July has entered, and the countdown to Akina Nakamori's concert in Nagoya has begun. Before the ten-day countdown to the official opening of the show begins, Akina Nakamori packs her bags and goes on a short business trip to New York.
The first is to go to Warner's recording studio to confirm the sound source of the new song that is being produced, and the second is to take some photos for the concert.
The tenth anniversary is of great significance. Various activities prepared around the anniversary, or various works to be released, are fully scheduled. From the beginning to the end of the year, fans' wallets will not be idle.
Stars like Akina Nakamori, who have been popular for many years, are mostly supported by people in society with a certain amount of spending power. Their popularity has not diminished over the years. Every time a new work is released, there is bound to be a wave of rush. The office and the record company are working hard.
I want to hit even more impressive sales this year.
On this side, Akina Nakamori celebrated her 10th anniversary in great glory and went on a business trip to New York.
On the other side, as July entered, a piece of news that occupied half of the newspaper's entertainment section appeared: Matsuda Seiko is about to return to Japan and fully restart various activities in Japan.
Three years ago, Seiko Matsuda resigned from the agency SUNMUSIC, which she had worked with for ten years, and publicly announced that she would go to the United States for development. In the following three years, Seiko Matsuda has almost never appeared on mainstream TV stations.
Tabloids and magazines, every once in a while, take stock of Matsuda Seiko's heroic past, or add fuel to the fire about her life abroad.
After Seiko Matsuda went to the United States, some critics or reporters mentioned in interviews or writing articles in magazines that the truth behind why Seiko Matsuda left everything in Japan and went to the United States came from
Pressure from the Music Association.
Seiko Matsuda betrayed the firm in the name of starting a new business, but in fact he was exiled from the industry.
After such an article appeared in the newspaper, some fans of Seiko Matsuda protested, but to no avail. In other words, no one would admit the "exile" mentioned in the magazine. It is an unspoken rule in the industry.
The reason why it is called an unspoken rule is because when it is put on the table, it does not exist.
It was Seiko Matsuda who wanted to pursue a new career in the United States, so he alienated the Japanese media. What does it have to do with the media?
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The new contract between Akina Nakamori and Kenyin has been finalized. Next, the old personal office will be closed, and preparations for the new personal office will begin. While Shinichi Iwahashi was busy, he also had time to pay attention to the handover of Akina Nakamori's contract.
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Her sister, Asako, was brought in to help. With these two siblings joining forces, Akina Nakamori could go on a business trip with peace of mind. By the time she came back from this short business trip, all the details had been almost taken care of, and they were just waiting for her to put down the seal and make the final decision.
My wife went on a business trip, and walking Roppongi guide Shinichi Iwahashi enriched his guide catalog, updated stores that had closed down, and added stores that are currently popular.
On this day, Shinichi Iwahashi went to Sony to attend the DREAMS COME TRUE new album meeting, and met Sakai Masatoshi. They hadn't seen each other for a while, so they made an appointment to go out for a drink in the evening.
In the meeting before the recording of DREAMS COME TRUE's new album, the producer Shinichi Iwahashi was the protagonist. When the next contract is renewed, the band's producer will be changed to "DREAMS COME TRUE", so in this album
When the album was being produced, Brother Nakamura also participated in the pre-production meeting.
If Miwa-chan hadn't come back because she was still traveling, she would have shown up today.
A few days ago, Shinichi Iwahashi received a letter from Miwa-chan from her trip. In addition to showing off how much she enjoyed it, she also revealed an important piece of information: She is scheduled to return to Japan on July 9th.
Fortunately, I had a confirmed date, so I didn’t hesitate and decided to extend the holiday for another month to let the new single be released.
In the past two years, Masatoshi Sakai has basically focused on being a producer for enka singers or ballad singers. He has also been invited to serve as a producer for idol bands. However, Masatoshi Sakai is not good at producing bands.
The so-called "idol band" is a grouping model that has gradually become popular after the idol era ended and the band era became popular. Girls who could originally debut as female idols were gathered together and formed after simple training.
The band, with the help of professional musicians, debuted as a band.
A few years ago, Johnny's idol band Nan Dou Hu was ridiculed by the crowd when it debuted, and was regarded as a representative of a show band that showed off its tricks. Within two years of its debut, it ended peacefully due to a drastic drop in sales and discord within the group.
However, a few years have passed, and the idol band with little strength has become a genre in the current band era. This is the embodiment of the popularity of the band era reaching the point of prosperity and decline.
Of course, the fundamental difference between a band and an idol is that a band with the ability to compose, write and sing on its own has its own place no matter what is popular in the recording industry at the moment, and has the opportunity to bring a pop album at any time. So.
, as long as the public needs "good songs", even if the band era is over, the real bands will always have their careers.
However, all the idol bands that can barely make a splash are composed of girls. Among the more or less famous bands, there is almost no band composed entirely of men.
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Therefore, to a certain extent, the audience should be more tolerant of female idol bands without strength. In other words, when ordinary audiences like female idol bands, they do not like a "band".
Nowadays, the idol form has become an old trend that everyone knows has ended. However, after a long era of idols, the experience of the people in black behind the scenes in making idols, and the subtle influence of the audience's attention to idols for many years,
It is destined that the characteristics of idols and the way they are promoted will reappear in the form of various old wines in new bottles.
Shinichi Iwahashi and Masato Sakai had a long-awaited drinking party. When talking about the current fashion, they couldn't help but talk about some very obvious facts. In this industry, whenever you want to launch new people, you have to take these experiences into consideration.
After all, even the enka singers and folk singers that Masato Sakai is focusing on producing at the moment are becoming idols at full speed.
Talking about the end of the idol era, and the recording industry that has inherited the experience left by the idol era and is trying every means to idolize everything, Masato Sakai remembered and mentioned Matsuda Seiko to Shinichi Iwahashi.
"Does Iwahashi-kun know? The Holy Son is coming back."
Iwahashi Shin nodded, "I saw relevant news in the newspaper before."
As for why Matsuda Seiko left Japan and went to the United States to develop, both Iwahashi Shinichi and Sakai Masatoshi knew very well.
Masato Sakai did the math and said, "It will be three years soon."
It’s about the time when Seiko Matsuda disappeared from the mainstream TV station. She broke up with the agency and had no strong backer to protect her. Not only that, the original agency was quite powerful, and the Music Association also planned to use her to establish her authority.
All things combined, Matsuda Seiko, whose husband Masaki Kanda is no small player even after ten years in the industry, still has to make it through these three years.
According to the industry's non-competition agreement, artists who leave the agency cannot participate in terrestrial programs for three years.
This precedent started with Watanabe Productions. In Watanabe's heyday, there were other things to say about getting together and getting away with Watanabe. Otherwise, you would have to accept the strict restriction of not participating in terrestrial broadcasts for five years.
At that time, Watanabe Productions was the dominant one, and TV stations had to please Susumu Watanabe. Between the trade-offs, it was obvious what choice they would make.
Even when Watanabe Productions was regarded as a threat by television stations and began to deliberately cultivate new offices and weaken Watanabe Productions' power, the rule initiated by Watanabe Susumu continued as an unspoken rule in the entertainment industry.
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After weaving a web of siege by Watanabe and breaking the monopoly of one company, various forces in the industry inherited the rules set by Susumu Watanabe and maintained a delicate tacit understanding and balance between them. TV stations, newspapers and magazines, affairs
So, the record company, from top to bottom, eats up the artists in order.
The Music Association wanted to establish its authority through Matsuda Seiko, but it was not enough to drive her out of the Japanese entertainment industry. In the past three years, Matsuda Seiko had a miserable career in the United States, and all kinds of gossip surrounding her,
Every once in a while, I will read it in tabloids and magazines.
For the general public, if someone is out of sight, they will soon lose interest in her and will not pay special attention to her. However, when they read news about her, they still remember who this person is.
The continuous negative news in the past three years has put Seiko Matsuda on the list of "most hated artists", ranking at the top.
At this moment, Matsuda Seiko, who has been away from the Japanese entertainment industry for three years and has gained a bad reputation in the hearts of the public, is returning to Japan. What awaits this "eternal idol" is the reality that the idol era has come to an end.
"Speaking of which, Minamino has been going very smoothly these past two years." Masatoshi Sakai mentioned Minamino Yoko deliberately.
Backed by TV Asahi, the new agency is not unknown. In the past few years, Minamino Yoko has been quite successful among the artists who debuted as female idols at the same time.
"Minano's potential is greater than imagined." Shinichi Iwahashi replied.
Minamino Yoko was able to get rid of her original office because of the help of others. However, after starting over, she was able to have a good development because of her ability.
Iwahashi Shinichi's attitude of not taking any credit even if the incident was over made Sakai Masato somewhat admire him in his heart.
"Anyway," Masatoshi Sakai returned the topic to Matsuda Seiko, "Matsuda's return to Japan is tantamount to starting over. It is even a worse situation than making his debut again."
She is not a newcomer with a blank slate, but a has-been idol who has been besieged by the Music Association for three years and now has a bad image in the public's mind.
Iwahashi Shinichi doesn’t think so, “If it’s a newcomer making his debut as an idol at this time... could there be a worse time than now?”
What Seiko Matsuda has to do when he returns to Japan is to turn around and stand up again.
But if you are a newcomer who debuts at this time, you will not even have a chance to truly fail.
After returning to Japan, Matsuda Seiko will set up her own personal agency and manage her own management contract from now on. As for the record contract, Toshiba EMI and Victory Records are now interested in contacting her.
Matsuda Seiko is still a big-name idol no matter how popular she is and how she is besieged. What she does is still being watched by the industry. At this moment, the industry is turning its attention to her, and what is waiting to be seen is the first step she will take next.
, what kind of response will it receive.
If she doesn't create any buzz, then the industry, which is completely convinced that she has nothing to fear, will completely ignore her.
The attitude of her original office towards her return to Japan, and whether the relationship between the Music Association and her can be eased, will determine the attitude of the media towards her after she returns.
As for Sony, Seiko Matsuda is about to return to Japan, so naturally they have started carefully preparing a gift package of selected albums for her.
There is no doubt about the professionalism of record companies when it comes to choosing the time to release a greatest hits collection.
After all, Matsuda Seiko has been in the industry for ten years and has some connections. As a top idol, her professional level is absolutely first-class, and there should be many musicians willing to collaborate with her. Even for a period of time, she still cannot appear on TV frequently.
Show up, as long as you survive the most difficult period at the beginning, you will also usher in a turn for the better.
What's more, the top idol back then and her fans in her heyday have now become people in society, perhaps practitioners in the industry. For this idol that she followed in the past, there may be a willingness to help her.
After all, when you see an idol who is at a disadvantage, you will have the idea of helping her. This is a human instinct.
Iwahashi Shinichi thought that the biggest problem for Matsuda Seiko was how to continue to be this "eternal idol". Whether she wanted to transform or continue to create records as an idol, she had to start over.
to this new era.
Not only does Seiko Matsuda need to re-explore, but even SUNMUSIC, the firm where Seiko Matsuda once worked, is now at a juncture that requires exploration.
The successor launched after Yukiko Okada retired, Noriko Sakai, who is positioned as "the last orthodox pure idol", has now reached a bottleneck in popularity.
During the heyday of the Idol Era, SUNMUSIC launched several popular idols and was recognized in the industry as a master at promoting idols. However, the firm that became so prosperous because of the Idol Era must make changes as it enters the new era.
Iwahashi Shinichi recalled briefly, and he could still recall the reckless girl he saw backstage at Okada Yukiko's retirement concert.
The once top idol now has to face this era again.
As for the orthodox idol who has high hopes for her at this moment, if she wants to advance her career, she must follow a path that her seniors, Seiko Matsuda and Yukiko Okada, have not explored for her.
