“I wonder whose fault that is”: Japan Has No One But Herself to Blame as Singer Whose Song Was Used in One Piece Film: Red Claims Anime is Taking Over Japanese Music

SUMMARY

• According to Ado's music manager, the Japanese music industry is facing a great crisis, and it's only getting worse each day.
• Anime songs may now be helping many new Japanese artists to start their career, but this approach is also limiting the global potential of classic J-pop!
• In fact, Japan's record companies are largely to blame here, as their restrictive release policies are limiting classic J-pop for global access.

J-pop may have had a huge worldwide popularity, but it’s now struggling to maintain its vigor and keep up with the K-pop craze. Despite its recent success within Japan, the overall dominance of this genre has taken quite a dip, with a few industry leaders even sounding the alarm about the dying state of J-pop culture overseas.

A still from One Piece Film: Red | Credits: Toei Animation

From dwindling international sales to a lack of recognition among overseas audiences, things are not looking too well for Japan’s classic J-pop industry. But what exactly is the real reason behind this decline? May it be a case of J-Pop shooting itself in its own foot?

One can argue that the industry’s traditional practices and biases are the major reasons why it’s getting held back from experiencing worldwide success.

Anime music is worryingly dominating the J-pop culture!

Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen opening song, Season 1 Part 1 | Credits: Studio Mappa

The manager behind the singer of One Piece Film: Red’s theme song has recently mentioned the alarming state of Japanese music. In a recent interview, he revealed his fears that the Japanese Music Industry would face a great crisis if it continues to over-rely on anime to promote its songs.

While anime does serve as a great platform for many new Japanese artists, the manager worries that this approach would also limit the global potential of classic J-pop!

His concerns are actually based on the fact that anime, despite its dedicated fan base, remains a niche market globally. In contrast, Japanese music has the potential to reach a much broader audience. But by relying too heavily on anime, Japanese artists may be inadvertently boxing themselves into a narrow corner of the global music scene. (Source: AnimeCorner)

The majority of it is to be blamed on Japanese music producers themselves!

Frieren from Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End | Credits: Madhouse Studio

One of the most significant reasons why J-pop seems to be slowly dying out lies within the industry itself. The fact that most of the Japanese records are not even readily available outside Japan, mainly because of the record companies’ internal terms and policies, is truly concerning.

Although some blame the language barrier for J-pop’s declining popularity, the success of K-pop all across the globe proves that’s just a petty excuse. Good music can transcend any such barrier and overcome cultural boundaries. Japanese music producers just have to take a cue from their competitors and advertise themselves properly to a global audience.

Forcing top artists to create anime soundtracks for the sake of “market synergy” needs to be stopped now. Because by constantly doing so, it’s somewhat getting reciprocal to Japanese music being just another anime song. The artists should have more freedom to create without these constraints, and that alone can again establish Japanese music as a standalone global force.

Steps need to be taken before J-pop completely succumbs to K-pop

Momo from Dandadan Season 1 opening | Credits: Science SARU

The manager also showed deep concerns about the general perception of foreigners over Asian music in recent days and how it is now being dominated by K-pop. Also, music markets in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are now booming and growing rapidly. In fact, several artists in those countries take inspiration from K-pop.

So one would naturally fear that if music from these countries keeps gaining international recognition, it could lead to the establishment of a broader “Asian Pop” genre, which would potentially throw J-pop off to a niche genre within that category. To avoid this, it’s now essential for J-pop to establish itself globally and gain widespread recognition as fast as possible before the “Asian Pop” label gets set in stone.

Written by Diganta Mondal

Articles Published: 320

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