old events in tokyo

The singles chart Xiaoshi, Mr. Kid, DTC and other big names compete for the top spot, but the album chart has become the back garden of Kazuki Akiyama and Izumi Sakai.

The weekly champion is either you or me, and the fans of the two are also very interesting, there is no fierce competition for the list at all.

On the contrary, when one party lags behind in sales, the fans of the other party will take the initiative to buy the album of the other party.

After all, a complete jigsaw puzzle is worth collecting, and it would be awkward to see half of it missing.

As of the end of March, Kazuki Akiyama's album has exceeded 260 million, and Izumi Sakai's album has also exceeded 120 million.

One is the sales volume of two months of release, and the other is the sales volume of less than one month of release, no matter which one can be said to be a big hit.

It's just that since April, the two bands trf and DCT have released their first albums of the new year almost at the same time, and the top of the list has also become the object of their competition.

However, as a veteran band, DCT's performance can also be called an explosion. In the first week, its sales of nearly 70 directly crushed trf's sales of more than 50.

The background of the old bands is clear at a glance, and the Japanese people's conservative concept of album consumption can also be seen from the list.

Almost all the faces on the list are familiar faces. It can also be said that the public is dependent on singles.

Whether it is Kazuki Akiyama or Sakai Spring, or the current DCT and trf.

It's all due to their outstanding performance on singles before, and the explosion of the album can only be ushered in with the foreshadowing of several million-dollar singles.

Kazuki Akiyama and the others rely on their extremely high single sales and production level to make consumers feel that the quality of the album is guaranteed, and they have successively produced several albums with sales exceeding 200 million.

This also makes everyone subconsciously think that "Akiyama's product must be a high-quality product."

Once such a concept is formed, it will produce consumption habits, which is where the background of singers and entertainers lies.

Then when it comes to the next album, everyone will not doubt whether their album will be successful.

Why do many bands in later generations have the kind of people who come crazy and go crazy.

The reason is very simple. Before they became famous, they accumulated too little, and their connotation was not enough to support the year-round operation of the entire band.

Even Kazuki Akiyama, who was hanging out, had to struggle for nearly a year and a half before ushering in a full-scale explosion in sales.

Therefore, the fast food culture and the ancient craftsmanship have their own merits.

One is quick to make money in a short period of time, and another set will be replaced when it is out of date.Another performance is firm and even lasts forever, becoming an evergreen tree in the music scene.

Needless to say about the turmoil in the music world, today Kazuki Akiyama put on a suit and tie under the service of Izumi Sakai.

He stood in front of the full-length mirror with a serious expression, allowing Izumi Sakai to lower his head and straighten his cuffs and hem for him.It's like a wife sending her husband who is about to go on a long journey.

"Sachiko"

"Huh?" Sakai Quanshui raised his head and looked at him calmly.

"Yeah." He shook his head lightly, and swallowed back the words that rolled to his lips.

"You're full of energy." After cleaning up for him, Izumi Sakai looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction.

"It's all thanks to Sachiko." Akiyama Kazuki smiled, then kissed her on the forehead, and was about to say goodbye and leave.

"One Tree"

Kazuki Akiyama stopped in his steps and looked back at her.

"Don't worry, do what you want, don't hesitate."

Akiyama Kazuki nodded seriously, then opened the door and left.

Downstairs, Ishida Takumi and Watanabe Yoshitaka are also ready to go with serious expressions.

Today he is going to visit Being's headquarters, and it will be the third anniversary of his debut soon.

It's time to talk to Taiko Nagato about contract renewal. He must have been waiting for him.

The "Being Group" billboard with blue background and white characters beside the high glass curtain wall in Roppongi, Minato District still stood quietly. Kazuki Akiyama withdrew his gaze and walked into the building first, followed by Yoshitaka Watanabe and Takumi Ishida .

"President Nagato", "Kun Akiyama"

In the conference room, Nagato Taiyuki and Akiyama Kazuki rarely formally bowed to each other, introduced their entourage, and then sat down on both sides of the long table.

There are not many people involved, and they are basically the confidantes of the two.Accompanying Nagato Taiko is the current nominal president of Being, Toshino Masuta, but Kazuki Akiyama knows that he is just a tool man.

The current Being is still the words of Nagato Taiko.

After the assistant served a cup of coffee for everyone, Nagato Taiyuki crossed his hands and fingers in front of him, "Akiyama-kun, since this day has come, let's make a long story short."

"No problem." Akiyama Kazuki nodded.

"Then what does Being need to pay in order to get Qiu Shan-kun's next contract extension?"

How can this be a long story short, it's straight to the point.

Akiyama Kazuki looked at the expressionless Nagato Taiyuki, and his directness towards him was somewhat different.

But now that the other party has already made a move, he no longer hesitates, "I want my own label".

"Label?" For some reason, Nagato Taiko felt relieved the moment he heard this sentence.

To be honest, he was most afraid that Kazuki Akiyama would come up and directly talk to him about the transfer, then the two sides would almost completely tear their skins apart, and there would be no room for maneuver.

Of course, the shrewd man would not show these emotions on his face, but continued calmly, "Mr. Qiu Shan, you might as well talk about it in detail."

"I want to set up my own independent label and be responsible for my own profits and losses."

Sure enough, I knew it was not that simple.Such a request is a little better than a transfer.

A record company can have many labels. Taking Being as an example, there are currently seven or eight labels.

"Being" to which Kazuki Akiyama belonged before, and B-Game to which ZARD belonged are two different labels.

The relationship between labels and record companies can be said to be interdependent and mutually cooperative.Similar to the relationship between a subsidiary and the parent company of the group.

Of course, there are many kinds of labels. The ownership of the labels under Being is all owned by Nagato Daxin, so the sense of existence is slightly low.

And Kazuki Akiyama's independent label means that the ownership belongs to him.

To put it simply, if he releases a single or album in the future, the copyright will belong to the independent label and will no longer belong to Being's copyright library.

Especially the self-responsibility of profit and loss, which means that the promotion and production of singles in the future will be handled by independent labels themselves, and will no longer occupy Being's media resources.

It seems that the risk of releasing singles in the future is entirely borne by Kazuki Akiyama himself, and Being is only responsible for the release.

But with Kazuki Akiyama's current status and reputation, he doesn't have to worry about sales and TIE-UP cooperation in business.

It can even be said that his personal career has just taken off, and there are many brand owners who are willing to cooperate with him.

If that's the case, what's the difference between being and a worker, who can only get a small part of the distribution share, how can the old and cunning long household Daxin not understand.

"Qiu Shan-kun, the reason why we are able to achieve today's achievements is the result of the joint efforts of all the staff of Being. Please consider such a decision carefully."

"Qiu Shan-kun's achievements are certainly the result of the joint efforts of all the staff, but his own musical talent is the core and most critical reason for his success."

Yoshitaka Watanabe, who had been sitting all the time, spoke up immediately, and Taiko Nagato was deliberately downplaying the personal role of Kazuki Akiyama's success.As an agent, it was his duty to act, and he was right.

If it was that simple, why didn't Being create the second Kazuki Akiyama.

The one-man band REV, which was highly praised at the beginning, and its lead singer Masayuki Exit were suspected of imitating Kazuki Akiyama's style when he debuted, have long since disappeared.

Just like this, Kazuki Akiyama, Izumi Sakai and other big figures were escorted by him, but the result is still lost to all living beings.

"Even so, it's a little too much for Qiushan Jun to make such a request.

It is possible to establish an independent label, but Being must occupy more than 60% of the shares, otherwise it will be difficult for all shareholders of Being to agree to such a request. "

"Nagato-san, in addition to Being. To be honest, we also have options such as Sony, Poli Jiayin, Universal, and JVC.

They are all very interested in Akiyama Jun's record deal, and setting up an independent label is not out of the question. "

Watanabe Yoshitaka and Nagato Taiko confronted each other, both of them looked very serious.

No one was willing to give in, and the conference room became silent for a while, except for the faint breathing of each other.

"President Nagato" finally broke the silence with Kazuki Akiyama, "Maybe let's say a few words alone."

Taiko Nagato's serious expression moved slightly, he turned his head and gestured to Toshi Masuta who was next to him, and the latter quietly exited the meeting room.

Kazuki Akiyama also nodded to Yoshitaka Watanabe and Takumi Ishida, and they turned their eyes slightly and left the room respectively.

Akiyama Kazuki picked up the coffee in front of him and took a sip, Nagato Taiyuki also lit a cigarette.

Nagato Taiyuki opened his mouth slowly as a burst of misty clouds spewed out.

"Qiu Shan-kun needs no further words, as you who have been active in the music scene for three years, you must understand.

It is absolutely impossible for a label to be completely independent of Being, and that would be a humiliation not only for Being, but also for me personally.”

After saying this, Nagato Taiyuki kept silent with his cigarette in his mouth, and turned his eyes to the window, as if he was studying the difference between the sky in Tokyo and the usual one.

After being silent for a while, Akiyama Kazuki spoke again, "15%".

"50%!" Nagato Daxin, who was still studying the sky just now, immediately turned his head and answered.

"20%, I can be responsible for the media resources for publicity."

"40%! Being's distribution channels are all open to you, and they are treated equally with other sub-labels."

"25%, President Nagato, this is the last concession. All my songs don't need to be selected from Being's music library, and even media resources don't need to be extra occupied.

Presumably such a condition, even other record companies will seriously consider it. "

Akiyama Kazuki looked straight at Nagato with a serious expression.

"30%" Taiko Nagato still did not give up and continued to bargain.

Akiyama Kazuki didn't speak, just sipping coffee by himself.

"Okay, 25%!" Taiko Nagato seemed to realize that Kazuki Akiyama would not be able to make any further concessions, so he agreed to the condition hesitantly.

Just when Akiyama Kazuki heaved a sigh of relief and thought that the matter had come to an end, Nagato Taiko's next sentence made him frown again.

"However, Akiyama-kun needs to give an additional 5% to SENSUI."

SENSUI office is a personal office just established two years ago, and the artist it serves is ZARD, or Izumi Sakai.

Just after the contract between Izumi Sakai and Stardust Communication expired, her personal agency contract was transferred to SENSUI.

Although it is her personal firm, Izumi Sakai also holds a majority of the shares, but Taiko Nagato also has some shares.

The shares are held in the name of Taiko Nagato, not in the name of Being Co., Ltd.

That is to say, Kazuki Akiyama's independent label profits will be distributed to SENSUI in the future, and part of it will fall into his personal pocket instead of being divided layer by layer.

It has to be said that Taiko Nagato made a good plan. While drawing the water from Sakai Spring, he also fought for some benefits for himself.

"Mr. Akiyama, a company with only two investors is a very unhealthy shareholding structure, and it will be more stable if there are more than one investor.

What's more, the proportion is only a little bit, and it is only a nominal shareholder. "

Nagato Taiko stretched out his hand and gestured, indicating that it was only a little bit.

Kazuki Akiyama sighed slightly, "Well, Being and Sensui only participate in dividends and have no decision-making power."

Nagato Taiyuki just wanted to say something when he was stopped by Akiyama Kazuki, "President Nagato, this is the "final" clause, otherwise I will reconsider the issue of contract renewal. "

The helpless Nagato Taiko could only give up in resentment, and at the same time he heaved a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, it is much more optimistic than the worst case.

Before that, he already knew Kazuki Akiyama, who has been in frequent contact with giants such as Sony, Universal, and Warner recently.

Invisibly, it also added a lot of pressure to him, and he didn't dare to force him too much.Otherwise, how could he, who has always grasped power, compromise so easily.

After talking about the contract issues for the next few years, Kazuki Akiyama also breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the conditions given by giants like Sony are generous, the media channel resources are also extremely rich.

But there is one thing they will never compromise on, and that is absolute control, that is, decision-making power.

No matter how big Kazuki Akiyama is, they will not compromise.This is related to the foundation of one's own standing. Once this opening is opened, other big-name artists under the banner may immediately demand independence.

It's not that there are other small local record companies that agree to Kazuki Akiyama's conditions, but compared to cooperation, I already want to be familiar with Being, and a fool knows how to choose.

And there is another unbelievable thing in Japan. The transfer of an artist from an agency that digs his own is tantamount to betrayal.

Although he is no longer afraid of these rumors, no one wants to bear such infamy unless it is absolutely necessary.

And he still has another consideration in staying in Being. He knows that Nagato Taiko has been seeking to shift the focus of his career to Osaka.

His own independent label will definitely not follow, then who will maintain and take care of the distribution channels that Being left in Tokyo?
Yes, this is what Kazuki Akiyama values ​​most.The most important components of a record company are nothing more than production, promotion and distribution.

For the first two, his ECHO has begun to take shape, and the only thing he lacks now is distribution channels, which no other record company can provide.

And Being moved to Kansai, there will definitely be staff who are unwilling to go there.At that time, I can just take over and enrich the team of my own independent label.

Presumably Nagato Taiko would not say anything at that time, after all, his independent label is still under the banner of Being in name.

As for the foreign forces that Nagato Taiko is worried about.Still the same sentence, he is just a sub-label of Being, and the "Being Group" stands outside.

The reason why Nagato Taiko finally pulled SENSUI was not only to get a share of the pie, but also to tie him up with Sakai spring water so that he would not easily leave in the future.

Kazuki Akiyama also understands these things, but he is rarely confused, and even happy to see the results.

Why do you want to leave, isn't it good to make a fortune in silence?