MBW’s World Leaders is a regular series in which we turn the spotlight on some of the most influential industry figures regulating major international markets. In this feature, we interview Manubu Tsujino, President of Sony Music Records (the recorded music division of Sony Music Entertainment Japan).
Tsujino Mabu He originally wanted to be a newscaster, but ended up becoming one of the most famous A&R executives in Japan.
He joined Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ) in 1996 after graduating from Osaka University and spent nearly thirty years of his career with the company.
“When I was a student, I wanted to go into journalism, but my mother was a music teacher and music was always a part of my life growing up,” he recalls. “I’m really grateful to be working in the music industry these days.”
He became an A&R in 2005 after four years in record store sales, three years in international and domestic music promotion, and two years in sales promotion.
Tsujino said his first two years as A&R at SMEJ were unsatisfactory, but his fortunes changed in 2007. thin layer chromatography and sporty Tievz“, a band called RSP from Osaka covers Japan’s hottest reggae music, Respect all your life, Author: Dozan Miki, “Representation from a female perspective”.
This song became very popular in Japan and sold well all over the world 2 million download.
“After that, I learned how to create hit products as an A&R, and I was able to produce additional million-selling hit products,” Tsujino said.
Tsujino’s career continued upward, and in 2015 he became Managing Director of Sony Music Records, SMEJ’s “founding” label.
He served as President of Sony Music Records in 2019 and as a Director of SMEJ since 2023.
“We have long believed that synergy with anime is crucial for Japanese music to break into the global market.”
Artists signed to Japan’s Sony Music Entertainment have enjoyed huge success around the world this year.
One of the artists is a hip-hop duo creepy nutswhose single, Bling-Bang-Bang-Born, After its release in January, it caused a stir. It stayed at number one on the charts for several weeks advertising billboard Japan Hot 100 and has accumulated more than 500 million Streaming in early October only on Spotify.
The two also collaborated with superstars Dua Lipashe released a remix of her single illusion June features Creepy Nuts.
Bling-Bang-Bang-Born Used as the opening theme song for popular anime series Mashler: Magic and Muscle, Tsujino points out that anime is one of the main driving forces behind the global rise of Japanese music.
Evidence of this rise is provided by Luminate’s 2023 year-end report, which shows Japanese tracks’ share of the global top 10,000 tracks rising from 1.3% by 2022 2.1% last year.
“The rise of Japanese animation in the world is of great significance,” he said. “We have long believed that synergy with animation is crucial for Japanese music to enter the global market.”
SMEJ has its own animation division, Aniplex, and claims to be one of the first labels on the market to recognize the potential of anime.
Tsujino added, “Also, when we first considered expanding overseas, we thought we needed to align with Western trends in terms of creativity. In other words, our guideline was to create music similar to what was popular in North America and Europe , to produce better results.
“Nowadays, however, as diversity becomes important, we are also beginning to embrace originality in addition to multicultural perspectives. I speculate that this approach is starting to help attract a wider global audience.
Here, Manubu Tsujino talks about key trends in the world’s second-largest recorded music market, the rise of J-Pop, and SMEJ’s ambition to bring Japanese-language music to a global audience…
J-pop is becoming increasingly popular outside of Japan. For example, the success of Creepy Nuts’ “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” and their recent collaboration with Dua Lipa on the remix of “Illusion” – where does SMEJ position itself within this rising trend?
Through the Internet, global sales trends can be captured instantly. Taking “Creepy Nuts” as an example, it is extremely rare for hip-hop music to be used as an anime theme song, but the anime protagonist “MASHLE” performed a unique dance in the artist’s animation theme song video, making it stand out from traditional anime songs.
“I firmly believe that this is a success created by the collective efforts of small and medium-sized enterprises around the world.”
Users on platforms like TikTok immediately creatively repurposed it, leading to an increase in subscriptions. Small and medium-sized enterprises in the United States, Mexico and other countries quickly responded to this trend and gave priority to promotion. I firmly believe that this is the success created by the collective efforts of small and medium-sized enterprises around the world.
YOASOBI will perform at Coachella for the first time in 2024.
YOASOBI is a bottom-up project created by two young employees and YOASOBI artists Ayase and Ikura.
I serve as department head, but my role is primarily executive. After great success into the nightThe Orchard’s employees contribute significantly to its global sales.
“Seeing a Japanese artist receive thunderous applause from tens of thousands of American fans moved me to tears.”
Last summer, I attended 88 Rising’s Head in the Clouds event in Los Angeles, and it moved me to tears to see a Japanese artist receive thunderous applause from tens of thousands of American fans.
Artists performing at festivals is, in a sense, an affirmation.
Audiences already familiar with the hits further deepen their fandom, making it a critical part of the next step in the process: the artist’s solo performance.
MILLENIUM PARADE recently signed agreements with EPIC in the US and RCA in the UK. What does it mean for a Japanese-born artist to sign a deal with two labels based in the other three major record markets?
The Millennium March is a unit of extraordinary creativity from a global perspective. Not only do they have outstanding talents in music, but they are also highly relevant in the field of visual arts at the international level.
From what I understand, contracts have been signed with SME record labels in the US and UK in the past, but most Japanese music projects are developed and promoted based on Japanese needs and strategies.
This time, the US and UK saw our demo, were impressed by Millennium Parade’s talent and actively pushed for a signing. This is actually the first time that three parties have worked together to implement a truly integrated global strategy, and I am delighted to be a part of it.
Tell us what strategies you are implementing to take advantage of the growing popularity of Japanese-language music.
In short, it’s dots and connecting them. Now, we just start drawing the points. This is “hot”. The next step is to grow fans on an artist level, including hosting concerts.
So far, our analysis shows that while the songs themselves are widely known, recognition of the performers is low. This can be attributed to the pandemic limiting face-to-face opportunities for artists, as well as the impracticality of English-language education in Japan.
“Our analysis shows that while the songs themselves are widely known, the artists performing them are not.”
Many highly educated Japanese can read and write in English but often struggle to speak it, leading to unsuccessful promotion efforts.
Managing to overcome these issues, we aim to develop J-POP into a unique genre and gain acceptance in regions such as Asia, Europe and the United States, thereby connecting the dots and building influence. To achieve this, we believe it is vital to actively seek collaborations with local artists and co-host events.
Historically, how difficult has it been to break Japanese behavior globally?
Before the world became connected via the internet, I personally didn’t see any possibility of Japanese music breaking through globally. I know Kei Sakamoto Sukiyaki No. 1 on the US charts in 1963, but that was before I was born and not even a single Japanese song made the top 20 after that, so in a sense, I think Sukiyaki It was a miraculous hit.
The Japanese music market reached its peak in 1998, but even after that, new formats such as Chaku-Uta-ringtone downloads, digital downloads and subscriptions were introduced. Even now, the physical market still accounts for 65% of the total [market]so it doesn’t seem too urgent that we really need to get out of this very lucky situation. Although there were artists who pursued the international market in the past, I think it was only after the epidemic that the industry began to pay serious attention to the global market.
I also think that the fact that Japanese is a unique language that is not spoken in any other country has hindered Japanese music from reaching the world stage. Just when we were thinking this, K-POP started to have huge success with artists like PSY and BTS, which gave us a great opportunity to learn.
What are some market trends you’re seeing in both creative and business terms that we should be aware of?
The key to the success of Japanese songs seems to be their pairing with unique animations and illustrations. This suggests that we should have a deeper understanding of the characteristics of Japanese people and what we are good at. Against this background, a general trend should be acknowledged.
This is the “Internet creator culture” in music, which we call “VOCALOID culture”. This is a uniquely Japanese phenomenon that consists of a trinity: Vocaloid producers who use Vocaloid to create music, singers who sing these songs with their own voices, and illustrators who animate music videos uploaded to video-sharing platforms. Amazingly, they communicate and form teams online, sometimes without ever meeting in person.
“The key to the success of Japanese songs seems to be their combination with unique animation and illustrations.”
The music they created has distinctive characteristics that are different from traditional J-POP, and many of their music became popular in Japan. Kenshi Yonezu and Ayase of YOASOBI also come from Vocaloid producer backgrounds. “Kikuo”, which we signed last year, is performing with 4,000 audiences in North and South America, supporting this culture as it begins to spread globally.
What are your predictions for the global positioning of Japanese music in the next 12 to 24 months?
As I mentioned before, Japanese music’s global strategy has only just begun. I think we need to look at a five-year or 10-year outlook rather than focusing on a one- or two-year outlook. Even with a different approach to current K-POP practices, our goal is to follow in K-POP’s footsteps and work toward global expansion.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I receive constant support from my team and work with them to manage the organization. There is nothing I can do on my own in this regard. However, from an optimistic point of view, I hope that the combination of Japanese products and Japanese entertainment industry may become an opportunity for people around the world to rediscover the quality of Japanese products.
Support from world leaders PPL is a leading international neighboring rights collector with best-in-class operational capabilities, helping performers and recording rights holders around the world maximize royalties. Founded in 1934, PPL raises funds from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North and South America. Since 2006, it has raised more than £500 million for its members worldwide.
global music business
