In April, many Japanese artists participated in Coachella, one of the world’s largest music festivals, held in the United States. The festival was held in the desert in western California, and attracted a total of 750,000 attendees. Many Japanese artists, including YOASOBI and rapper Awich, appeared at Coachella. J-POP is not only bringing excitement to festivals like this, but also to live shows and charts. “Idol” is the first Japanese song to top the Billboard Global Chart. This song, “Idol,” is by the Japanese music unit YOASOBI. Now that J-POP is lining up on the world charts, it is only natural that companies will emerge to support artists in their global expansion.
One of these companies is Sony Music Entertainment (SME). SME has also partnered with Sony’s US anime distribution company to arrange for singers to appear at anime music festivals and the like. “Idol” was a hit as the theme song for the anime “Oshi no Ko.” It is said that the fact that the melody is very different from a conventional anime song led to the success of [Oshi no Ko]. K-POP embodied universality. However, it is said that “idols” have a high affinity with anime, which is a strength of Japan that other countries’ music does not have. It seems that there is more emphasis on regionality and uniqueness than universality. Japanese anime has the strength of the Galapagos.
The movement to aim for globalization from Japan is increasing in the future. It is difficult to satisfy everyone just by universalization and globalization. The next growth of J-POP will be to create a sales system overseas. The next growth of J-POP will be to create a core fan group that is a community of enthusiastic fans. The activities of enthusiastic fans may become a culture formed by them. When a culture is born, it grows in its infancy and then rises to the peak of maturity. Then, from the peak of maturity, there is a flow of decline. In terms of the flow of culture, “idols” and “BBBB” have the potential to rise from the infancy to the mature area. In today’s world, it is important for music to be accepted by a small but passionate audience. I hope to see J-POP move from its infancy to a mature stage one after another.
