[CoriKaru]

"Why aren’t Japanese singers successful in the American market?

Language plays a big part. It doesn’t sound believable if they sing in English that they have learned phonetically. Sometimes the artist management companies in Japan, which have all the power, only want to use songs they can control the rights of, and those songs may not work in America. Sometimes the artist tries to imitate instead of being original. It also takes a tremendous commitment of time, money and energy to penetrate a market like America, and you would have to compete with the best of the best.

I have seen some great artists in Japan with potential. For example, I have produced six songs for Crystal Kay, and she is one of the best singers in the world. Also, her English is flawless, she is a great dancer and beautiful. I think she would have a great chance! On the other hand, I was disappointed when Hikaru Utada’s album was released in America. Her English was perfect but the album didn’t have the same soul or feeling in it as her Japanese CDs. I guarantee that probably some American record executive changed the direction of the music to make it more appropriate for the American market. It ended up sounding contrived.

Another reason, I’m sorry to say, is that there are probably discrimination factors involved. I think the American market mostly wants American, British and an occasional Australian or Swedish artist. I hope it will change in the near future."

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