I received a PM over FB about a recent statement I made on efforts to have Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s singles broadcast over terrestrial radio. My initial statement may have come off as a little snarky — hence the rebuttal, but I certainly won’t apologize for that as I do not believe in sugar-coating my opinions.
In the interests of not having to rehash everything I said in reply to the PM, I’m putting this up here. Feel free to direct flames to the comment box.
PM: But one probable reason why most JPop/JRock fans can’t buy (which I observed from fellow fans) is that most fans are still young; they don’t have yet the means to purchase from online shops. So in the end, they result to downloading.
I do not see being young as a valid excuse. I was also young once — I didn’t pop out of my mum fully-formed with a credit card in hand. I went through university on a miniscule allowance, yet still managed to purchase CDs and merchandise from my favorite artists through a lot of patience and sacrifice.
I would refrain from purchasing meals and bring lunch boxes instead, and would watch films at the UP Film Center instead of cinemas because their tickets were cheaper by 50%. Whatever money I saved, I would deposit in a working friend’s back account, and she would purchase the items online via her personal credit card.
Sometimes, she and I and other friends would do group purchases, wherein we would all pay her beforehand and she would get all our stuff shipped in on one go. As a system it was not fool-proof (sometimes the Customs people would tax us unfairly), but overall it was doable — which is why I don’t believe people when they say it’s impossible for young people to purchase things even if they wanted to.
PM:But amidst all this, I think all JPop/Jrock fanclubs here in the Philippines really try their best to promote the artists here; they already joined in different events starting last 2011. All try to help each other in promoting different fan club activities. They work hand in hand.
Congratulations and welcome to the club: I have been an organizing team member and group moderator for Ongaku Society since 2003. Yes — 2003, eight whole years before you started your club. But why has nothing major happened so far, you ask?
Because it is very, very hard work with very, very little pay-off in sight. No matter how many connections we managed to make and how many emails we sent and how many times we tried to get events organized, if the management of the artists we supported had no interest in performing in Manila, then there was nothing else we could do.
I’m not being negative, I am just trying to show you the realities of the music business. No matter how much you want want it and how hard you try, in the end an online petition is just an online petition, and the decision will still be made by the talent agencies and record companies. The only way to convince them — and convince them completely, is to show them the money, and lots of it.
PM: I also got a hint regarding your comment about an online petition. This must be for One Ok Rock?
No, it’s not. Let’s face it you’re not the only group to petition a Japanese artist to come to Manila. You’re really not that special.
PM: Going back to KPP, it has been opened (sic) that Warner Music Philippines is planning to release KPP’s newest album here. The fan club opened a survey days ago regarding the release here.
Good for them! However this just cycles back to my previous statement that the best way to assure the release of a Japanese single or album locally (and perhaps convince the artist to come here and perform live) is to vote with your money.
No matter how many thousands of so-called fans sign the petition and call the radio stations and spam Facebook — if less than 10% of that number end up purchasing the album or single, you are never going to make the Philippine market big enough for the Japanese music industry to take seriously.
PM: The very point that I want to convey is that all JPop/JRock fanclubs do their very very very best to promote their respective artists here. Personally, I really really reallyyyy do love JPop. I’m trying my very best to reach out to fellow fans through my blog.
I do too, that’s why I also have a blog. However, I have become quite jaded with the years of disappointment with some of my fellow Philippine fans, so instead of being all rah-rah with online petitions and email campaigns and the like, I just keep to myself (or my friends), save up my money, and fly to Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangkok to actually go see gigs.
There is a point when you get tired of campaigning for people to stop downloading songs illegally and stop making pirated merchandise and start buying authentic CDs/DVDs/BDs — because there are always people who make up excuses on why they can’t. “I’m too young.”, “I’m too poor.”, “Everybody’s doing it anyway.”, etc. etc. — please can the bullshit.
PM: If you have any suggestions on how to promote the fan club or the artists, please don’t hesitate to message the admins of the fan clubs!
No, thanks. I don’t want to make it a habit of haranguing people on their blogs or social media sites. If I wanted to say something, I’d go to my own blog — at least that gives people the option to just click “Close” if they don’t agree with me.
One of the problems of messaging people directly is even your intentions are well-meant, because it’s a PM the recipient feels singled out and is put on the defensive. I tried that a few times when I was young and stupid, and all I got for my efforts was to be labeled a complete and total bitch.
TL;DR
Suma total, the music industry is a business. It may run on a lot of passion and creativity, but in the end it’s the money that speaks the loudest. After all — what dumb-ass record company would put in the effort to promote their artists in a country that is neck-deep in illegal downloads and pirated CDs?
If you genuinely want One OK Rock or Flow or Kyary Pamyu Pamyu or Kalafina to come to Manila so you can rock your little fanboy hearts out, step one is to go to a store and buy their CDs! Yes, saving money and buying merch and going to gigs is a long, hard process — but nobody ever said it was easy. If it was really that easy then every single petition that came out of the internet would’ve been successful by now — but they’re not.
If you want to be treated as serious fans, start acting like serious fans. I dare you.
JPOP Manila 
speaking of which is there a way to procure dojin albums outside of japan since most of the sources only ship inside japan with limited quantity? or its better to attend M3 and comiket all together?
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Attending events is still the best (and most fun!) way to stock up on anything, but you can also use a proxy buying service like White Rabbit or From Japan to source goods.
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I don’t mean to butt in, ehe, but you can get a lot of Comiket stuff here: http://www.keibunsha-bambio.com
You need to use a shopping service still though. We ask our friends from Eiwa Manga Store (on Facebook) to buy stuff for us and they do so for a small fee. 🙂
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Hey — great link, thanks 😀
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HINDI NASUSUKAT SA PERA ANG PAGIGING FAN BITCH
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MUKHA KANG PERA HINDI NASUSUKAT SA PERA ANG PAGIGING TRUE FAN BITCH BITCH BITCH
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tama. D:
no matter how much i don’t like kpop (read some of the comments), i really admire the support of their fans. I don’t understand why some TRUEFANS out there are reacting so negatively to this post when it is very correct if you look at the fandom from a practical point of view. I do admit I may not have any legit and legal Kpp merch, so I’m trying my best to learn how to get ’em since I’ve only just started working.
Hmm. I dunno. Meh mga weaboos talaga naman, I mean, if you can’t afford real shit just don;’t be defensive about it. And if you don’t want to be bashed by the so called ‘elites’, just keep quiet nlang. D:
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I guess they’re really butthurt because it’s true :3
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true true true. kahit 300 php lang per week ang baon ko nakakapag save ako para makabili ng orig cds ng fave jpop artists ko TT-TT at least now na may work na ako afford ko na kahit yung mga artbooks/photobooks na napakamahal. iba pa rin kasi yung tangible na hindi virtual content yung meron ka
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Saan po kayo nakakabili?…
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PUNYETA KA BITCH BINUBURA MO BA COMMENT KO ELITISTA BITCH
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LOL you obviously can’t read (as well as act like a civilized person).
I quote: “If this if your first time to leave a comment, your comment will be moderated.”
Have a fantastic weekend. Loser.
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LOL. matapang lang siya dahil nagtatago sa likod nang keyboard. totoo ang sinabi mo, kung walang perang ipapakita, hindi interesado ang management, na realize ko lang nung nabasa ko blog mo. ultra favorite ko pa naman ang J Rock group na Scandal. sayang kung hindi sila makakapunta. dito, bumisita dati ang shonen knife dito nung 2010 yata, may mini concert sila sa MOA, pero it was organized by a japanese foundation which is based in the here.
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I remember years ago when LPFC’s (Larc Phil Fan Club) efforts finally paid-off when GLOBE offered Larc ringbacks. We were so effin happy back then kahit na simpleng ringback lang
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Ah I remember purchasing those — those were definitely step in the right direction 🙂
Unfortunately, now all we get is cheap-ass fans who keep going “freebie plz!” >.>
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JPOP/JROCK will always be my “first love” . But I do wish JPOP fans would take cues from the KPOP fans, pester the local record bars (Odyssey/Astro) to stock on certain JPOP albums, and make sure that fans will buy as soon as it hit the shelves. They can start with 1 specific album then expand from there. Record stores are receptive specially if they know that there is a big demand for it. And fans don’t just march inside the store and buy the album, they actually mount their own “mini” launching events in front of the stores, kaya natutuwa yung mga local record companies and they bring in more KPOP albums. To add, fans also spend a lot of money on TXT request to local music channels like MYX. Dedicated sa dedicated. Mind you most of these fans are students too.
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If there’s one thing I admire about the KPop fans, it’s their dedication to their fandom — almost everyone I know who is into KPop has purchased CDs and attended concerts!
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We can talk about the love for the music or what it means to be a true fan til the cows come home, but it still doesn’t change the fact that the music industry is a business, not a charity.
Unless music producers see the Philippines as a viable market (people who actually buy music), then they’re not going to invest the money and time in promoting their artists here.
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The biggest irony is the ones who keep proclaiming on social media that they are such “big fans” are the ones who refuse to pay a single cent to feed their favorite artists.
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as much as i agree with most of your points, let me say lang na i know a lot of pinoy jpop fans who are really supportive of their idols by buying the originals cds/dvds from japan. actually, when Universal Records started producing jpop artists singles/items marami sa mga bumili e yung may mga copy na nung japanese version, but they still purchased the local releases. i think the real problem lies with the point of view of each fan. meron kasing mag ayaw na “ma-mainstream” ang jpop dito. there were threads and posts about how some fans dislike the idea of their idols being promoted here. in short, it’s their selfishness that’s ruining all the fun. ;__;
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You’re absolutely right — the other end of the fandom spectrum is just as bad >.> Why can’t we find a nice, even-keeled, happy medium?
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MTE. by the way, another reason i think is because the company itself is too strict on selling their artists internationally (?) i mean, if we compare to kpop which really targets on promoting overseas, jpop is really conservative. :))
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Agreed — it’s because they would rather invest on a sure bet i.e. the domestic market in Japan.
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^ THIS
Japanese companies are more “better safe than sorry” companies who likes to see concrete data if they really have a market in a certain area. Like for example if there’s a significant audience number who purchases Japanese entertainment products like CDs, DVDs, iTunes DLs, etc.
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Agreed — especially right now that the Japanese economy is in flux; they prefer a sure bet rather than speculate on untried markets.
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hmmm…ganun pala, may pag asa pa kaya na makapunta ang Scandal dito? malabo na siguro, tsk.
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I somehow understand your point of view. Kung iisipin nga, OPM-related industries are making their FULL EFFORTS para ma-‘boom’ (ulit) ang Music Industry sa bansa. At KABABAYAN natin sila. I just realized (dahil din dito sa post mo) na hindi naman talaga isang bansang mahilig sa music (stuffs- authentic, merch and such) ang Pinas. Oo, maraming nagki-claim na music lover ang ilan, mahilig makinig at kumanta blahblah, lalo na ang generation natin and the youth. But do they (we) even really exert effort in buying their music? Listening to their music na ‘hindi naman talaga galing sa Jpop music industries (if you get what I mean)’ is somehow useless.
Maraming way ang pagsu-support though. Buying their merch and such IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. =)
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“Buying their merch and such IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. =)” — exactly! Kyary’s gotta eat too, y’know 😐
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I am also JPOP fan especially JE. I started as a fan when I was still in college and buying merch and CDs was just a dream because I can’t buy them locally plus they’re really expensive. But as a fan I do believe too that one must support them financially~in buying merch and CDs. Even just buying a mini uchiwa(usually the cheapest merch for a JE concert) that is worth around 300 pesos counts. I know to some fans that it sounds insane to buy a “small plastic fan” for 300. I’ve also encountered fans who were not able able to buy anything because of priorities but if there’s a will, there’s a way so they save little by little and I really salute them for that. And yes, I do download too because I can’t afford buying each time they release CD; especially DVDs. I just really hope that every Filipino Jpop fan can buy or at least own a merch or CD/DVD especially locally released ones. It feels kinda nice 🙂 Having them, holding it. It somewhat feels like having an ID saying “I am a fan of [INSERT JPOP artist name here]” ^_^ It makes me proud. As to petitions, I don’t sign on them if I know I will not be attending it coz it doesn’t make sense.
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“I know to some fans that it sounds insane to buy a “small plastic fan” for 300. I’ve also encountered fans who were not able able to buy anything because of priorities but if there’s a will, there’s a way so they save little by little and I really salute them for that. ” — you don’t have to buy EVERY. LITLLE. THING. that JE puts out , you can just focus on your priorities and do your hardest to purchase them, whether they are JPY 500 photocard sets or JPY 50,000 fan club boxed sets.
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awwww..missing my Bitun and Pieces days..and I think some of the fans started to recognize JPOP/JROCK music through anime. so, ung iba hndi din ganun tlaga kilala ang JPOP/JROCK unless its from an anime. I remember the globe ringbacks din, I always change mg ringback pra pag may tumawag they will hear Larukus songs..pati ringtone sa 3310 na nokia..me and my friend went to and EB pa before with the Admins of a forum..from Cavite to Makati kaht gabhin..until now, I think my contact pa ako dun sa kanila..ipon ang allowance pra makapunta ng MCS pra makabili ng album and manga. then sa comic alley before may mga dir engrey,larc and HMC na album. meron din sa Oddysey, cant remember the name of the artist e. so, you really need to put alooot of effort before anyone can say that “I am a fan”.
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That’s another thing — even if local chains put out Japanese CDs (like the late great Tower Records and M1), nobody buys them because people are too cheap and prefer illegal downloads 😦 So they didn’t ever bother doing it again. In stark contrast, there is KPop fandom’s fantastic relationship with Odyssey and Astro — because their fans buy CDs, simple as that >.>
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very true…i always check out local music stores and just get out with heavy sighs because they don’ sell much Jpop/jrock cds and dvds in contrast with the various kpop artists given a display area for their own…yes, original cds are pricey but business is business no matter what angle you look at it. it’s really sad that pinoys don’t get that idea.
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LOL. noobs nowadays. They don’t realize money makes the world go round.
I just ignore the crap with these immature, selfish, obviously gullible fans. Sooner or later they’ll grow up and then they’d realize how funny they were when they were young and stupid.
I mean I download stuff and buy some of them too. Come on, we need to stop obssessing over such things. If they go here, then fine let’s watch their show. If not, fine that’s ok then. Here’s a tip though. Go for indie bands though, they’re a lot easier to invite here for a show. Just look at Toe.
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Everytime TOE is in town I am overseas — WRYYYYYY T^T
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Agree to this. When I started out as an Arashi fan, I didn’t know how to buy from the internet. I was seventeen and surviving on a weekly allowance from my parents. Know what? Find people doing preorders. You would save shipping cost. There are people who offer services to purchase CDs and stuff from online stores if you’re too young.
A little change in lifestyle to save money also helps. I stopped buying expensive clothes and shoes and started budgeting my allowance down to the last cent. I started saving every bit of birthday and Christmas money to get concert goods and CDs. It’s true that they’re not exactly cheap, but what can you expect?
It’s very naive thinking that simply liking an artist could be counted as support- let’s face it. The music industry needs money from patrons to survive. If everyone just kept downloading illegally and not buying, where would they get money from?
I’m not saying everyone should fork out obscene amounts of cash to be called a fan. It’s understandable to have other priorities, but the occasional purchase can’t hurt, can it?
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“I’m not saying everyone should fork out obscene amounts of cash to be called a fan. It’s understandable to have other priorities, but the occasional purchase can’t hurt, can it?” — THIS. The irony in this is that the fans who actually purchase CDs and merch are not the ones who lead the online petitions and moderate the fan pages, because they know that with each yearly purchase they make they are doing more for their favorite artist than these freeloaders can
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I understand the point, aside from the albums being “too expensive” because of additional taxes, and most of the albums can only purchased by credit card. I guess there really is too little market here in the PH, Maybe going to Japan would be more practical.. BUt then again, one must save in order to enjoy certain perks.
People need to prioritize I guess, Some budget for the fandom, and a LOT for necessities. ^_^
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“People need to prioritize I guess, Some budget for the fandom, and a LOT for necessities. ^_^” — I am okay with this. I am VERY okay with this. What I am not okay with is, “I can’t but the new Arashi CD because I am too poor — I’ll just download it and load it in my brand new iPhone teehee!” >.> These people should go die in a fire >.>
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I like your blog! so realistic. i guess some fans just can’t accept the fact that it is about marketability of the artist. and the earning of course. i don’t think that all of those who signs petitions can actually buy the concert ticket… especially if they can’t even buy an original merchandise.
and btw, thanks for ur advise on saving up and watch the concerts abroad instead.. i dont think that kalafina tickets would be cheap since they have very professional musicians with them 🙂
hoping to see them soon!
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If you want to go see Kalafina overseas I suggest doing it in Singapore instead of Japan because: 1) no visa!; and 2) smaller gigs compared to Japan mean you can get really close to them 🙂 Happened in our Bangkok Luna Sea gig — we were so close to them compared to our Japan and Hong Kong gigs 😀
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wow! thanks for the advise! I’ll note those 🙂
More power to your blog!
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Tell Japan to stop jacking up prices for 2-song singles first and we’ll talk.
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They’re not “jacking up the prices”, as you have put it — they are pricing their products according to their costs of production, which is much higher in Japan than it is in the Philippines. Try again NOT Christopher Poole from Cavite.
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I think it’s unfair to assume na hindi “serious fans” ang mga nagmomoderate ng pages na ‘to when you don’t even have an idea who really run these pages. There are some “serious fans” like you who would fly to SG / other places just to watch concerts too ^^ There are fans who would save up their allowance just to purchase CDs / merch.. just like you. So please don’t judge na lahat ng fan (just because nagpepetition at nag-eeffort) na nagdodownload lang at walang pera / kuripot para bumili ng CD. I’m a serious KPP fan + supporter of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Philippines community and I’m trying my best to make kawaii culture to be promoted first in the Philippines (as Kyary is also the kawaii ambassador of harajuku). It seems / sounds impossible to bring Kyary-chan to PH as of the moment pero at least, we’re making an effort with everyone. Baby steps muna, diyan naman lahat nagsisimula eh. 🙂
I’d like to quote this as well:
“Congratulations and welcome to the club: I have been an organizing team member and group moderator for Ongaku Society since 2003. Yes — 2003, eight whole years before you started your club. But why has nothing major happened so far, you ask?
Because it is very, very hard work with very, very little pay-off in sight. No matter how many connections we managed to make and how many emails we sent and how many times we tried to get events organized, if the management of the artists we supported had no interest in performing in Manila, then there was nothing else we could do.
I’m not being negative, I am just trying to show you the realities of the music business. No matter how much you want want it and how hard you try, in the end an online petition is just an online petition, and the decision will still be made by the talent agencies and record companies. The only way to convince them — and convince them completely, is to show them the money, and lots of it.”
It doesn’t mean that other fanclubs or communities wouldn’t be successful kung walang nangyari major happenings in those eight whole years on your side.
Kanya-kanyang strategy / style of promoting lang ‘yan. 🙂
P.S. KPP.PH’s founder works in a music industry too so alam niya all the realities you stated (#1 concern: moneeeeeey). Pero despite nun, nag-gagambarou pa rin sila. 🙂
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Let’s tackle your points one by one.
I think it’s unfair to assume na hindi “serious fans” ang mga nagmomoderate ng pages na ‘to when you don’t even have an idea who really run these pages. There are some “serious fans” like you who would fly to SG / other places just to watch concerts too ^^
If this is true, then why is it always the same people we run into when flying overseas to watch gigs? Manila has such a small community of JPop fans, you’d think it would be easy to run into new people and make their acquaintance while overseas, and be all fantardy together, but it almost never happens
It doesn’t mean that other fanclubs or communities wouldn’t be successful kung walang nangyari major happenings in those eight whole years on your side.
Isn’t it a little premature to be assuming that your efforts will be successful and rubbing in it our faces when ours were not? You haven’t even accomplished anything substantial and you are already saying that compared to your stint nothing happened in the past eight years of Ongaku Society. Hold one of Kyary’s (or anyone else’s) gig here first — then we’ll talk.
Kanya-kanyang strategy / style of promoting lang ‘yan. 🙂
So am I to assume that your brilliant strategy revolves around calling Love Radio and/or spamming Facebook? Fantastic — why didn’t I think of that!!! >.>
P.S. KPP.PH’s founder works in a music industry too so alam niya all the realities you stated (#1 concern: moneeeeeey). Pero despite nun, nag-gagambarou pa rin sila. 🙂
Really? What’s his/her specific occupation, and what company does he/she work for? “Working in the music industry” is such a broad term after all — you could be the guy whose job it is to turn off the lights at the stadium after everyone has left, and you can still claim that you’re part of the music industry
I am thrilled that other people have taken it upon themselves to spread the love of Jpop in the Philippines. I just think that the methods employed will not be fruitful because the foundation of the fandom itself is flawed. Do you honestly think that the managers, producers, and other people related to the business side of the music industry are going to invest their time, money, and effort to promote their acts in a country or community that can’t even police itself to curb piracy?
Ga-ganbarou-ing as you put it has nothing to do with it. It is a business decision, plain and simple.
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Calm down, man.
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No, thanks.
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I understand and you do have a point. Of course, let’s be realistic… music labels’ top priority is to SELL/MAKE MONEY. But there’s nothing wrong with doing viral campaigns and whatnot to promote KPP in the Philippines. Of course, we also promote the buying of original CDs/DVDs. We’re not promising our fellow fans that Kyary will come to the Philippines. We’re just doing our best efforts to make Kyary known to the Filipinos and for Warner Music Japan to acknowledge that a lot of Filipinos like Kyary. True, the community is pretty small that’s why we continuously promote our artist. I guess you’ve experienced lots of ups and downs over the years (being sooo experienced and all) and it seems like reality slapped you in the face real hard so I can’t blame you if you’re feeling that way. We’re not saying that we’ll be successful but we’ll remain optimistic about it and just continue and improve on what we’re doing. 🙂
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“Of course, we also promote the buying of original CDs/DVDs.” — that’s not how it sounded on the posts for your viral campaign. All you said was “bug the local deejays to play KPP”; there was no mention whatsoever of “you can also get her albums on CD JAPAN, YES ASIA and iTunes”, even as an afterthought.
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I actually have the same sentiments when it comes in supporting the jrock scene in the Philippines. i actually don’t have a credit card to make purchases online so i credit “ride” to people who has to make the purchase just to get the albums. I find it true actually, count as fans is not as good if based the count on sales, that’s the bottom line. What the hell would an artist would want to perform in one country, if they can see that there’s a low # of sales when comes to their albums and singles. How can they be assured of a successful concert by just a # of people who says they’re fans? I am not bashing the fans… i am a fan as well. but that’s the truth… even if they’re several reasons how come it’s hard to get official items and cds, but everything has a way.. if you really like to have them, that is…
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Agreed — that’s one way of getting the community together. I’ve been friends for years with people who were in the same group purchase circle!
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i agree with you. tama nga naman, WALANG RECORD COMPANY ANG MAGRRELEASE SA BANSA NA PURO PIRACY ANG PINAIIRAL. sana man lang, kung tlgang desperado kayong pumunta sila dito, bilhin nyo ung mga legal copies hanggat maaari. ako nga, i admit, gawain ko rin ung pagddownload… kung hindi mo man maiwasan ang pagddownload, siguraduhin mo lang na someday ay bbilhin mo ung album. unfair naman kasi sa mga naghirap para gawin ung album diba? sakin naman, wala tlga akong alam sa online buying. dinidiscourage din kasi ako ng parents ko. buti nalang at nung napunta kami sa hk, sinamantala ko un para bumili ng mga album na gusto ko at mura pa!
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“ako nga, i admit, gawain ko rin ung pagddownload… kung hindi mo man maiwasan ang pagddownload, siguraduhin mo lang na someday ay bbilhin mo ung album. unfair naman kasi sa mga naghirap para gawin ung album diba? sakin naman, wala tlga akong alam sa online buying. dinidiscourage din kasi ako ng parents ko. buti nalang at nung napunta kami sa hk, sinamantala ko un para bumili ng mga album na gusto ko at mura pa!” — it’s possible right? With patience and sacrifice? Unfortunately for some local Jpop fans, they want instant gratification — hence, illegal downloads
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Please define “fan”. Thanks.
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Here you go!
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lol
From the unreliable Wikipedia:
“A fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person who is enthusiastically devoted to something, such as a band, a sports team or entertainer. Collectively, fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom. They may show their enthusiasm by being members of a fan club, holding fan conventions, creating fanzines, writing fan mail, or by promoting the object of their interest and attention.”
And all other stuff. Yep. But I want your words.
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In as few words as possible: a fan is someone who admires someone or something strongly enough that they put up their time, effort, and resources into supporting them. Fans generally show their support by attending events (sporting, performance, etc.), purchasing items related to their fandoms (team jerseys, DVD box sets, etc.), and/or creating their own unique expressions of fannish behaviour (i.e. cosplay, fan art, and fan fiction).
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Sana maintindihan nila ito madami pa talaga immature and still did’nt understand what business are kahit explain mo sa kanila ang sistema. Nakakalungkot nito may aawayin ka pa!
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***ay aawayin ka pa*** correction
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EHEHEHEHE I am used to it? 😀 I am very thick-skinned ❤ Is part of being very opinionated and refusing to take bullshit from anyone (=´∀｀)人(´∀｀=)
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pero agree po talaga ako sa article mo na po ito sana maliwanagan ang mga utak bata sa kahit ano man community…
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That’s the hardest bit: changing people’s attitudes 😦 They are so convinced that they are doing nothing wrong that they will try to make it sound like I’m the villain for calling them on their bullshit
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magnetic_rose speaks the truth. There’s no escaping the fact that it is money that keeps them going, and while I am guilty of DLing their albums illegally, I want that to stop dead cold.
Now, the best way to handle this is, if CDs are too expensive, is it viable to buy their songs through iTunes or any site that sells their songs online? If there is any soul out there that knows if it works here in the Philippines, I will greatly appreciate it.
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You can purchase songs from the Japanese iTunes store via Philippine credit cards or via iTunes cards that can be purchased in Japan.
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Hey there, I’m just curious about your statement that if we want to see J-Pop artists come to the Philippines, we should start buying albums instead of illegally downloading them.
You see, I regularly buy Japanese Music albums from a proxy in Japan (although most of what I buy are video game soundtracks and artists). The problem is, since I use a proxy, the person buys the albums in Japan.
Now, I am thinking of how the record company sees this. When my proxy buys in Japan, the sale is seen by the record company as being a sale made in Japan. They don’t see it being made as a sale in the Philippines even though that would be its final destination.
Therefore, I am curious as to whether buying them really makes a difference in whether or not it helps bring the artists here to the Philippines. If the albums were available here locally (which more often they aren’t) then I can totally understand that this would help.
I guess the only exception would be buying the albums through iTunes; that way the record companies will see that there are actual purchases from the Philippines
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If the purchase was made from an informal operation run from somebody’s blog then it can’t be helped.
However, if the purchase was made from a proxy service or online store duly registered as a business in Japan then they are probably being mined for data by the music industry (the Japanese love data!). They may be aware that items are being shipped off to the Philippines, but let’s face it the number is too low and the market is too small to consider paying attention to. Hence, we have to compel more people to purchase material — if not physically then via digital download services such as iTunes and Amazon.
Also, the albums were available locally — the selection was not huge of course, because it is a test market. However, because people were not purchasing them (as opposed to fans of KPop groups who went out of their way to actually purchase these CDs), interest waned on the part of the Japanese record companies and they pulled out of their tentative forays into the Philippine market.
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I think doing a petition to show fan passion is not enough to show one’s support. As previous comments have already pointed out,the music industry is a business and it feeds one’s favorite musician. What better way to show support to one’s favorite artists than by contributing to their upkeep so they can actually make more music?
I am dismayed at those who are willing to go online to defend freeloading fans (being too young. no means of buying etc. etc.) since they’re encouraging and abetting these people. More disappointing are the fans who refused outright to be financially supportive of their favorite artists – their conscious decision shows how self absorbed they are and how little they respect other people’s efforts and properties.
The petition is a great idea btw, but I think that the effort the radio stations will put in playing their music will also not cost anything. If they decide to play, the radio stations will do one act better than some fans since they will have a legal copy when some professed fans are content with copies from questionable means.
Given that the petition succeeds, I am curious as to what will be the next step. Doing another petition? lol. How will a petition to visit and perform in Manila be taken seriously when most of the fans are “too young” to actually go or more importantly, CAN NOT make an effort to shell out the money in support of the artist? Here’s to hoping the petitioners have a plan on how to sustain the interest that the petition creates and not be content for it to be a flash in a pan effort. If it does not succeed, saying “But at least we tried! We made the effort!” is nothing to rest one’s laurels on or be proud about. They just made it more difficult for the next group effort to succeed.
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I am dismayed at those who are willing to go online to defend freeloading fans (being too young. no means of buying etc. etc.) since they’re encouraging and abetting these people. More disappointing are the fans who refused outright to be financially supportive of their favorite artists – their conscious decision shows how self absorbed they are and how little they respect other people’s efforts and properties.
THIS THIS THIS the decision to download illegally is bad enough, but to try to rationalize it in whatever means possible is puts it well into WTF territory.
Given that the petition succeeds, I am curious as to what will be the next step. Doing another petition? lol. How will a petition to visit and perform in Manila be taken seriously when most of the fans are “too young” to actually go or more importantly, CAN NOT make an effort to shell out the money in support of the artist?
EHEHEHEHE IKR — if they have no intention of paying for one measly download I’m pretty sure they also have no intention of paying for concert tickets that run into thousands of pesos, in the highly unlikely event of someone flying over from Japan to do a gig.
This is why we can’t have nice things 。・゜・(ノД`)・゜・。
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I admit, I myself download DVD rips of concerts and such, but that’s because I don’t have the money to buy the actual DVDs -now-. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have any plans of buying them once I do have money. For me it’s the same as reading manga online or downloading Japanese magazines. If you like it so much, then show support by buying the actual thing.
And really, who are we kidding? “I’m too young” and “I’m too poor”..? Lahat nga halos ng bata ngayon na nakikita ko naka-contact lens na, and that’s how much, around P600-700? Mas marami nang pera ang mga bata ngayon compared sa dati, so I don’t get why people are still using the “we don’t have money” excuse.
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Same observation — from personal experience some so-called fans claim to be too poor to pay USD 2 or PHP 80 to pay for a song on iTunes, but can afford to buy other things like fancy new smartphones etc.
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I don’t find ‘excuses’ like young age and discretion with income to be bull when it comes to spending or not for music. Though I wouldn’t wave it on a banner, telling people to put their money where their fan feelings are or blaming them for J-music not coming here is overbearing.
The ‘excuses’ you cited are customer behavior reasonably as uninvested as the efforts of both Japanese and local music industry parties to bring J-music here. The chicken and egg situation we’re stuck at: people don’t buy much because of limited product channels, business doesn’t open channels because people don’t buy much. I believe businesses have the job to market their product value in a way that gets us spending to get it. Now I might not be the role-model customer here but if we have to make the creative, hard-worked efforts you do to buy J-music products, the business fails us, not us them. We would fail them though if they invested in a solid promotional and product presence here and we still pirate away. I also pessimistically wonder if the Japanese are just plainly not interested in capturing foreign markets. They have big niches and some distribution channels in the lucrative US but still hardly any cross-over to the mainstream.
And once upon a time, K-Pop had small niche fan base as well but I’m pretty sure more rabid, spending fans were created than brought out of hiding with their penetration effort in international media. I’m not saying money and fan voices won’t matter until J-music makes a big move like so, but offending people’s spending values and setting yourself as an example, as seen in the comments, is just as invalid. While the comments show unity in like opinions that aren’t your problem, I missed a comment where the ‘problem,’ these ‘so-called-die-hard-but-DLs-only-fans’ say they’ve been compelled by your arguments and nice words to drop their torrents and get on iTunes. Or whatever challenge.
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I don’t find ‘excuses’ like young age and discretion with income to be bull when it comes to spending or not for music. Though I wouldn’t wave it on a banner, telling people to put their money where their fan feelings are or blaming them for J-music not coming here is overbearing.
I would rather come off as overbearing to fellow fans for forcing them to look at their faults and stop turning a blind eye to the increasingly distressing cases of piracy in the fandom, than sit quietly in the background hoping that they will change their ways. There is no shame in the having a stance.
I also pessimistically wonder if the Japanese are just plainly not interested in capturing foreign markets. They have big niches and some distribution channels in the lucrative US but still hardly any cross-over to the mainstream.
You don’t have to wonder because this is true. The Japanese entertainment industry — which does not only include music, but also manga, video games, and everything else in between, invest more on the domestic market because it is a sure bet.
However, there are exemptions to these, such as markets in Hong Kong, Taipei, and more recently Singapore, where the market has become large enough to justify more exposure for Japanese acts. So, instead of complaining that the Japanese music industry is too inward-looking, why not work on turning the Philippine fanbase into something worth investing in?
I’m not saying money and fan voices won’t matter until J-music makes a big move like so, but offending people’s spending values and setting yourself as an example, as seen in the comments, is just as invalid.
Aaaaaaaaaand ths is exactly the kind of attitude I am trying to get people pissed off enough about to try to change — thanks for just proving my point. It’s because most people are either too timid or just don’t care enough to raise hell, so they don’t go out there to call on other fans on their bullshit. That post on KPP was just the latest in a long line of things that ticked me off about fellow Philippine fans, so I decided to take a stand.
While the comments show unity in like opinions that aren’t your problem, I missed a comment where the ‘problem,’ these ‘so-called-die-hard-but-DLs-only-fans’ say they’ve been compelled by your arguments and nice words to drop their torrents and get on iTunes. Or whatever challenge.
I don’t really expect those fans to comment on this post — because to do so would be an admission of guilt, that they are one of those fans referred to in the post that are all “EHMERGAHD I AM THE BIGGEST [Insert Artist Name] FAN EVAHR I DOWNLOADED ALL THE SONGS ON TORRENTS AND MADE AN FB FANPAGE BUT I AM TOO SELFISH TO BUY REAL CDS BUT I’M A REAL FAN HONEST!!!”.
However, I fully expect them all to talk about the post and bash the contents in their little online communities. That’s okay by me; it’s part if the reason I posted this challenge publicly in the first place, instead of just bitching about it to a small circle of friends. It will force them to look at their actions and attitudes in a new light, and that in itself is a small victory.
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Sure, it must be thrilling riding the high horse to raise hell. But I got the impression you were ambitious for more than a small victory – and getting people riled up satisfies the fetish of successfully pissing them off but how do you objectively measure its effectivity and consistency in conversion to buying behavior? Which I seemed to read was your bottom line. Yes, great that at least it’s doing something – even if your expectations are set in a perfect world – but in general I find fan-Naziness unpleasant to my community experience and so I put my stand when it’s too much to ignore. I’ve pissed people off by calling them out as you, truly expecting them to reflect on it, but you see in your own responses that that doesn’t always play out like you’d like to flatter yourself into expecting.
By the way, I’m not pissed of by your article because I spend my own shameful, pretty fortune on my original goods. I can just separate the objective fact that if anyone’s love isn’t strong enough to compel them to spend, it’s still valid business – not right, not ideal, but valid. And as a marketing person, I just find calling people bullshit to be uncreative, unsustainable and as intellectually off-putting as what you speak against. You want me to change my personal values and join the bashfest to shame people into the noble cause of capitalism? Not my cup of tea and the shame in you is thinking that’s the cup everyone ought to to take a sip out of to qualify as a fan. It’s just as chipped a cup.
Also, saying the Japanese business does not invest here states a condition, not a complaint. The complaint is you throwing the bullshit card on people when you don’t account for the valid, logical (versus emotional) factors to their behavior. Harping on people and turning a blind eye aren’t the only options. Events, group sharing and community building are pro-active, happy mediums pitched in the comments and already done by you – my bet is your pet-peeve-fans will genuinely convert from these good ideas more than the flames. Businesses don’t approach their customers with negative stimuli for a reason.
I think it’s well high-spirited to work on a fan-to-fan basis, really. But because the community is small, the ripples are self-contained even if you drive purchasing up. Our penetrability potential won’t be assessed by the niche potential alone but ability for growth. Encouraging spending without knowing what magic number will catch the Japanese’s eye is optimistic but it would be a half-baked endeavor. IMHO, save some cash and enthusiasm for convincing local institutions you’re worth capitalizing on and they will find a way to court the Japanese better than anyone on the micro-level. Because you’re not actively shelling cash out, it may feel passive on your part; but if fan enthusiasm helps local level honchos assess potential for investment, it still gets the endeavor closer to coming full circle. The Japan Foundation may not have the purpose of business but when it set Eiga Sai up for commercial positioning and promos, they attracted an audience even outside their niche. Not telling people to show them their money first may have helped too. But if TJF hypothetically went up to some film label in Japan and presented this market data supported by their backing strategies, you must admit the influence will differ from you hardselling like girl scouts. Multi-pronged endeavor.
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But I got the impression you were ambitious for more than a small victory – and getting people riled up satisfies the fetish of successfully pissing them off but how do you objectively measure its effectivity and consistency in conversion to buying behavior?
Yes, that’s quite true — this post is such a small thing, miniscule even. But alongside the bitching and the moaning is the working on a number of projects with Japanese artists that cannot be divulged due to NDAs; however, one of them should be aired on a Japanese cable channel soon so that’s quite nice. It’s not easy and it requires a hefty bit of time, effort, and money, but we consider that as part of the community’s work to bring Japanese artists to Manila.
Which is sort of my point: why do other groups think that an online petition is the be-all-and-end-all of getting the attention of their favorite artists? Did they honestly think that once they get a petition going, things will all fall into place, full stop? Why is there no follow through, no Plan B? They should at least accompany their online petition with, “Oh BTW you can also support our efforts by buying [Artist]’s songs at [Local Record Bar] or [Online Music Source]!”
I can just separate the objective fact that if anyone’s love isn’t strong enough to compel them to spend, it’s still valid business – not right, not ideal, but valid. And as a marketing person, I just find calling people bullshit to be uncreative, unsustainable and as intellectually off-putting as what you speak against.
So it’s valid for people to be indifferent, but it’s invalid for me to express my disgust publicly on my own blog? Double standards, much? >.>
My bet is your pet-peeve-fans will genuinely convert from these good ideas more than the flames. Businesses don’t approach their customers with negative stimuli for a reason.
Unfortunately, this line of thinking is a bit too optimistic; human nature really doesn’t work that way. While most people would respond well to positive reinforcement, other people just need a good kick in the pants to get going. I mean look at you — you wouldn’t go out of your way to speak about your views right here right now if it wasn’t for your feelings of being personally affronted by my “fanazism”, as you so creatively put it.
IMHO, save some cash and enthusiasm for convincing local institutions you’re worth capitalizing on and they will find a way to court the Japanese better than anyone on the micro-level… The Japan Foundation may not have the purpose of business but when it set Eiga Sai up for commercial positioning and promos, they attracted an audience even outside their niche. Not telling people to show them their money first may have helped too.
Institutions like the JFM and the JICC may be putting in all that time, effort, and money to get the ball rolling, however it will all be useless if the Philippine fans do not hold up their end of the (unspoken?) social agreement that in exchange for bringing the artists here, the fans should support them through their purchasing power. However, that’s not the case — they themselves are struggling against the rampant piracy in the community.
Consider this: there is a line in the rules of the upcoming J-pop Anime Singing Contest organized by the Japan Embassy that specifically says they are against music piracy. Which is sad, because they wouldn’t have to be so succinct if the local fan community did its part and purchased CDs and singles legally.
But if TJF hypothetically went up to some film label in Japan and presented this market data supported by their backing strategies, you must admit the influence will differ from you hardselling like girl scouts. Multi-pronged endeavor.
Again — thank you for just proving my point: we need more than one plan. Multi-pronged, if you want to use your words. Because the way I see it, local fan communities — and I am not just singling out KPP, OOR, and all the other sub-groups who have been talking about this behind out backs (HI GUYS :D), but all the other fans who are so convinced that online petitions and fan mail are enough. To put it in the vernacular: “Laway lang yan.”; there has to be more substance to the plan — not just lip service.
A better idea would be to organize group buying circles to provide access to goods and merch (as a start, at least until there are wider distribution chains), AND hold offline fan events (and then provide documentation to not just to the NPOs but also the record labels themselves), AND organize group tours for fans to fly overseas and attend gigs, AND THEN hold an online petition. And if you have additional suggestions, we’d love you hear from you (zero sarcasm, promise!)! This is my favorite part about online discussions 😀
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*Hi, if it’s getting TLDR, there’s a gist in the last paragraph*
The community’s work is worth everyone’s sincere applause. Glad to read your good news!
About the ‘other groups,’ if they are unwilling to put forth the same time, money and effort you do, I hold that that much is logically fair. Age, discretion with income, etc are objectively rationalized by the situation if not being inherently rational consumer behavior in itself – this doesn’t mean it’s positive or negative. What is WTF is your assumption that this will not change given a new set of conditions, like maybe coming of age, increased channels, and value-swaying promotional and community efforts. That isn’t at all saying it’s rational to expect high return with low investment, btw (though so it should go for business), but that is beside what I want to say. Which is that there are better things to put ahead of bitching because that is really just lip service in the end, to use your words. A blogged challenge to people under vastly different gradations of fandom is still just spit, no better than drool.
Now I never said it’s invalid to express disgust on your blog. I’m just saying expressing such destructive disgust and linear thinking without a holistic consideration of a multi-faceted issue does a poor job of validating your agenda to someone who doesn’t already agree. If it matters, I’ve made the efforts you have to buy my goods and do find your logic instinctive enough, but if I was going to be threatened to put out my good money, I’d like to hear the Japanese say my boomerang is coming back. You telling me I won’t know it ’til I throw it is like a politician talking to peasants. Or martyr zealots. So sorry if I need another style to speak to me.
Though to be fair, your ideas and efforts I can listen to. They are uninsulting and inviting, yet they seem like the after-thought because they’re just in the comments and your kick-in-the-pants technique fronts your agenda. On your dictator’s understanding of human nature, I’m kicking you in the pants and you’re rejecting it; why would you doing it to others work? Unless by ‘get going,’ you’ll settle for being talked about? Eh di laway pa rin lang yun. Your follow through doesn’t matter if you’ve lost your addressee already. If I give the suggestions you asked for, the positive reinforcement in the matter, you would have perked up, since, as you said, that’s your favorite thing with discussions. If you feel that way, maybe others would too and then love to hear from you (zero sarcasm, promise)! You like to thank me for proving your points but as I read, you’re proving mine.
Again on proving my point, I read your article again and I do not see where you make a point on a multi-pronged approach; there there’s just an open-your-wallet-and-feed-capitalism call. But to let it pass, at least in the comments you introduce nice means to that end. Just, you propose merging multi-approaches and different fan behavior to a long but still one-ended prong – purchase. What is along a multi-pronged effort though is, for example, something you’ve just cited – suggesting a sales pitch at the end of a petition. This is building on an effort that is complementary and means well versus open-firing on it as if it had no value. Organizers still create some traffic versus none at all. Another prong, study the baseline of attitudes and conditions currently existing in the community academically to craft strategy from data insight, not just feelings insight. Hypothetical illustration: a survey shows the primary reason of 60% of young people for not purchasing is no means to pay online. 5% say it’s a pirate’s life for them. You feel so strongly to flame the pirates but that’s not the big problem after all. So after validation, go ahead switch back to the purchasing prong and hit these kids with some arrangement to order online for them and meet up for payment or whatever practical thing solves the problem. Then for dessert, throw your flames at the government instead to impose strict sanctions for piracy. Fans aren’t obliged to play their part (it’s a pretty feeling, but business is legally colder than that), but the government is. If they’re up for their job, they might surprise you faster than a one-by-one approach. The prong I’ll take though is for the entitled customer – the local and overseas business can make its efforts (even a tiny newspaper or TV feature) and I’ll put my money to reciprocate them happily when they do. Except for NEWS or L’Arc~en~Ciel. I’m dancing in the palm of their hands on those guys dammit.
I’m not discounting that money does do a of convincing and that it’s proper to pay-up and not freeload, JUST (1) monetary investment by customer to business does not typically come first so the spit and flames are quite half-assed, when (2) you and the commenters’ ideas for action are just so much better support for opening the community than “stop making excuses and shell out or I’ll say ‘go die in a fire.'”
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HAHAHAHA agreed — this IS starting to sound long-winded and redundant; for every point you raise I’ll have a counterpoint, and this will go on and on and on. Let’s simply agree to disagree, and leave it at that, and hopefully other folks reading this entire exchange will pick up a thing or two from the post and all the fantastic comments!
(Except maybe that one bat shit insane troll who posted thrice LOLWHUT)
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Hahaha. I was young too, young during a time when even having credit cards and stuff was only ever known to the top management of a company. But then again I waited, waited for such a time I could buy things I wanted. Even now it is still hard, I still gotta choose between meals or a concert ticket. But when that day comes that you finally pay for a concert ticket to see your favorite Japanese band, you will get that euphoria that only sacrificing so much can give. Kids today are so lucky, they can get hold on anything they want without so much as an effort to get up. They say “oh-like-I’m-the-greatest-fan-ever” and go to all the free performances just ’cause they are free. Then when the band comes back, so-called fan cannot even make an effort to save up to see the performance? With a lot of lead time too… Oh so much for your “love”… meh. I know it’s hard. I waited YEARS before I could see a Japanese band perform. And guess what? The sacrifice makes the memory all the better, and the experience so much sweeter. Just sayin’.. =)
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“Kids today are so lucky, they can get hold on anything they want without so much as an effort to get up. They say “oh-like-I’m-the-greatest-fan-ever” and go to all the free performances just ’cause they are free. Then when the band comes back, so-called fan cannot even make an effort to save up to see the performance?” — you’re right, they have it so easy. Yet they still want more, and for free! That’s not right
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I don’t mind these petitions and they are a creative and cost efficient way but it is not enough to convince Japanese entertainment companies to give attention to the Philippine market. What these company wants is some data that the local market has the purchasing power to buy their wares.
This is indeed a Chicken and the Egg situation, the market can’t buy wares from Japanese entertainment companies because of limited channels. Japanese entertainment companies on the other hand, doesn’t want to make a huge risk of entering and investing in a market if the people who will buy their stuff is not that significant in terms of number.
How about this, what if we have Live Viewing of Japanese concerts here for starters? Would you guys think that there will be a significant number of people who will watch this kind of concerts knowing that they will just be watching a live streaming concert (or a recorded concert) on a big screen?
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Now THAT is the kind of plan I wanted to hear — realistic, concrete, feasible, and may deliver good results! If this pushes through, you have my full support and I will try my darnedest to help make it happen!
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As much as I want to buy.. unfortunately it’s not available here locally. Although when i see something that gets mixed up on certain music store (tower records) almost a decade ago, i will given the budget I had that time. The same thing I did buying my Megadeth, Skid Row cassettes back in the day. And If Siam Shade records were also available I would have them by now. I admit I’m not used to OL buying. But if there were cd’s available here i surely will buy it.
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Are you picky or are you okay with second-hand CDs? There are a number of local shops that sell second-hand Japanese CDs — you just have to be really patient in searching for your favorite artists, and you are not assured of the stock every time you shop. But at least you have an honest-to-god legal copy of your favorite artists’ work, as opposed to getting on Google and typing in “free download [artist name] mp3”.
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I see. Well, maybe you can namedrop a few shops that sell original japanese cd. I’d surely like to drop by. thanks
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Japanimation and Hello Kabayan 🙂
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Japanimation, been there quite a few times. The latter I will check it out. Thank You so much. 🙂
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well to me I’m really not much of a JPop fan but considering m music library mostly dojin from M3 and comiket (as much as possible not touhou related) my main line is trance, traditional and classical (hard to find here in the philippines for good library collection, only known place for me to get classicals here is from taguig which is… far for my budget) but if I have the time in HK HMV for me lol, been thinking since I have quite a lot of “wants” right now I don’t know where to start lol. been thinking getting those shoujobyou albums from itunes but people say music brought from itunes has some quality loss compared to flac which i never notice or perhaps my hearing is quite “bad” since I lost my ability to listen to high frequency and got used to listening low frequency (1-50 hz is still audible to me hence my deep reasons why I hate dubstep) sounds which was never made to be biologically
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There is some loss of fidelity, but that’s mainly because the default iPod headphones are crap 🙂 You can get around that by using a better pair of headphones plus equalizer apps that let you tweak the audio to optimum levels.
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I remember the first time I became a J-pop fan… watching Utada Hikaru’s music videos aired heavily on both MYX and MTV when I was in elementary. I have almost all of Hikki’s albums released here (some labels here didn’t released her later albums IDK why). At least that way I supported her despite having limited budget. Even PolyEast released Hikki’s last album, Single Collection Vol. 2. I remember buying that thing when it came out. Aside from that I am also a K-pop fan and buy albums, both their Korean, Chinese or Japanese releases. I tried saving from 500 pesos up to 1000 every a month or two just to buy an album I like and it worked. I just buy albums and watch concerts according to what I just saved. It may be hard for me because I am a student, have some priorities, but yeah, that patience on saving money for albums and concerts really paid off. Though we still need effort to make J-pop mainstream here in the country…
In other topics, I also remember Sony Music Philippines shut down due to large-scale piracy on their label and just let it being distributed by Ivory, and Universal Music’s acquisition of EMI. Depressing how piracy and sales decline leads to shut down. 😦
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I can’t help but agree with this, and I have personally seen proof that Japanese music sales are low here in the Philippines.
My sister and I usually go to Fully Booked BHS because we sometimes get lucky with Japanese albums. She bought Utada Hikaru Single Collection (both volumes) for close to 500php each, iirc. That was a couple of years ago.
Fast forward to this year. I was in the CD section of Landmark Makati, looking for something to give a friend on her birthday. I chanced upon both Utada Hikaru volumes… selling at 150php each.
On one hand, I was happy because I could afford to give my friend both CDs but on the other hand… really, Jpop fans, really? The people who raved about Utada Hikaru for YEARS couldn’t fork over a few hundred pesos to show her their support?! I’ve seen decade-old albums selling at full price; Single Collection Vol. 2 isn’t even three years old.
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i have to drop by landmark and fully booked, i am so into Scandal Band, i might chance upon copies of their cds. thanks a lot for the tip.
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Sa totoo lang naman, ang panira lang sa fandom, e, SOME fans are so immature. Physically and mentally. Ayaw kasi maging open-minded sa bagay-bagay at nang magising sa katotohanan.
My cousin is an officer of a Japanese culture fanclub sa isang Uni, and she asked me on what strategies can I come up with to promote JPop or Japanese music, in general. I was honest with her. Mahirap talaga. Kahit kunin mo ang sponsorship ng iba’t-ibang Japanese-related institutions here, kung panay naman ang illegal downloading (and other reasons), wala talaga.
Anime lang talaga ang kinakagat ng audiences here in the Philippines. I discovered my love for JPop because of watching Anime. Kaso, may ibang fans talaga na hindi interesado sa Opening and Ending Theme. Example, pag narining lang nila yung song from an Anime, “Oy, yan yung sa *insert title here*.” Ayun, tapos na. Wala na yung tulad ko na may kasamang, “Sinong banda yan?”, etc.
I am not being a nega here or kontrabida. Kahit ako din, nangangarap na sumikat ang Jpop dito (like how it is in Singapore, for example). Kaso, ngayon, mahirap talaga na itaguyod ang JPop.
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Been reading this article (even though ang tagal na nito) and yeah, I honestly have to admit that all the points here count. Even when I was younger, I’d usually download stuffs online though I always strive to find ways to get the original material no matter how expensive it would be. If not, scour ako ng mga local shops here in Manila just to salvage a few scraps (like Japanimation) of music that are from the ’90s to the ’00s.
I only got the realize buying original stuffs in their original prices when Japanese house artist World Sketch released his second album “Ready To Love.” Believe me, it’s no joke coughing 2,600 pesos up-front and wait for 15 days but thankfully wala namang leaks online.
Siguro the only closest thing Japanese music could ever regularly grace Philippine stations is this Radio station in Davao called the MKD Nihongo Radio Program. Dahil sa dami ng nabili ko from Japanimation (I’m a regular fixture there) over the years nakapagdonate din ako ng mga original used CDs from that shop to that radio station and my collection is growing (about 400-500 CDs na din ako.)
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When I was in college, I used to buy surplus goods of my group, Morning Musume. Yeah sure, it was cheap but you will then realize if it will help them rise to the Oricon charts. Call me a person with no life, but I actually dream of getting a job and creating my own Paypal account for my idol needs.
As for your post, it’s really mixed emotions for me since I find downloading music a safe tactic whether I like the song or not. I stop downloading music now since I feel it would spoil my album if ever I would buy it in the future.
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been a while since I wrote this, currently have a job now and I buy cds of my idols. XD
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Is there a store in Manila where we can get the CD’s or is having them shipped here currently our only choice?
Currently, I still download music to try out new music, or go on Youtube. However, as a fan, I make it a point to buy the record through whatever means available (mostly through friends coming home) as the viable means of supporting the artist.
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i got a couple of Perfume CDs from Odyssey (SM Megamall, specifically) I have the Deluxe Cling Cling CD+DVD and Level 3 albums. Last I checkd, Love the World album nalang with a few copies left. They’re selling it for almost 1K (cd only). If anyone’s interested, it’s mixed with the KpOp almbums. hanapin nyo nalang maigi 😉
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Great tip — thanks nyancoffeediver!!! 🙂
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The best thing is that they offer the products outside Japan, not just “exclusive only at Japan”, especially with pertain to their online stores and can be shipped worldwide. Rather than the online store (where people cannot afford to start the use of PayPal), some known stores may have sell these for easy access. Those CD Tracks are rare finds at Japan Surplus stores. People would resort of consenting a friend who resides at Japan to buy those CD’s for them… which is also hard part on the fan itself, whereas that drives them to download tracks on the Internet (that is their last resort).
Not all PHL fans have bank accounts linked to Paypal, or have bank accounts to do the honors…
Easier said than done with the “dare” for the PHL J-Pop fans if worldwide shipping of your idol’s discography is possible from the online store or local record stores…
I dare you (magnetic rose) to name all stores in the Philippines that Pinoy J-Pop fans can buy the legit single/album of some J-Pop/J-Rock artists without the use of online stores. If you can name all of them, your dare is valid. Otherwise, your argument here is invalid.
To be honest, this article is too cynic for the readers.
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