Iwahashi Shinichi rubbed his nose, sat upright, apologized to the people present with his eyes, and nodded gently to the staff who were interrupted by the sudden sneeze.
On Monday morning, GENZO held its usual meeting.
The people in charge reported the work arrangements and progress of their singers in turn. As usual, ZARD was mentioned first. The reason is simple and sufficient. ZARD is the first group of singers launched by the company and the "eldest daughter" of GENZO.
The band has stable creative ability. Both the three musicians who are responsible for composing and Sachiko Kamaike who is responsible for composing lyrics are at the stage of strong creative power. Since becoming popular, they have been moving forward along the broad road.
In addition to her work in the band, Kamai Sachiko appears in women's fashion magazines from time to time. Her chic and restrained temperament is deeply sought after by women of the 20th generation, who regard her as the object of admiration. She is very suitable for wearing trousers, and she also brought a while to the world.
fashion.
Shinichi Iwahashi is still the nominal co-producer and music producer of ZARD. However, after the band went its own way, he almost no longer interferes in the band's music production. The band is currently producing a new album, Shinichi Iwahashi
It has no involvement at all. It can be said that the music producer of this new album is ZARD himself.
For a band like this that steadily handles all production, the title of music producer will be handed over to the band themselves sooner or later. But now is definitely not the time.
The producer is not only involved in the production rights, but also in the production share. As the veteran band of the company and a popular band, ZARD will have the required capital when the contract is renewed. "Music Producer"
This title will not truly come to the band until the end of this five-year period and the beginning of the next five-year period when a new record contract is signed.
If you really want to talk about it, unless you are so talented from the beginning that the record company will find ways to offer generous terms to win over you, otherwise, whether it is a singer or a band, if you want to be your own producer, you have to wait.
GENZO's current singers are mostly singer-songwriters. The arrangement of record releases is roughly the same, with two singles and one album a year. Singers who are on the rise need to strike while the iron is hot, maybe three releases a year.
to four singles.
Tour performances to coincide with the album are held almost every year.
Among them, THE BLUE HEARTS likes open-air performances and loves venues like Hibiya Outdoor Public Hall. ZARD likes fully enclosed venues. Firstly, the sound effect is good, and secondly, there is no need to worry about the weather. As for GENZO’s first female solo Daikuro Maki, in Tokyo
Having made her debut in the Dome, she will either not hold concerts in the future, or she will hold concerts in large venues to entertain the tens of thousands of spectators present.
The singer himself will have a preference for the concert venue. The record company will consider the singer's ideas and the final decision on the tour plan will most likely continue.
However, this year's exceptional concert is a disco convention scheduled to be held in September, starring Tetsuya Komuro. At Wangan Plaza, it is planned to mobilize 50,000 people for a four-hour carnival.
When the gender-neutral music festival was held for the first time, Iwahashi Shinichi used a publicity strategy to broadcast it to several major cities across the country so that audiences who could not attend the music festival could also witness this event.
This time, for this large-scale square dance with 50,000 people, Shinichi Iwahashi reiterated this strategy that he had used once before. He planned to broadcast it to major cities across the country and negotiate with local discotheques to promote it.
After the work arrangements of the debuted bands and singers were reported one by one, the production of newcomers was discussed. Iwahashi Shinichi personally signed a band and two girls, three groups of newcomers. The band's side was okay. Before their official debut,
There are managers who specially follow them and arrange performances at LIVEHOUE for them until they are good enough to debut.
Of course, during this period, their performance videos will be regularly sent to Iwahashi Shinichi. Iwahashi Shinichi will also go to watch the performances in person from time to time to make adjustments to their style and videos.
Many of the bands that are involved in the underground music industry are locked in by record companies in advance and continue to perform in the underground music industry after deciding on a contract. Not only do band members need to work together, but also between the band and the record company.
Fortunately for the new band, two girls, Shinichi Iwahashi wants to explore the launch of a fashion leader-type singer - such a path requires sufficient investment.
For training before their debut, the two girls were packed and sent to New York to take classes there for three months. However, although they were expected to lead some fashion, since they were debuting as singers, the most important thing was music.
The two girls are not singer-songwriters. When selecting songs for them, they must consider their voice conditions and choose songs that can highlight the characteristics of their voices. In order to increase the memory point among the public, the selected songs may also be challenging.
Sex. In short, the first task is to develop characteristics that can stand up.
Although what is being launched is a "singer", in fact, this is still exploring a new type of idol. The end of the idol era never means that idols will disappear and become silent, but that they will still exist in the industry in a different way until
Come back one day.
These two girls, from the moment they were chosen, recorded the entire arrangement regarding them, and kept the various meeting records surrounding them, collecting them as GENZO's experience in cultivating "super idols".
Regardless of whether these two girls succeed or fail in the end, it is of great significance to GENZO.
The arrangements surrounding these two girls who need to be packaged from scratch may seem complicated, but in fact, one girl will make her debut as early as the second half of this year.
It is very taboo to polish such a newcomer for a long time, because the trends of the times change very quickly, and a carefully crafted character may become outdated in less than a year. If she keeps such a newcomer in her hands for too long, she will become
It will become worthless. Therefore, you must not use the mentality of "sharpening a sword for ten years" to create such a new person.
On the contrary, there are singer-songwriters. Singers who sing by themselves are much more tolerant in all aspects. Not only tolerance for age, appearance, or tolerance for being more likely to stand up when a scandal occurs, but also this
Is the step from behind the scenes to the front of the stage fast or slow?
GENZO actually has a female solo singer to debut in the second half of this year.
It was Asami Yonemitsu who came to Tokyo from Fukuoka to join Shinichi Iwahashi after watching Daikuro Maki's concert. In the blink of an eye, she had signed a contract with GENZO for more than a year. During this period, she was undergoing singer training and
I was very busy composing music, guest-starring as a backing vocalist for Daikoku Moki, and even providing an album song to Utoku Keiko.
In more than a year, Asami Yonemitsu has composed nearly a hundred songs, and anyone who listens to her strong creative power will admire her.
Of course, not all of these nearly one hundred songs are eligible for release. GENZO bought sixty of them - even so, this is a very eye-catching number, which shows her talent.
As a person behind the scenes, she stayed at GENZO for more than a year. During this period, Asami Yonemitsu also carefully polished her debut album. Finally, the time was right. In October, Asami Yonemitsu will release her debut single.
…
On Monday, Shinichi Iwahashi was very busy. In the evening, Ashida, the coordinating producer of DREAMS COME TRUE at Sony, also invited Shinichi Iwahashi to dinner.
DREAMS COME TRUE is about to enter the critical fifth year. Music producer Shinichi Iwahashi has to meet with the Sony team as a representative from time to time, and he meets with producer Ashida even more frequently.
Actually, regarding next year, apart from the fifth anniversary of the debut and the circus tour, there is another more important thing. Next year, DREAMS COME TRUE’s record contract will be renewed.
The current band is undoubtedly the number one best-selling band in Japan. When the record contract of such a band is about to expire, there will definitely be more than one or two companies interested in them.
Similarly, the record companies that have the appetite to buy this band are all big companies in Japan that can be compared with Sony.
When a critical year comes, record companies tend to pay careful attention to the movements around singers. However, Sony is very relaxed.
After all, as long as Shinichi Iwahashi has no intention of ending the cooperation with Sony, DREAMS COME TRUE will definitely stay with Sony. If other companies want to poach DREAMS COME TRUE, the person who really needs to be convinced is Shinichi Iwahashi.
However, as the head of Shinichi Iwahashi's record company, he is destined not to make changes easily.
If DREAMS COME TRUE really changes record companies, it will not only mean that the band will change record companies, but it will also mean that GENZO's Shinichi Iwahashi will have to re-select his collaborators in the industry.
Today, Tetsuya Komuro, who is working closely with Shinichi Iwahashi, still has a record contract with Sony for his band TM NETWORK. Shinichi Iwahashi has always had a good relationship with Sony, and Sony is also very powerful in the recording industry.
There is no need to fight against Sony and switch to cooperate with another company.
Tetsuya Komuro bypassed Sony and cooperated with Shinichi Iwahashi, launched TRF, and also participated in the establishment of GENZO's new label. This was of course Tetsuya Komuro's freedom - without Sony, Tetsuya Komuro could not cooperate with other companies as a producer.
The constraints of cooperation. However, because the partner he cooperated with was Shinichi Iwahashi, Sony was not so jealous.
Looking at the long-term interests, there is no need to be so short-sighted that just because a TRF becomes popular, you feel that you have let the big fish go.
It is precisely because of such realistic considerations that Sony is very calm and aboveboard. Of course, Sony is also qualified to show off this style.
Unless there was some huge irreconcilable conflict between the band and Sony in the year or so before the contract was renewed, Shinichi Iwahashi would never let DREAMS COME TRUE not renew its contract.
With this consensus in mind and knowing that there is a high probability that we will cooperate for a long time in the future, Iwahashi Shinichi maintains a good relationship with Sony's producers and several directors.
Tonight, Producer Ashida invited a guest, and a director from Sony named Sekikawa was present for dinner.
The three of them drank and chatted happily. Producer Ashida seemed to be taking advantage of the drunkenness and casually revealed something to Shinichi Iwahashi, "...a few days ago, I heard an interesting thing from the public relations department."
"Is there anything interesting that the public relations department finds interesting?" Shinichi Iwahashi's curiosity was aroused.
Producer Ashida laughed, "It's still related to DREAMS COME TRUE." The private room is extremely private, so he doesn't worry about telling secrets that are inconvenient for others to know. "Someone broke the news to "Weekly Modern" that the band's Giraffe
The man is played by you, Iwahashi-kun."
"You've been seen through, Iwahashi-kun." Director Sekikawa joked at him from the side.
DREAMS COME TRUE The true identity of the Giraffe Man is almost an open secret in the industry. As long as the rules of the industry are still in operation, no media will put this matter on their pages.
With Sony's power, it is natural that it has good relations with the media. If the news that is unfavorable to Sony singers is submitted to media close to Sony, it will be difficult for it to be reported truthfully.
As for the fact that Shinichi Iwahashi is a giraffe man, even the media with bad relations with Sony will not report the information. Naturally, "Weekly Modern" regarded it as an interesting fact and mentioned it when socializing with people from Sony's public relations department.
A small technique used to express closeness in a relationship.
Iwahashi Shinichi thought that the only way to break through this restriction was to use the Internet to break the news. However, today's Internet is far from reaching this level. Speaking of which, there is another interesting thing. Japanese TV stations
There are restrictions on new media, and Internet-related things are not allowed to be advertised on TV stations.
Just through this small corner, it seems that we can predict that in the future, when the Internet age arrives and the public abandons traditional mass media and embraces the Internet, Japanese TV stations will have to guard against clinging to it.
He retracted his thoughts and responded to Director Sekikawa's joke, "There is no such thing as a perfect disguise."
"Eighty percent of them are either audience members who have seen Iwahashi-kun and the band perform during the underground era, or they discovered your backs and similar voices out of nowhere," producer Ashida deduced.
DREAMS COME TRUE After all, there was an era of underground bands. At that time, Shinichi Iwahashi was unknown. However, in the past two years, he has been in the limelight and dated Nakamori Akina. With the increase in exposure, he is recalled.
It's not impossible.
I knew in my heart that it was impossible for someone in the industry to break the news, so naturally I determined that the person who broke the news was an ordinary viewer.
At this moment, a shadow suddenly flashed across Shinichi Iwahashi's mind. It should have been one day in spring, outside the GENZO office building...
The memory revived, and the shadow in my mind became a little clearer.
That day, under the GENZO office building, just when Shinichi Iwahashi was about to enter the building, a young man ran over. He was dressed in strange clothes, like a subculture youth who would wander around in the pedestrian paradise on Sunday.
