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Are you a foreign musician, actor or model trying to make it big in Japan? Then Japan’s biggest record company, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), wants to talk to you.
Sony, whose Sound Development (SD) department has been holding auditions nationwide since 1978, is launching a talent search aimed at finding non-Japanese performers who’ve got what it takes to make it in the Japanese showbiz world.
Sony isn’t doing this out of sheer altruism, however.
“Japanese music fans want a more ‘international’ sound,” explains SD staffer Daisuke Hayashi, citing the recent success in Japan of “kokusai-teki” (international-flavored) acts such as Hikaru Utada, Crystal Kay and m-flo as examples.
Sony is casting a wide net in its search for foreign talent in Japan: aspiring musicians from any musical genre (both solo artists and bands), TV “talents” and models are welcome to apply. “Nationality, age and sex are not asked,” states Sony in the flyer it’s handing out to publicize the talent search, although applicants who are under 18 must have the consent of a parent or legal guardian to take part in the audition.
Hayashi explains that while the SD auditions have never excluded non-Japanese talent per se, this is the first time Sony is holding auditions specifically aimed at finding foreign performers in Japan. (Sony will be holding its “regular” SD search for Japanese talent this year as well).
“There are two different ways of finding artists,” Hayashi notes. “For bands, we go to ‘live houses,’ but for idols and ‘tarento’ auditions are better.”
Just about every Japanese record company holds annual auditions aimed at finding The Next Big Thing. Wannabes send in demo tapes or videos, and those deemed to have star potential are offered management or recording contracts by the record company.
Big-name acts signed by Sony through its SD program over the years include Seiko Matsuda, Bakufu Slump, L’Arc-en-Ciel, Puffy and Soul’d Out.
“I don’t have any idea how many artists Sony will sign,” says Hayashi. It simply depends on how much talent there is out there, he explains.
Hayashi says Sony hopes to introduce artists it discovers through the international audition program to overseas markets as well as in Japan. Another possibility is to set up collaborations between non-Japanese performers and Japanese artists.
The SD department started publicizing its international talent search at the beginning of April and as of April 14 had received some 40 demos, according to Hayashi. The deadline for sending in demos is May 31, after which Hayashi and his colleagues will sit down and listen to them and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Hayashi advises those applying for an audition to include no more than two songs on their demos. “Just send the best,” he says. And aspiring actors and models needn’t send demos; photos and a resume are OK.
Once Sony has identified some performers it feels have some potential, then it will hold live auditions at various locations in Japan, most likely Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.
For more information about SD’s international auditions, check out the following web site: http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Audition/sd/IA/, which contains information in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. Or phone 03-5464-6233.
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