Iwahashi Shinichi and Sakai Masatoshi exchanged pleasantries, and Iijima Mitochi, who came up together, said hello to his former boss.
After a round of greetings, Sakai Masatoshi introduced him to two or three other staff present. When he heard that one of them was BURNING's manager, Iwahashi Shinichi was moved.
An agent is not a big shot worthy of attention.
However, there was a little friction with BU Ning secretly before. Although the reconciliation was smooth, Watanabe Manyumi was handling the whole process and did not let Iwahashi Shinichi come to the table. However, for this well-known firm in the industry
, Iwahashi Shinichi will inevitably have to pay more attention than before.
BURNING's agent is present, so to speak...
Shinichi Iwahashi's eyes fell on the young woman who didn't look like a staff member, and he guessed that she was from BURNING.
The etiquette between the people in black came to an end. Masatoshi Sakai thought for a moment and introduced Shinichi Iwahashi, "This is enka singer Manami Murase."
Manami Murase was introduced and bowed to Shinichi Iwahashi.
Iwahashi Shinichi also greeted her and swept his eyes politely across her face.
She is beautiful.
Manami Murase is wearing a dress, and her dressing style is a bit like a pink-collar person in the office. Her shoulders are thin, and the suit she wears on her body is actually not very suitable.
However, even though she is dressed as an ordinary office worker, when she salutes, she still looks like a somewhat awkward woman in kimono in her movements.
This is probably because Shinichi Iwahashi just came in and felt that she didn't look like a staff member when he first saw her.
Before enka singers make their debut, they must undergo quite comprehensive training. In addition to singing, another important aspect is deportment training. Especially for female enka singers, they must be particularly strict in this regard.
"Fujimura... I'm sorry," Sakai Masatoshi said and explained casually, "Fujimura is her real name."
Iwahashi Shin nodded to express his understanding. For him, who had been an enka singer and learned about enka actively and passively, these things in the enka industry were very clear to him.
Among enka singers, there are not many who debut under their real names. In other words, in the entire entertainment industry, debuting under a stage name has been the mainstream for a long time, and it was only in recent years that there were some changes.
As for the reasons, there are many things to say. For example, from ancient times to modern times, the status of practitioners of popular arts has been very low, so they need to give them fancy names.
Or there may be a profession that requires apprenticeship to learn skills from a master. After getting started, the master will give you a stage name. In fact, it is also a ceremony to establish the father-son relationship between master and apprentice.
For ordinary modern singers and actors, it may be that their real names are not loud enough, or their stage names may not disturb their daily lives...
Even in Japan, which is also passionate about Feng Shui, there are some big shots in the entertainment industry who think that having a good name will make it easier to become famous.
Shinichi Iwahashi’s former job, Shinichi Mori, whose real name is Kazuhiro Moriuchi. Instead, he is the bag-carrying girl Fuyumi Sakamoto who once worked as a driver with him. This name sounds like a stage name, but it is actually her real name.
"Fujimura is the disciple of Inamata Koaki-sensei."
Iwahashi Shinichi was thinking about Sakamoto Fuyumi, and Sakai Masatoshi told him about it.
"ah."
He nodded, "That's it."
Manami Murase and Fuyumi Sakamoto are both disciples of Inomata Kosho, and they both stood out in the same enka singer talent show hosted by NHK.
However, the girl carrying the bag, Sakamoto Fuyumi, is a direct inner disciple, and now the Murase Manami in front of me is a registered outer disciple.
He met Manami Murase unexpectedly. After the greetings, Masato Sakai talked a few more words with her agency's agent, and then the team stood up to leave.
In the rehearsal room, only Iwahashi Shinichi and Iijima Mitomo, Sakai Masatoshi and Murase Manami's managers from the record company were left.
"I just took over the production rights of this Fujimura-san this year."
The four of them sat down on the sofa in the rehearsal room. Masato Sakai mentioned this matter in a casual manner. His attitude towards Shinichi Iwahashi was quite relaxed, and he naturally started chatting with him about music production.
The reason for treating him this way is actually because Sakai Masari values his identity as a music producer more than treating him as the head of a record company.
"A disciple of Lord Inomata Akira-san." Shinichi Iwahashi responded casually, "Even if he is an outside disciple, he is not ordinary."
Sakai Masatoshi smiled and did not say directly, "Fujimura's debut single was composed by Funamura Tetsuo and Ishimoto Miyuki-san wrote lyrics. However, Fujimura's office is indispensable for having such resources."
Before Ikuo Suho made his fortune, he worked as a driver for Saburo Kitajima, the leader of the Kitajima group. He was also a person who had contact with many people in the entertainment industry and had deep relationships with them.
Funamura Toru is Kitajima Saburo's teacher and has a transcendent status in the industry.
Ishimoto Miyuki met Shinichi Iwahashi several times when he was her manager. As a lyricist, he is also at the top of the entertainment industry.
Being able to invite these two people to produce the debut single is a very impressive lineup.
However, Sakai Masatoshi specifically mentioned Murase Manami's office, which meant to tell him that Inomata Official Seal had not done much to help this outside disciple, and had no intention of doing anything.
"Inamata Koaki-sensei's current favorite disciple is still Sakamoto Fuyumi-san." Sakai Masari mentioned with a smile, "However, his vision is really accurate. Sakamoto-san is the most popular new enka artist at the moment."
Of course, one cannot generalize between a biological daughter and a girl.
Iwahashi Shinichi listened and did not mention his acquaintance with Sakamoto Fuyumi.
"Fujimura and Sakamoto-san participated in the same program and were spotted by the same teacher. Sakamoto-san debuted two months earlier than her," Masatoshi Sakai said, "However, Sakamoto-san is now a rising star in singing, and Fujimura is the one who made his debut.
There has been no response over the years.”
Let Funamura Toru and Ishimoto Miyuki escort them, but there was no splash.
"There is no hope in one or two years, so we have to find another way." Sakai Masatoshi said bluntly.
Iwahashi Shinichi smiled in response to his frankness, "So, even the production rights have been transferred to you."
"I was shocked." Sakai Masatoshi's words sounded like a joke, but his expression was serious, "I have never dealt with such a singer."
Until he clicked on it, Shinichi Iwahashi still couldn't figure out how "different" Murase Manami was.
The two of them were chatting about Murase Manami, and Murase Manami's manager from the record company was sitting with them. He was a man about thirty years old, with a medium build and a thin build. During this period, he remained silent.
"After all, the things on the table are still very clear." Masato Sakai only said half of the words.
Shinji Iwahashi took it after a while and said, "We need to consider the route."
"That's right." Masato Sakai smiled.
Top songwriters, first-class agencies and record companies cannot become popular like this, so one can only consider whether there is something wrong with the route and whether to make a transformation.
As soon as we came over, we didn't mention any serious business. We chatted with Masatoshi Sakai about this popular enka singer.
Shinichi Iwahashi has never heard of who Manami Murase is, let alone what works she has produced as an enka singer in the past two years. To put it bluntly, he views the career of this enka singer in the same way as he views Matsumoto Akiko.
It's just that singers who sing enka, even if they transform, can't make people become comedians...
What's more, this Murase Manami doesn't even look like a funny person.
Although they only met by chance, Iwahashi Shinichi was quite impressed by her. There is no shortage of beauties in the entertainment industry, but beauties like her, who are a bit smoky, thin, but have a subtle voluptuousness, are very popular in Japan.
It’s really not that common in the entertainment industry.
After Manami Murase's manager stood up to leave, Shinichi Iwahashi and Masatoshi Sakai got down to business.
When we made an appointment to meet, we had mentioned the purpose of our trip on the phone in advance. Now, before Iwahashi Shinichi could reach out his hand, Iijima Mitochi handed him over the brown paper bag containing the song sample that he had brought at the right time.
"Anyway, please listen here." Iwahashi Shinichi handed it over.
Johnny's method of arranging the debut of idols is exactly the same as that of enka singers who try to find ways to hit the debut. They both try their best to cooperate with big names and find first-class songwriters.
The creators of the few demos brought by Shinichi Iwahashi have nothing to do with the word "big name". He knew in his heart that there was no chance of being a debut single, so he selected the songs with the goal of including them in the album.
.
Choosing album songs is not the same thing as choosing lead singles. Not one truly hit-level song can reach this level.
Although he was not very fond of male idols, and not only did he not have any friendship with Johnny, but they even had secret conflicts with each other, it did not prevent him from seizing this opportunity to make money and make his songwriters famous.
This is what happens in the plastics industry.
Masato Sakai accepted these demos, but did not listen to them on the spot.
There are special projectors and record playback equipment in the rehearsal room, all produced by Sony. Although Sony's entertainment department and music department go their own ways, in this place, it feels like they are a "family".
Just like when Warner was still "Warner Pioneer", "Pioneer" could be seen everywhere, and singers who are fans of Toshiba E often have the opportunity to cooperate with "Toshiba" products.
Masatoshi Sakai found the video data of the Heike faction sent by Johnny.
"I want to show it to Iwahashi-kun so you can take a look," Sakai Masatoshi said to him.
In the picture, four teenagers dressed in flashy costumes that looked like Johnny's costumes, holding toy lightsabers, sang and danced as if they were performing a stage play.
"..."
Shinichi Iwahashi No matter how many times he watches Johnny Idol, he will always think of words like "honey aesthetic".
The four teenagers sang the hit song "剣の Dance" (Sword Dance) by their partner Hikaru Genki. This video is to let the producers get to know them better.
Although the group was sent to Sony with a debt-paying property, as usual, only the music production and distribution rights belong to Sony. What the group does on stage depends entirely on Johnny's magical aesthetic arrangements.
Demonic nature belongs to demonic nature, but in the same line from top to bottom, it can be said that Kitagawa Kuo has cultivated this "honey aesthetic" of the Japanese people in the past ten or twenty years, allowing them to unconsciously accept this style of painting
, and can only accept the style of male idols.
In this way, just like leeks, after cutting one crop, there will be another crop, endlessly.
It's nothing to develop an idol, but it's scary to develop a fan.
"How do you feel?" Masato Sakai asked.
Iwahashi Shinichi shook his head, "I have no clue about the production of male idols." After a pause, "However, since he is Johnny's idol, it is safer to sing idol songs."
Anyway, this kind of combination has its own basic base. When they first debuted, the fans were very enthusiastic and the sales volume was not much different.
"Not song production."
Masato Sakai shook his head, "It's about seeing this group and what was your first impression of them."
In the picture, the four teenagers finished singing and dancing, and finally put on a rather middle-aged appearance, completing their fighting moves and making a similar appearance.
Next, the scene changed from the stage to a place that looked like a dance studio. Four teenagers stood in a row, all wearing simple sportswear embroidered with "Johnnys", and introduced themselves one by one in front of the camera.
"I am Matsubara Jiro, the captain of the Heike faction..."
The young man faced the camera and talked about his hobbies, music and other things he liked.
Sakai Masatoshi brought it up, and Iwahashi Shinichi became more serious.
It's not that he didn't see some tricks, but since he was an artist from another company, he couldn't comment on it. Now, one must listen. He thought about it and said implicitly: "There is a sense of urgency.
"
"A sense of urgency."
Sakai Masatoshi repeated it, his expression much more solemn.
Iwahashi Shin's words hit the point.
Sakai Masatoshi received this group, met with the four teenagers, watched the video of the performance, and listened to their audition harmonies. His first reaction was that Kitagawa was eager to let them form a group.
This sense of urgency extends from top to bottom. Not only is Kitagawa anxious to launch a new group, but the four teenagers also seem to be out of sync with each other, and there is no sense of relaxation that a group should have.
Of course, Sakai Masari knew the reason for such an "urgent" situation, so naturally he didn't mention it at all.
Iwahashi Shinichi contacted him a few days ago and wanted to ask his songwriters to contribute music to the Heike faction. Sakai Masatoshi was very willing to contact new songwriters, and he also had Yoshida Masaki's face and appreciation for this young producer.
I am curious and would not mind providing an opportunity.
However, given the opportunity, Masatoshi Sakai is still curious about what this young producer thinks of the Taike faction.
But now, Iwahashi Shinichi's words coincided with Sakai Masatoshi's thoughts. In his heart, he couldn't help but admire Iwahashi Shinichi's precise vision.
A combination that has no sense of relaxation is a combination that is born with an aura of misfortune.
Masatoshi Sakai thought so, but he didn’t care about the future of the Heike faction and only planned to focus on the present. To be precise, the future of this group never lies in the hands of the record company, but in the hands of Johnny and Keiko Fujishima.
in hand.
And the reason why he asked Iwahashi Shinichi for his thoughts was not to get any inspiration from him about the Taira sect.
It would be better to use the Heike faction to get to know this young producer better and evaluate his ability in planning and production.
"correct."
After Sakai Masatoshi finished talking about the Taira sect, he went to get a piece of paper as if nothing had happened.
