One week into the new year, hope it’s goin’ well.

WOW! It’s been quite a year in the Eurobeat world. Instead of going over any of its history this year, I’ll instead propose some potential New Year’s Resolutions for Eurobeat as a whole this year, at the risk of sounding as if I have enough awareness to say such things. LOL, AUDACITY. Anyway, here goes:

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR EUROBEAT IN 2011!

<Part 1 : Genre as a whole>

1) RELEASE SUPER EUROBEAT VOLUMES WORLDWIDE ON iTUNES AND OTHER CARRIERS.

See, they’ve been working on this for some time now, from the hearsay I’ve experienced. With any hope, we’ll see at least the 10 most recent volumes at the time, when the world can finally strive to keep the genre flourishing. Keep up the vigor, avex and labels, and please come to an agreement that makes both sides happy!

2) RESOLVE ANY TENSION/UNSETTLED EMOTIONS BETWEEN LABELS

Given Eurobeat’s age as a genre, I’d believe that the artists and producers of the labels would be able to work out any disagreements or hurt feelings between themselves. Now, I’m personally not aware of all of it (or, for that matter, much of it at all), but whatever of it truly exists, it’s my hope that labels can start to get along again. Not just for my personal fanboy fantasy of seeing label artists and producers work together on the same songs (I.E, another “Eurobeat Superstars” with different labels/artists, what have you), but because internal conflict only stands to destroy the genre internally. Eurobeat faces enough obstacles as it is, without it, so with any hope those remain its only obstacles.

3) SUPER EUROBEAT ALLOWS NEW LABELS TO TRY THINGS OUT, EVEN J-EURO

OOPS! I dropped the J-Bomb. That’s right, I think J-Euro labels like Akiba Koubou, Y&CO, and Liz Triangle (alongside a slew of other worthy options) should start appearing on Super Eurobeat. It’s easy for fans to forget that Eurobeat, as it exists, is marketed to a JAPANESE audience to JAPANESE tastes, even if it does serve to Western Countries’ chagrin here or there. So, if the audience for which the albums were created in the first place approve of the creations of labels consisting of themselves (that is, fans of the genre), then we Western fans are in no position to think we can change that, until the market expands outward.

Part 2: More Specific Resolutions

* Jager makes another Top 40-inspired track and doesn’t have to apologize for it
* The Eurobeat fan community learns to accept changes within their genre, from the structure of SEB releases to new sounds being tested
* We hear fast tracks from HRG again (I really do like the new slower style, but I doubt it’s all they’ve made lately!)
* Futura releases a new single that’s infinitely closer to “Give Me Sunshine” than “I’m Superstar”
* Magic Hammer releases a sequel to “Most Extreme Ultimate Thunder”
* More Artist Singles on iTunes and the like
* MORE NEW ARTISTS!
* More videos of Eurobeat artists and producers! Youtube, Vimeo, anything!
* (More) Independent Eurobeat labels release new songs on iTunes worldwide
* Ken Blast quits being such a self-glorifying pillock
* Eurobeat lives on for a very long time. :3

HAPPY NEW YEAR, and I look forward to 2011!

Oh, and shout out to Dejo/Niko: Congrats on King of Eurobeat 2010! I’ll catch ya in the running for King in 2011, mm’kay?

http://odysseymusic.bandcamp.com/album/my-backstory-as-a-pixel-vol-1

My newest release has the acapellas and instrumentals from the Eurobeat entries that had vocal work on My Life as a Pixel Vol. 1. I’m sorry I can’t have MLAaP Vol. 2 out to you so soon, but I’ve been super-busy lately as it is, with University work. Hopefully I can have some tracks to you by about January/February. Until then, please enjoy these for your remixing/”behind-the-scenes” pleasure~!

Technically speaking, I should be doing my homework now.  But, before I do that, I wanted to share something real quick. I was walking out of my class and couldn’t help but come up with an analogy of the Eurobeat business with an already existing field of business. The after some thought, I realized that it was a fairly decent analogy of the Eurobeat business for someone uninitiated with the music business, so I thought I would share that here.

Eurobeat labels share a lot in common with the modern design firm; in this situation both are addressed with a creative problem and are given a certain budget of a resource to complete the task– that is, to solve the problem.   The goal for both is similar as well— both ultimately strive to create a product to be consumed by a specific group of people or entity. Of course, with one being a design field and the other being an entertainment field, the scope and content for both businesses are quite varied and differ in quite a few ways, But the essence remains that the goal is to answer a creative problem and solve it in a financially reasonable, consumable, and desirable result.

Within both instances, the creative problem prescribed may vary in the scope of its details–  for instance, for the design field, a client may want something that expresses a specific adjective, commonly one  that the client wishes for consumers to associate with that company or product. Eurobeat finds itself in a similar position in the sense that the ultimate results of their work reflects the specific requests of avex in regard to their audience or a specific niche that may be absent in the album in question’s current lineup. (Though the exact contact avex has with their audience is debatable, there have been reasonable and substantial strides towards improvement within their relationship.)

Perhaps the largest difference between the Eurobeat label and a design firm is not the means of the completion of their work, but time frame with which both work.  Because Eurobeat labels even music and are therefore subsidiary of the entertainment business, the time frame to complete a specific task is substantially smaller, and is on a more constrained time schedule. This is not to suggest that a design firm does not have struggles with its timeframe; rather, that the amount of time needed to complete a design task is a great deal larger than that permitted to a Eurobeat label. In most cases, assuming avex is releasing on a monthly schedule, a Eurobeat record label will often have less than a couple of weeks to complete their work.  a design firm, on the other hand, may have as large as a year’s time span to complete their task.  (To a lesser extent, the defining resource between both varies as well— whereas a design firm is given a specific budget of money, Eurobeat labels will usually work according to their timeframe alone, making the dollar the resource in question and not the hour. For a eurobeat label, time literally can be money.)

As well, eurobeat labels are also granted another layer with which they can solve the problem assigned to them— whereas a design firm’s identity is a much stronger necessity to solving the problem assigned (in most cases, a signature style with which they are often associated, or a previous successful work), the eurobeat label may resort to multiple number of identities to solve the problem at hand. eurobeat artists will often assume multiple pseudonyms for this very purpose— each one has a specific stylistic approach, lyrical approach, and audible aesthetic which will often either match or come close to the traits desired in the variety of song requested. in easier terms, eurobeat artists have a toolbox of different styles from which they can pick and choose to better fit the task assigned.

even further, the existence of independent contractors is prevalent in both. Freelance writers in eurobeat will often function similarly to an independent contractor in the design field— that is, they are often brought in as a specialist for specific task. In eurobeat this will come in the form of either writers, vocalists, or even producers— respectively, examples can be or have been found in the works of Vincent DeGiorgio, Gino Caria, and/or Roby Arduini, amongst a massive slew of others.

Whew! this post was a little bit wordy, even for me, but I’m trying out some new dictation software so the combination of my usual writing vocabulary alongside my traditional writing vocabulary may be a bit jarring in contrast to how I usually write. Don’t worry, my next post will definitely make a lot more sense. ;3

I was recently thinking about the current direction in which Eurobeat is headed, and while I can say I prefer it to the 19X Super Eurobeat decade, I can’t entirely hear the “return to the late 90s” sound that was at one point the aim for the series. Some of my recent compositions (not yet released) have tried to mimic that, but I’ve recently wondered if I’m the only one trying to do so.
And then I saw this video.

Super J-Euro
I’d be hardpressed to even suggest that half of those didn’t sound a great deal like the “middle” years of Eurobeat, in a way that brings out the early Eurobeat fan boy in me. Perhaps labels such as Akiba Koubou and their counterparts on this album are on to something here?
Making sure to not base an entire sub-genre on an assumption from one video, I looked up some more. Touhou-Eurobeat remixes, J-Euro originals, remixes of popular anime themes… the most resounding theme— at least, from the more “stable” labels— was a strong homage to late 90′s Eurobeat.
Why is this? What is it about J-Euro productions that keeps them rooted in the “high point” of Eurobeat’s lifespan? Is it more around the lines that they understand it better, having been entrenched in multiple labels’ styles for such a long time that they’re able to pick and choose what works?
I’m wondering if this is the case, as the italian-based labels (including Dima for the sake of speed) have at least come somewhat close to this sound as of late, but can’t quite seem to reach that exact bit. Perhaps they’ve sold their equipment that made those sounds lately? I know for a fact that recent Hi-NRG Attack has been dependent on Apple Loops found in Logic and/or Garageband, for instance, so perhaps this leaves out some of the sound-choices to which J-Euro seems to adhere more closely. I don’t doubt that the Italo-labels could go back to these sounds with some level of ease, but my guess would be that they’re being pressed to maintain a balance between familiar sounds and modern advancement. In essence, they’re keeping their songs familiar without losing their new-and-advanced edge. I can respect that much.
However, I would guess that if the very audience for which these ‘modern’ tracks is making their own material that is quite distanced from such a sound, wouldn’t it behoove the creators to take this into consideration? The fans MAKE 90′s sounding Eurobeat because that’s what they want to hear, or so I’d theorize. J-Euro labels MAKE 90′s Eurobeat because that’s what they know fans will buy, for the most part. And given that Japan is still the target country to which Eurobeat is targeted (though this demographic is beginning to decrease, with increased demands from Europe and USA), I’d suppose that labels such as avex or any one that puts out Eurobeat aught to take a very close ear to such things. I imagine they are; like any major record label, avex clearly does its homework on what customers buy or don’t buy, simply for the fact that they put out this J-Euro compilation to begin with. I’d imagine, however, that a ‘sudden change’ in the direction of the Super Eurobeat series would be extremely hard to implement without the labels undergoing significant changes to their current productions, so it’d take a bit of time before such a change of sound could take place in their flagship Eurobeat sound.

Then again, we’ll have to see. Perhaps things WILL change that way, or things will modernize further. I can’t say if one is better than the other, simply because I haven’t heard the tracks of the future yet. We’ll have to wait them out together, no?

I was going to post this on a forum under my name. Then I actually thought about what that would do. So, instead, I’ll post it on my own blog, so anyone caring to hear it will know to go here. Just know, I type it using “you” for speed. I’m a Eurobeat artist, not an English Major. P:

*ahem*…

I think people who want to hear music should hear good music. However, I also think that artists, writers, producers and publishers should be compensated for their work. So, the big thing is this: How can both sides be satisfied? Once a generation is used to getting something for free, it’s hard to say to them, “you really should pay for that”. Who’s holding them responsible?

There are those who will pirate because it is there to be pirated; I know people like this offline. These people… I can do nothing about.
Then there are those who will pirate because they may not have options in their area to buy it. The solution, here, is to tap into the (increasing) options to buy the album on places like Musico, iTunes Japan (as posted in a local guide), etc. It’s a little daunting (Musico’s kinda scary for me!), but there are guides out there that will guide you through the process. After all, the prices are usually close to 1 USD per track… slightly above pocket change each one. (My bank is totally compliant with every international purchase I’ve made for individual tracks, it’s a thing of beauty really.)

Some may be ready to present the “quality” argument to me at this point; to this, I say… unfortunately, until options increase, there’s little that can be done about that. Yes, many of the purchase options are not perfect audio quality, and rips from the CD really do sound pristine. Well, what then? Why steal from the creators and artists for a decision the stores have made? I suppose it becomes, on an ethical level, a battle between quality and price— if you really want that high-quality sound so strongly, it really does work better to buy the album. Yes, it’s a great deal pricier than track-by-track, but… that is no fault of the creators. Alternatively, if you’re drawn more to the song of it than the audio quality of it, purchasing track-by-track isn’t so bad after all. The question is this: “How badly do you want the song, vs. how badly do you want it in HQ”? If you’re truly wanting to hear the song very quickly, it may be more rewarding to hear it in a slightly lower quality. If you’re patient enough to save up for a higher-quality version of the track (or, better, the album as a whole), then your patience shall be rewarded.

Eurobeat music does not have some of the sources of revenue other genres have; due to a drop in popularity in contrast to rap/hip hop or electro or whathaveyou (not a bad thing— I freaking LOVE 3Oh!3 and Owl City), there are few live shows, and infinitely less merchandising (Dave Rodgers bedsheets???). The point is, the creators of Eurobeat are paid by the purchase of albums or individual tracks, and little more. There’s little radio play to speak of, an occasional club night, and that’s it. By someone not purchasing the songs, everyone involved in each track is DIRECTLY affected. Thus “exposure” does not work as well with Eurobeat; it all points back to the track and album sales. Showing someone new tracks is less likely to produce the response “Hey, this is good, where can I buy it?” as it is to produce “Hey, this is good, where can I download it?”.

I know it’s not an ideal situation for audiophiles OR for those with less money. But it should not come out of the pockets of the artists/creators, either. Not all of us drive Porsches y’know. (I’m hardly rich off this either— I’m still struggling to find scholarships to attend university next semester!!)

(…for the record, I’ve got a pretty sweet 2000 Nissan Sentra. It’s nice for a college kid like me, but hardly ‘rock star’ status.)

(…and I’d totally buy Dave Rodgers bedsheets.)