Visual Kei - The Inconvenient Truth

[TheCrimson]

"what's this?" you ask.

My fiance pointed me out to this interesting interview this morning - a link he found on Scape forums.
It's an interview someone did with a VK producer (name withheld for obvious reasons you'll see after reading the interview)

I found all this very interesting.

I feel sorry for these "artists", if you could call them that.

In a nutshell - this whole VK business is cold and callous. They've (the "big" dudes) created an illusion in order to leech money. It's never about the music.

Now, before you start flaming or anything, please be sure to read ALL of the interview.

CLICK----->INTERVIEW<-----CLICK

and a nice little diagram that shows you how it works 8) just in case someone's too stubborn to read the whole thing.



everything is TOTALLY up for discussion 8)

[Quailboy]

Uhh.

Wow.

That's a lot to take in, yet really believable.

[Nyororin]

This is some sort of a surprise?

Get involved in any sort of business catering to the public. Everything is this way. That is just how the world works. It`s how businesses work. It`s pretty much common sense in a world where the goal is to make money.
You never hear about products, companies, artists, etc who are only in it for the action itself - and for a good reason.

Even if a someone comes out with a perfect product (this can be anything from soap to music) that everyone would want - unless they think of making money as number one... No one will ever know about their product because they`ll run out of money making the product and will never be able to promote it. Which means no one will know about it, and no one will buy it - the end result being that it will be gone before it even starts. It doesn`t really matter how wonderful the "product" is. What matters is the ability to make money off of the product.

People who are good at introducing products and selling them will be able to get a cut for themselves by finding others who are not good at selling their product and helping them out (in a business sense). Gather a number of these people who have ideas together, pay them some amount to work with you to produce better selling "products" and.... surprise! You`ve got a company, just like every other company for every other product. Having a wider network of connections with other companies selling other products, and you increase the whole network`s chance of making money.

There is nothing sinister or "yakuza" about the system. Making money doesn`t mean that a band is less of a band, or an artist less of an artist. You have to realize that nothing is free - a band not making money cannot afford to even buy instruments let alone rent halls for concerts... In fact, a band making no money cannot even afford to EAT.

ETA; After finishing reading the whole thing, I`d really like to see a NON-TRANSLATED version, as there are things said in there that I highly highly doubt would ever be said in Japanese. :P

[jesselt]

I was thinking the same thing, Nyororin.

Welcome to the world haha

I'm sure many Visual kei artists enjoy what they do, but people can't do what they enjoy for a living unless it also makes them money.

[TheCrimson]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

This is some sort of a surprise?
yaddi yadda....

alright. ahem.
some of what you are saying is correct. however.
are you saying you're just a heartless consumer?
fair enough, it's what businesses/companies do, but the dirty side of this business really does exist. i've heard stories from some people who are actually in the know in that world. it really is the grim reality of it.
the business aspect doesn't seem fair either. it's like "oh, if you have a rival artist on your TV station, you're effed and none of our artists will be on your channel ever again".
and with this whole thing, it's sad how the people they get to be in the bands are usually not in a position to say no - they can't do anything else cause they're mostly uneducated, have a bad background, are poor etc etc.
another would be the music aspect of it.
it's so numb of originality. there's no heart put into the "music" if you can call it that. what's so great about bands that sound like another band that came out 5 minutes previously?
nothing.
ever opened a copy of a VK magazine? open it, google half the bands mentioned in that magazine. if it isn't something you already heard the month before, please, point it out to me.
and as your comment about the translation - uh, i think the dude who wrote it might've exaggerated a little bit, but 95% of that is truth.

and dear, what's a musician if he or she can't express his/herself? if you have some dude writing everything for you, you're not a real artist. they're just puppets that are there to rip every penny from your pockets.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by TheCrimson

are you saying you're just a heartless consumer?

Being aware of the way that business functions doesn`t make me heartless.

the business aspect doesn't seem fair either. it's like "oh, if you have a rival artist on your TV station, you're effed and none of our artists will be on your channel ever again".

That`s what contracts are for.
You`re thinking of it in a very emotional way. Think of it this way;
Company A has a product similar to the product Company B and C offer. Customer A has a need for one of these products. Any of them will do. So Company A makes a deal with Customer A - If you only use our product, we`ll give you a discount and promise to always supply you with fresh refills. If Customer A agrees to this and then decides to just randomly ignore the agreement and use B or C - they`ve basically betrayed Company A. There is no reason for Company A to ever trust them to follow through on any agreement. Company A loses, Company A`s product loses, and there are a lot of bad feelings - especially if Company A worked hard to make their product perfect for Customer A.

and with this whole thing, it's sad how the people they get to be in the bands are usually not in a position to say no - they can't do anything else cause they're mostly uneducated, have a bad background, are poor etc etc.
another would be the music aspect of it.

Let me ask then - what would these people be doing if they hadn`t been invited into that system? They can say no anytime and leave. But being somewhat famous and having the chance to make it big generally outweighs any other opportunity.
Not EVERY person going into a band is uneducated. Not every one is from a poor background. It ends up being like any other business. There have to be people on the bottom working to support the top, which will possibly pull the bottom up later on. (The main reason the bottom works for them)

ever opened a copy of a VK magazine? open it, google half the bands mentioned in that magazine. if it isn't something you already heard the month before, please, point it out to me.

Substitute "VK" with any other media type out there. The same still applies.

and dear, what's a musician if he or she can't express his/herself? if you have some dude writing everything for you, you're not a real artist. they're just puppets that are there to rip every penny from your pockets.

The real artists DO express themselves (within reason), and the real artists DO write their own stuff. It`s the ones that are not, and would never be real artists without someone making everything for them that end up having everything made for them.
Basically the bottom works to hold up the top and the real artists, as art alone will not get you through life. If a label has 2 or 3 good and real bands, they still won`t make enough money to keep a label up and running... So there need to be at least twice that number of mediocre ones to provide the remaining money.

[JayT]

VK magazines always feature the same bands over and over again.

[NanteNa]

I am so not surprised that Kisaki is Yoshiki's bitch : P

[JayT]

Originally Posted by NanteNa

I am so not surprised that Kisaki is Yoshiki's bitch : P

The world is your bitch, nancakes : D

[PockyMePink]

I like how you think this is some super big surprise no one else knows about