AKB48 - Japan's Lolita Soft Pornography Fetishism Goes Top 40

In Japan, there's no escaping a girl's pop group called AKB48. They are probably the crappiest one of all so far. This means that they are everywhere. On the trains, TV, magazines, newspapers, convenience stores, etc., etc. They are everywhere. You can't avoid them.


We don't have a TV at my house so I have been pretty well insulated. I do see their pictures on the train and in advertisements, but, since those are printed materials, I don't have to be subjected to their, er, "music".


AKB48 are everything that corporate music crap aspires to be. If you hate corporate schlock as much as I do then you are in for a real treat. Watching an AKB48 music video is like dying and being sent to Pop Music Hell.


If you've ever been searching for a reason to throw your TV set away, then then your time has come... But, then again, maybe not.... Their Youtube video has almost 39,000,000 views!


This video has it all: The sick perversion Japan has with the Lolita Complex... Girls in underwear... Tasteless idiocy, lack of talent (no, make that ZERO talent) and, on top of that, it is so totally uncool I feel like I'm going to be sick.


If I were an 18-year-old kid, I would never watch this crap. This is more embarrassing than Disco was in 1975! 


I'm sure fat Japanese geeks and dorks in Akihabara Electric Town go crazy over this sh*t.

AKB48 - HEAVY ROTATION

"Heavy Rotation"!? Indeed! 

Do these girl's father's know that they are running around in these videos in their underwear? Is this sh*t being sold in Victoria's Secret catalogues in Japan?


I hear that AKB48 has over hundred members "singing" it in now. That's good. Because these types of "artists" have no talent and are no better than human puppets. They are completely disposable so the minute they get a big head or any ideas, the managment of this unit will drop them like a hot potato.

AKB48 Newest video review! 

DJ Mike Rogers says, "Two thumbs up!..."

"...So that I can gouge out my own eyes out so 

that I never have to watch it again."

These girls cannot sing (I'll bet many of them don't actually sing on the music); they do not write the songs, so they get no publishing royalties; and they are paid a salary. Generally speaking these salary payment systems means that they get paid a small amount of money per month and have their apartment paid for.


Once out of the group, they are gone and will disappear into oblivion.


The best example that comes to mind is the girls duo known as Wink from the 1980's - early 90's. The two girls were paid royalties of 1.25% of total record sales (minus their salary and costs - including production for all videos, promotions, etc.) Wink sold over 25,000,000 CDs in Japan yet, after the breakup of the unit, they were basically penniless. The last I heard was one of them was working in a boutique in Sangenjyaya. The other one keeps making attempts at music, some fairly successful, but nothing like their past record...  it's over.

That's what happens to you when you are a human puppet in a group in Japan and paid a pittance.


That's where these faceless girls from AKB48 will be in 4 or 5 years too... Until the next big thing comes along.


But, the way they are going, and judging from this last video, at least the AKB48 girls can make porn videos like the one Keiko did after the breakup of Pink Lady.

Moja, Marketing and Me (Japan's Best New Rock Band is Moja)

OK. A short (but hopefully interesting) blog for your Sunday pleasure. It's mainly about a Japanese rock band named Moja but it is also about getting out and marketing yourself in the real world to real people. 


First up, let's talk about the band, Moja.

Moja. Playing at SXSW 3/16/2011

Here is Japan's best new rock band. Their name is Moja. They are a drum and bass duo with a guy named Haruhiko and a goddess on drums named Masumi. This duet is so hot that they've been invited to play at SXSW in March 2011. That's huge!


What is SXSW? Wikipedia describes:


SXSW Music is one of the largest music festivals in the United States, with more than 2,000 performers playing in more than 90 venues around downtown Austin over four days, in March. Though it is an industry-based event, SXSW Music links locally with events such as the annual Austin Music Awards show and Texas Rock Fest. SXSW Music also offers free musical samples of featured artists at each festival. 


When people ask, "Who do they sound like?" I can't answer that question. It's hard to describe Moja's sound. They don't sound like anyone else. It's incredible that just two people, with just a drum and bass, can make such a massive wall of sound.


If you like loud rock music, then click on the video. If not, then don't! This blog will continue below with an explanation of what this has to do with you and with marketing. 

Since this band is rising like a rocket, I knew that I had to take this chance to make their promotion video. Both Ken Nishikawa and I took two days (one was all night) in Feb. 2011 to shoot this video and then we edited it for about 10 hours on a Saturday night. It was a fun but extremely tiring process.  


Making a video like this should cost at least ¥500,000 for the entire package. How much did Ken and I get paid to make this video? Nothing. Zero. We did it for free. It was a labor of love... 


Actually we lost money as we bought food and drinks for ourselves during the shooting and editing days as well as train fare.


So, if we lose money doing this, why do it? 


Because I've mentioned many times before, that to be successful on the Internet, you have to have great content and you have to give things away for free. When you give things away for free, you are addressing the wants and needs of the readers and people who come to your site - and not being self-centric by always thinking of your own wants and needs. When you give things away for free, people will come. Perhaps, after addressing these needs of your visitors, then they can enter into your sales cycle then become a money maker for you thereby addressing your needs. 


You also have to be an expert in some field. I consider myself an expert in independent music. I've been in it for over 30 years.


I am starting an Internet business that is very much concerned with the music business. And since I have already been in the music business since 1978 and know that, in the music  business, credibility is hard to get, it is even harder to buy.


By supporting independent artists and the independent music scene and creating these sorts of high-quality music videos for those artists,  we make a statement; we are here and we are here to help you - not take advantage of you. 


This gives me massive credibility - much more than a, say, mere promoter who wants to hold shows and make money. I am giving the artist something they really want, and can use for years and asking for nothing in return.


One of the problems with Internet people is that they have no experience in the real world. They have sat behind their computers for so long that they don't know that face to face human interaction is still the trump card - especially in a business like the music business. Look at how the CEO of Groupon screws up his business by not being understanding of real people's feelings and local customs.


He definitely needs to get out more into the real world. 


Here is an ancient Chinese saying: "It is the wise business man who bows his head lowest for he shall understand his customers and become wealthy." OK, well, it's not so ancient and it's not so Chinese; I just made it up. But it's true.


Now, with a video like the above, I show people that I am here to help and be a part of the scene and I am real. This video is great promotion for the band but it is also great promotion for me too. We made this video last night. This morning I just did a Google search for "Moja Japanese band" and there the video is on the first page of results and, along with it, my name appears! Mission Accomplished!


If you are blogging or doing Social Media or other Internet services, is there anyway that you can become more connected with the real world by getting out and doing things with real people; thereby driving others to your web site and promoting your name? 


Think about it.




Here's another article on Moja


Moja on Myspace

George Williams Top 5 11/4/10

Time for #4 of George Williams' Top 5. Probably, starting this week, this countdown will move to George's own page!!!!

Check it out here: http://www.georgewilliams.jp/

The Top 5 will be here: http://www.georgewilliams.jp/wp/category/ranking/

Check it!

#5 Queers - Don't Back Down

#4 Best Coast - When I'm With You

Bonus Track: Stone Roses - Waterfall

Bonus Track #2: Eric Burdon & Animals - House of the Rising Sun 

#3 Beady Eye - Bring the Light (Ian Gallagher's New Band)

#2 Raveonettes - I Wanna Be Adored

#1 Cage the Elephant - Shake Me Down

George Williams' Top 5 Music Videos Show #4! (11/27/10)

Hey! Hey! Hey! Welcome once again! It's week #4 of the George Williams George Williams' Top 5 Music Videos Show.

George runs two of the highest rated music shows in Japan: GGTV on Music on TV (which has a webpage See it here.) and BAM! on 76.1 InterFM. But seriously, George Williamses, Er, George Wiiliams'... Oh, never mind... His own site kicks ass and is the only one like it in Japan! See it here: www.georgewilliams.jp

#5 Wooly Bandits - Gonna Make it Right 

#4 The Violet May - Bright or Better


#3 Expatriate - Blackbird

#2 Hellogoodbye - Baby It's Fact 

#1 Barb Wire Dolls - Street Generation

Bonus Video! "Barb Wire Dolls film trailer of girl female fronted New Wave Punk Rock band from Greece."

Windows XP Errors put to Music. Great Music!

Some young people in Japan are making the most fantastic music using the most unique new ideas. Here's one from Japan's version of YouTube (called Nico Nico Douga which translates to: "Smile, Smile Moving Picture."

It is a fantastic mix and design of Windows XP Errors put to music. Enjoy!



In Japan, kids are coming up with some of the most amazing computer generated music. Here's one that is sang by the Vocaloid (a singing android) named Hatsune Miku. I wrote about what Hatsune Miku is here.




This one from my friend Lila Cleary

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Keywords: Windows, Windows XP, music, computer music, Vocaloid, Hatsune Miku, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Mike in Tokyo Rogers 

In the Collapsing Japanese Economy Even Samurai Have No Work

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

The economy is getting really bad here very quickly. Today the Nikkei 225 declined for the 4th day in a row. The yen is nearing an all-time high.

On top of all this bad economic news, the thing that is even worse is the mood of the people. I spoke today with a young 27-year-old company worker who works in the music industry and he told me that there was talk at his company that they weren't going to last the year.

Later, I spoke to the vice president of a large Japanese music publishing company and even he told that, "Things are bad. Everyone is cutting staff and budgets... And it's only going to get worse."

Certainly, the economy is bad and there is no good news on the horizon but, it's also the mood of the people that makes things worse. A vibrant economy needs people with confidence and a positive attitude. Japan certainly doesn't have that now.

It's gotten so bad that even Japan's modern samurai are out of work and that is not a joke.

This report from Al Jazeera:

Samurai movies once made Japanese cinema famous worldwide.

In the 1950s, films such as the Seven Samurai by Akiro Kurosawa were extremely popular both in Japan and abroad.

But waning interest is now leaving many of Japan's silver screen swordsmen out of work.

Cinema and music are escapes for people. They are a cheap way for people to forget their cares.

When people working in these industries start screaming for help then it's probably long past the "canary in the coal mine."

Three Years on a Japanese Internet Rock

Many bloggers (or U-Streamers, or fans of Twitter, or Pick) sometimes get disappointed because after they upload their first 3 or 4 blogs, for business or pleasure, they see that they have few regular followers, or even worse, few visitors. It can be quite discouraging. So they then quit.

That's the worst thing they could do.

If you are going to create a blog or a U-Stream or do any sort of Social Media, then, before you start, make sure that you have made your mind up to dedicate at least 3 updates a week for a minimum period of three years.

Three years may seem like a very long time, but, in Japan, we have an old saying that goes, "石の上に三年" and translates to: "Three years on top of a rock." (Yes, I know that this is a saying that seems to mean nothing, but remember that the Japanese are very minimalist). The legend behind this proverb is that if you sit upon a large rock for at least three years, it will finally become warm.

OK, let me translate for you; what this saying really means is that if you keep trying, you will succeed.

If you follow the tips of having a focused message in your blog, vlog or other online activities, including Social Networking, then those people interested in your message will find you; and that's just smart marketing... It just takes time.

The other part, besides dedicating to doing your blogging, or whatever for at least three years, is that you must also make the herculean effort to blog at least three times a week. This is critically important if you want to get more attention and higher rankings on a Google search.

If you do this then you will get results. I guarantee it.

One of Japan's top pop star's Koji Kurumatani (left) and George Williams

I gave this exact same advice to George Williams in December of 2009. George was worried - like everyone else - on how he could stay on top of the game and give himself a needed advantage over the competition. I recommended that George start Twitter everyday and also to make his own U-Stream channel. (He did those and he now also does Pick. We are setting up his very own multi-media Internet channel this month. Stay tuned!)

I also made sure that George understood that there was a catch to doing U-Stream and Social Networking; it had to be done with regular consistency. George has taken this advice to heart and his U-Stream channel has taken off. The channel is called GeorgeTV and it is one of the, if not the, most popular U-Stream channels in all of Japan.

Some might say that they need a catchy idea before they can blog, or video blog (vlog), or U-Stream... A catchy idea is great... And some people will not write or vlog until they come up with a catchy idea. This is a mistake. I would suggest that forcing yourself to be consistent will help you to come up catchy ideas. If you use your brain consistently, you will come up with the ideas. More importantly than catchy ideas are persistence.

From doing the U-Streaming consistently, George was able to promote himself and, quite quickly as a matter of fact, build a buzz for himself and the show. So much so that now George regularly has famous Japanese stars wanting to be on his U-Stream show.

Is that cool or what?

A few days ago, George had Koji Kurumatani on as a guest and those programs consistently garnered more than a 1,500 viewers each time.

Not only have the rewards been tangible on the Internet, but it has paid off quite handsomely on antique media as George has gotten many job offers and even a 6-hour television special on Fuji TV! How did he get the Fuji TV show; a show on the most prestigious TV network in all of Japan? Because the station wanted to do a show about music that featured a guy who was a leading expert on the Internet and U-Stream and there was George!

He also appeared on the most popular women's TV show in all of Japan, Ladies 4, and was offered a morning time slot on the oldest and most famous FM radio network in all of Japan; Tokyo FM.

What actually makes me chuckle about all this sort of thing is that I have given the same advice to others that I gave to George. But they just don't do anything. George takes action. That's why George is getting job offers left and right...

George "gets it." He is consistently out in front of the competition and driving ahead with new ideas... So, he gets the nod.

If you want to get ahead of the competition, remember, not only do you need to know about new ideas and technology. You need to use them and do them consistently.

If you don't, then you can be sure your rivals or competition will.

It's not rocket science, it's smart promotion and intelligent advertising and marketing.
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Keywords: business, japan, japan's, blog, vlog, U-Stream, Internet, Social Media, blogger, persistence, focused message, video blog, smart marketing, catchy idea, Koji Kurumatani, Fuji TV, Music, Japanese, Tokyo FM, Twitter, intelligent, Pick, George Williams, blogger, advertising, Japan, marketing, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Mike Rogers, marketing Japan