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 Music Videos (11/13/10)

Hey! Welcome! It's week #2 of the George Williams George Williams' Top 5 Music Videos Show.

Question: If this is the George Williams music show... Then does that make this George Williams' Music Show or George Wiiliamses Music Show? Or "That Williams dude that's on TV, you know? His music 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

Go to: www.georgewilliams.jp

But! Enough about George. What about me? I'm glad you asked. I am just a modest, but extremely cool - and devilishly handsome - guy out to make the people happy and the world a better place to live in my own small way...

George Williams

Mike Rogers after a particularly hard night's drinkin': 

"Why can't people just learn to love one another?" 

So here's the Top 5... 6.... Whatever....

#5 The Greenhornes - It Returns

#4 Screaming Females - Electric Pilgrim

This week's Bonus Track!

Metal Mouse - Pinky Love

Theme song from the movie, "Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl"

"Pinky Love" is a rip off of the 1960's hit by France Gall, "Kawaii Chanson Ningyo" フランス・ギャル 夢見るシャンソン人形 

 

#3 Mike Fantastic - Turn Off The Lights

(Remember that you saw this band for the very first time on George's Countdown. They could become huge!)

#2 The Jigsaw Seen - Jim Is The Devil

#1 Lucky Boys Confusion - Hey Driver

Sugimoto Kousuke: Japanese Music and Anime Genius

There is a really great super-new digital artist in Japan named Kousuke Sugimoto and he has been really making some fascinating works.


Japanese director Sugimoto Kousuke started to produce animation in 2004; now he is more involved in making 2D animation music videos for local indie pop/rock bands.

He is quoted as saying, "I wanted to bring different meaning to the black-and-white world from the coloured world, by using bright colors for the other worlds."

Here is a recent work that was discovered by Kousuke Sugimoto on Pink Tentacle:

This video -- directed by Kousuke Sugimoto, with music by Takayuki Manabe -- was created in celebration of the 100th issue of IdN magazine.




This is some fascinating work from his YouTube site:



Go here to see lots more videos by Kousuke Sugimoto.

His official webpage is here.

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Keywords: Kousuke Sugimoto, Mike Rogers, anime, music video, Music On! TV, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers