J-pop going flat???

[Midori-chan]

Personally I think that some people should broaden their knowledge when it comes to JPop! JPop is not only Ayu, Namie, Kumi, Arashi and some other popular artists!

There are so many wonderful JPop-artists which are fairly unknown, simply because they are not famous enough to appear on shows like "Music Station", but still make awesome music, which is sometimes even better than the mainstream JPop-music!

For example, Onitsuka Chihiro, Oku Hanako, Tate Takako, Sakamoto Maaya, Kalafina, Uematsu Hidemi!


And you could also say that KPop is going flat, because it's also always the same concept of music and style!
Don't worry, I'm not a hater. No, I really like KPop, but it's not better or more exciting than JPop.
KPop-artists just have a different way of presenting themselves (JPop artists = mostly cute concept; KPop artists = mostly sexy concept) and I guess this is what Japanese people - or people who are tired of JPop - like.

[jewelbox]

Well I gladly try new Jpop artists if someone recommends but I'm no pioneer of Jpop so I'm just saying what I see on the surface.

[sinfonietta]

Originally Posted by relmy

I think the problem is with kpop vs. jpop is that most people simply know more Jpop than Kpop, and know older Jpop songs/artists, so Jpop appears more diverse.

I find it is the opposite - at least offline. In RL I know a lot of people who know of K-pop music (I've even seen people sporting K-pop merch around college) but only a couple who even know of any J-pop artists (and their knowledge is mostly restricted to those who sing on anime soundtracks).

[Midori-chan]

Originally Posted by Cardboard box

Well I gladly try new Jpop artists if someone recommends but I'm no pioneer of Jpop so I'm just saying what I see on the surface.

I also only found out about these artist by searching for them. Of course it's not easy to find such singers/bands, because they're mostly not that famous, but if you would like some new music, just try out the artists I mentioned in my post!

These artists don't make your mainstream JPop-music, but are still very talented (most of them even write their own lyrics/music as well as playing instruments like Onitsuka Chihiro, Tate Takako and Oku Hanako), but sadly also quite unknown!

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by Cardboard box

Well I gladly try new Jpop artists if someone recommends but I'm no pioneer of Jpop so I'm just saying what I see on the surface.

it never hurts to ask other people for recommendations . I was a noob/green horn when I 1st started listening to jpop as it was so different as compared to the way English music works so I had to ask people around for recommendations on whose music I should try & etc

now that I've passed that stage , I'm now the 1 giving recommendations to people instead . People that I've made friends with have credited me sometimes in getting them into artistes that they never thought they like but once they try their music , they sing a different tune

[Lady~Deviance]

I feel many individuals on the forum need to broaden their horizons for both Japanese music and Korean music in general and branch out to the different genres within each language. I also find that many members tend to make baseless broad and ignorant generalizations of Japanese and Korean music.

I for instance, am a big fan of Korean indie/underground music and have been for almost 10 years. I don't solely listen to mainstream Korean pop music. Korean artists like Clazziquai, Rollercoaster, J (aka "J.ae"), Maydoni, Simon D, The Koxx, etc. don't fit the "mainstream K-pop mold" and get constantly slept on. The same can be said for Japanese music.

But I will say that I have always preferred listening to Korean music as a whole over Japanese music because the genres I mostly listen to (jazz, house, bossa, electronic, r&b) seem to impress me more from the Korean market. But that's just me.

[sesshy]

^ Me. The underground/indie stuff from both the Japanese and Korean scene have been catching me lately. I even found new musicians here in America and other countries too! I'm also getting into Chinese music.

If you're a Last.fm member ... or you can go to Last.fm to check out the similar artists to your favorite artists. That's how I found more music from all genre. Or browse through iTunes Japan.

.... And because of that I'm now listening to 250 Asian artists.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

I'd say that it's not the industry that has become "boring", but the consumers.

Kids in the 90's and early 2000's arguably had more angst. Their parents were of the bubble period (which had since crashed), which resulted in pushing their kids to make sure they made good decisions as to better their future, plus society in general had more problems surrounding youth. I mean, a sense of "no place to belong" was a huge problem in the 90s. Gyaru arose, which caused distraught amongst society, especially when things like enjo kosai/paid dating/prostitution started becoming a common thing for high school or younger girls to do in order to keep up with trends and have money.

No secure future, as well, became a common thought amongst younger generations. The jobs that were once set for life had now disappeared.

One of my teachers said that kids from these periods tended to be the least outspoken about their internal problems, thus, they turned to music. They couldn't trust adults, or something like that. Obviously, I'm doing a choppy explanation, lol.

Music then had much deeper meanings -in general- than now because it was reflective of what the consumers were feeling. Now it's like consumers are feeling nothing. Songs that have no lyrical importance are what are selling.

I mean, even LOVE Machine had lyrics about Japan's success and being the best country in the world and having a strong future... That song wasn't "just" an idol song. It talked about the economic status and getting jobs...lol. And of course it also talked about love. I'm not saying this is the reason it sold so well, but the fact that it even had those types of lyrics is surprising.

[Bigtop]

Now with the fact that AKB48's Atsuko Maeda (the most popular member there!!!) is saying that she's just about "done" (graduating), what's your opinion here now? Things there are quite uncertain...

[elaniel]

In the early 2000's tons of Jpop artists were coming about I absolutely loved (including some from the 90's) Lately, it seems maybe 1 comes along a year I can add to my list of artists I enjoy. The only Japanese debut in 2011 I seemed to like was Hyna (and what a debut that was!)

I did ask in another thread of any Jpop recommendations as I had been stagnent on the artists I listened to for a few years with no new artists appearing that grabbed my interest, and simply there weren't any that were catching my attention. The reason I started enjoying Jpop was the difference to mainstream western music, and that seems to have taken a serious hit over the last few years. Kpop seems to now be how I felt with Jpop 10+ years ago with the uniqueness and top quality artists and songs (IE: 2NE1)

I miss the days of Jpop where there were beautiful compositions that were just as important as the meaningful lyrics and wonderful voices. It seems generic pop is just being pumped out by a lot of artists in Japan (I can't stand the cheesiness of the AKB48 movement either) as it worried me even to listen to the top 100 of 2011 and only picking about 5 or 6 songs out of there I even found tolerable.

I may be babbling on here, but most of the Jpop artists i listen to nowadays are ones that have been around a decade or more. (Namie, Ayu, Koda, MAX, hitomi, MOVE). Maybe the generation of Jpop fans that came about in the 90's and 00's just aren't the market labels and artists are directing their music at anymore?

A lot of people I've seen are commenting that Party Queen is one of Ayu's best albums, and I'm completely shocked to hear that (even though that's their own opinions) because I feel it's nowhere as high quality of a release of some of her past albums (I Am..., Duty, Loveppears).

[relmy]

Originally Posted by sinfonietta

I find it is the opposite - at least offline. In RL I know a lot of people who know of K-pop music (I've even seen people sporting K-pop merch around college) but only a couple who even know of any J-pop artists (and their knowledge is mostly restricted to those who sing on anime soundtracks).

I was talking about Jpop fans, so of course it would be the opposite for Kpop fans. A Jpop fan will know more Jpop, thus making that genre seem more diverse, as they may only be aware of the big Kpop groups or those who have Japanese debuts (the same groups, essentially). Sorry if that wasn't obvious, I assumed it would be from the context.

I know a good handful of people too who are fans of Kpop, but are unable to name a single Jpop artist. Most of the Jmusic (mostly rock/VK/anime music) fans I know can name the "big" Kpop artists, but nothing else... and behold, they all call Jpop more diverse, when really they only know Korean idol music.

[Midori-chan]

Originally Posted by elaniel

A lot of people I've seen are commenting that Party Queen is one of Ayu's best albums, and I'm completely shocked to hear that (even though that's their own opinions) because I feel it's nowhere as high quality of a release of some of her past albums (I Am..., Duty, Loveppears).

I'm extremely happy that somebody else thinks like this. Of course it's their personal opinion, but I just can't believe that fans (and quite a lot of fans too!) say that "Party Queen" is better than - let's say - "Memorial Address" or "Duty"! I can only shake my head when I read such things!


I don't agree what you said about KPop though! For me this music also doesn't have a lot of variety. All of the artists are either having a cute or a sexy image (or a mix between both!). And yeah...that's it. I also always have problems when a new album by a KPop-artists comes out. Most of the time I like their Comeback-song and maybe one more song on the album, but that's it.
While I normally love all the songs on the albums of my favourite JPop-artists!

But at the end of the day I think it's really all about personal preference and I don't think you can compare JPop and KPop, because the only thing these two music genres have in common is that they both come from Asia.

And the result of "JPop vs. KPop"-discussions is always that people like one or the other more (or like both, like I do!) and I can tell you that without discussing the topic!

[ll moments ll]

i think the reason i find j-pop "flat" nowadays is because most of my favorite j-pop artists have been established for sometime now and i just don't find their recent material up to par with their previous stuff. they're past their prime for me. i'm finding it harder to find some fresh music as well. though i'll admit, i'm not looking hard as i used to...

i think the problem is rooted with the industry, not so much the talent. i think they're mostly looking for sales. AKB48 and Arashi are popular, yes, but idols have been in this industry for years & years.

[bondingo]

I'm thankful all the Korean groups are coming to Japan for this very reason. I've been more excited for their Japanese releases than pretty much any J-Pop releases, with the exception of Ayu and AKB. Even Namie isn't doing it for me that much anymore despite how good her new single is.