George Williams on Cover of Bicycle Navi

IT'S BEEN A ROUGH WEEK BATTLING IT OUT WITH MASS MEDIA SENSATIONALISTS AND TWITS WHO FOLLOW THE PARTY LINE. F*CK THEM. I'M TIRED AND NEED A BREAK. MY DAD HAD A HEART ATTACK AND I'M NOW CHECKING IT OUT. PLEASE FORGIVE MY SPORADIC POSTINGS AS I'M IN A PLACE THAT HAS NOT INTERNET... IT'S LIKE A FLINTSTONES MOVIE HERE...

Well known Japanese TV and radio star George Williams is on the cover of Japan's best known bicycling magazine, Bicycle Navi, for the month of May, 2011. Congrats George!

You can see George Williams own multi-media webpage here and his bio and contact information here. http://universal-vision.jp/wp/?page_id=52

Write to: info@universal-vision.jp

Japanese Government Preparing for Broadcasting Companies' Bankruptcy

Last year, in 2010, for the first time in the history of this country, two major broadcasting stations were allowed to go bankrupt. Those stations were Radio-I in Nagoya and Love FM in Fukuoka. Those two events shook the Japanese broadcasting industry to its bones as the old school broadcasters have always thought that no matter what happened, the government would bail out the stations.

SELECTER - ON MY RADIO

"It's just the same old show... On my radio..."

There have been times in the past when stations got themselves into serious financial troubles, but, when push came to shove, either the Japanese government bailed the stations out or they guaranteed loans for the stations or arranged a group of companies to cooperate to buyout or support the station.

With the current poor economic situation and the Japanese government in debt over 200% of GDP, the well has run dry. There are no more funds to bail out these businesses.


This is actually the way things should be. The government should not be bailing out insolvent businesses as that just causes distortions in the market and causes management to continue with their incompetent practices.


A bankruptcy allows for the bad management to be washed out and replaced with new management. Bailing out a business (in this case a broadcasting station) or arranging loans, etc. allows bad management to continue in their positions and creates a false security for them. This creates a situation whereby the stations continue in their old and tired ways of failure.


I can give you a shocking example of this. In 2006, when a major Tokyo TV station took over a FM station, I was at a meeting where the guy who had been Program Director at that FM radio station for over ten years (ten years and lost $140 million USD) actually said to the TV station president - who had no become the president of the radio station;


"We don't have to get good ratings or make money as, even if we lose money, some other company will come in - with government support - and bail out the station and we'll all get to keep our jobs as we can't be fired under the labor laws (of Japan). So there's no reason to make any money." 


He said this like an excited boy who wanted his new friend in on his "secret." Both the new president of the radio station and I were surprised. No, surprised isn't the word I'm looking for here. I think my jaw dropped and bounced on the table top. It was a shocking admission.

If the kids want to hear new, cool music in Japan, 

it's not on the radio. They have to read magazines! 

The new president was also dumbfounded to hear this sort of thinking direct from the horse's mouth from a person in management. I had worked with this guy and that station for years and knew that they were incompetent and not interested in making money or getting good ratings. But I was completely surprised that he was so foolish that he'd so readily volunteer such information - so innocently - as if it were common sense - and as if it were useful knowledge. Did this Program Director actually think that the new president had bought this radio station for his fun and not to make money?


Of course, it goes without saying, that this Program Director was removed from his position quite soon after that.    


It had always struck me as amazing how someone like that could keep their job in the decade or so that I knew this gentleman. He was a nice guy, for sure. But a completely and totally clueless and incompetent businessman. 


As an aside, for those of you who live in Japan and have always wondered why, say, Japanese FM radio is so bad, then there's your answer: The management of these stations all think like the Program Director above; there's no reason to worry about your station brand, ratings, sales or making good programs. The station management only have to worry about protecting their own personal positions. This is how the situation is on the ground in these broadcasting stations. This is the reality for these people.


That's why, in a nutshell, Japanese TV and radio are so bad. It is also just one more symptom of why several of these stations will not survive the digital conversion. I've written about that here, here and here.

Now, if you read between the lines of the latest headlines, you can see that the Japanese Government is setting up the system for a collapse of radio stations.


The Associated Press reports: 


The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday it plans to allow one company to own up to four radio stations by relaxing its ordinance on the principle of banning multiple ownership of mass media.


The amendment is designed to permit a company to hold an entire equity stake in each of four radio stations, whether they are AM or FM stations.

The current ministry ordinance bans a company, which has a 10 percent or larger stake in a radio station, from holding more than 10 percent of shares in another station in the same service area.

On a nationwide basis, a company is allowed to hold a stake of more than 20 percent in no more than two stations.

The ministry decided to relax the principle in order to help radio stations as the widespread use of the Internet has caused many of them financial difficulties by eating into their advertising revenues.

The drafted amendment, which would also allow radio stations to merge with each other, is expected to be put into effect in late June after being examined by an advisory panel to the communications minister.


The Japanese government recognizes the writing on the wall. Most of these stations under the current system are insolvent and cannot survive much longer. The economy is so bad - and the Internet has changed the game so much - that industries outside of broadcasting (the ones that the government traditionally went to for money) are no longer able to afford it, nor are they interested in broadcasting anymore.


Traditional broadcasting is a dinosaur. All the FM radio stations in Japan are seriously bleeding money even now - even J-Wave in Tokyo. When digital broadcasting starts and they lose all their sponsors, they are dead. I explained that in detail here.

RAMONES - ROCK & ROLL RADIO

Well, actually, no. No one in Japan remembers any rock & roll

radio because Japan has never had any.

FM stations in Tokyo cannot survive past 2015 in their current configuration. The government can change the rules all they want to try to keep them breathing but the fact remains the same: Traditional broadcasting days are numbered. FM radio in Japan is already at death's door. 


TV stations like TV Tokyo, TBS and TV Asahi are not far behind.

So, You Want to Work in Japan's Music Industry?

If you really want to be a famous musician or work in the music industry, and you need advice, great! You've come to the right place. I've worked in the music business since 1978. So I have a pretty good idea as to what's going on.


Might as well start of at the beginning with having your dreams crushed like a grape, right? 


Let me tell you aspiring musician that there is absolutely no way. You have zero chance of making it without a hugely one-in-a-trillion lucky break. You have a better chance of winning the lottery. But, on the other hand, this article might be your lucky break!... Then again, you'd probably do well to get a job at a convenience store.


Trust that, by the time you finish reading this article you'll realize that, if you want to work in the music business in Japan, you really might as well get a job at a convenience store. It's really that simple.


But, if you really believe you can "make it," then good for you... Read on...


Yesterday, I had lunch with Aki Morishita the vice president of Fuji Pacific Music Publishing, the biggest music publisher in the world. Aki also has a very high ranking position at EMI Music Publishing too.

Both Aki and I were joined by a young friend who is a musician and song-writer named Andre Dimuzio. Andre, like many other young musicians, is looking for a break into the music industry.

I think he was very surprised by what both Aki and I had to say.

I think many people know that the old way of the music business is dead; record labels are collapsing all around us and the traditional methods of distributing music have also been turned on their heads. 

I've also written before about what these changes mean for TV and radio in Japan  here, here, and here.

CD retail is dying, and along with it the labels and TV and radio are dying a slow death too... 

Both Aki and I joked about how no one can sell any physical product anymore (CDs, etc.) excepting vinyl for club DJ's, but it looks like I could be wrong about that too as Panasonic has announced that they will discontinue production and sales of Technics turn tables.

As the Tokyo Reporter writes:

Fans of analog music were dealt another blow when consumer electronics company Panasonic announced earlier this month that it would be discontinuing the audio products within its Technics brand, most notably the legendary line of analog turntables. On October 20, the company said that it was winding down production of the Technics SL-1200MK6 analog turntable, the SH-EX1200 analog audio mixer and the RP-DH1200 and RP-DJ1200 stereo headphones due to challenges in the marketplace. "Panasonic decided to end production mainly due to a decline in demand for these analog products and also the growing difficulty of procuring key analog components necessary to sustain production," the company said in statement. 

Here, all this time, I had thought that DJ specialty record shops in Tokyo, like Manhattan Records, were doing a good business selling vinyl records. Maybe not.

Like I said, the music business is falling apart in Japan and the old order has definitely shot itself in the foot. Aki said that there are rumors that Tower Records Shibuya won't last to summer 2011. I wrote about that before too. And, after the bankruptcy of a radio station in Nagoya, there are the rumblings of another great upheaval in two big FM stations in Kyushu. 

I thought it was interesting that, during the conversation, I mentioned that the only hope for radio stations in Japan was automation - something they do not want to do as people will lose their jobs... But this morning's news also adds another surprise to the mix.

I had pointed out to my friends that Lawson's Convenience store runs their own in-store radio station. It is called, "Lawson's Hot Station" and while it is total and complete pablum, it does the job that Lawson's needs - and it is a fully automated "radio station."


Lawson's = Smart.

Now, Lawson's takes it one step further as they have taken over HMV records in Japan!

As Nikkei reports:

Lawson Inc. intends to use its takeover of HMV Japan KK to attract young consumers, the biggest users of convenience stores, by tapping the major music and movie retailer's online sales expertise and roughly 4.7 million members. HMV Japan -- which rings up half its annual sales of some 30 billion yen online -- sends out e-mail showcasing new products to customers based on their purchasing histories. The convenience store operator's attention was drawn to the passion of HMV Japan customers toward certain genres of music and movies.

Now, young musician with stars in your eyes, here's a test. Let's see if you can put two and two together... 

Question: If you want a job in the music industry in Japan, you should try to get a job at:

a) a record shop

b) a record label

c) a radio station

d) a convenience store

The correct answer is d.