost completely carried out online, while 80 percent of Japanese music production is still in the form of CDs.
The first big project of the venture will be to release albums by well-known Japanese artists in South Korea starting in June.
Next year, the new company will start promoting musicians from outside the two countries within South Korea and Japan.
It will also be involved in concerts and event organizing. CJ E&M said that the new deal will not affect its other overseas commitments.