Music career in japan
 

Hey, I was wondering if your an american musician/band. Can you get signed to a japanese record company and live there?
I was watching Cartoon Kat-tun and there was an american girl on there that was signed to a japanese record company and lives in japan.

Sure. You could rock like JERO

YouTube - JERO ジェロ 「海雪」

I was wondering the same thing, but even though it's something that's possible....

it's probably going to be really hard. not everyone that tries to do that is going to make it

wow...that was awesome lol but thank you. me, my bro and my two cuz are thinking about starting a band and try to get signed to a japanese record company. do you know how we would get signed? like how can we get the japanese company to recognize us?

hmm....maybe you could go onto myspace and just-so-happen to ask a company what they think of your music (after you make some) and say you're trying to get some feedback by professionals?
It could work, but it might not.
Plus, they could possibly ignore you, or think you're bad. It depends.

yea...i looked at some visa's and i found one that it would be under and it said 1-3 years visa. what determines the years of the visa?

I don't want to burst your bubble but the chances of you succeeding in Japan via a Japanese record company without any Japanese is next to zero. Even if you spoke fluent Japanese it would still be pretty slim. The entertainment industry in Japan is vicious and takes no prisoners.

But if you still want to try, go nuts and create a demo tape and send it to the major record publishers. I'll give you the link for Avex for starters. The most popular publisher in Japan. They will contact you if you think you are good or they'll just chuck your tape in the bin and won't bother notifying you about it. They don't notify failed applicants.

http://avex-audition.jp/always/

No there isn't a English version of the page.

Just to get you prepared, they receive about 40,000 of these entries a year so you better be pretty bloody good.

You could also try other publishers like Toshiba EMI, Sony EPIC, Sony Music Group and heaps of others. Anyway good luck.

Starting A Rock band in Japan
 

Anyone know anything about starting a rock band in Japan? My dream is to be in a rock band and I love Japan, so I am dreaming/thinking of moving out there to do it. I play electric guitar/harmonica could maybe do vocals. Interested in doing rock.

It would be really helpful if you have any info on the club scene in tokyo, how to get record deals, how much japanese u need to know etc. Attitudes towards foreigners etc.

If I did this I would try to base around a big city like tokyo or osaka... i heard fukuoka has a good music scene though. I'm not rich so I would probably need a job... teaching english is my best bet I assume.

thanks for the advice!

Ok, i know absolutely nothing about starting a band, nor how to play any instrument at all. but i've always dreamed of being in a metal band. i'm going to learn an instrument soon, but my parents could never afford it. anyway, I love Japan and always wanted to go there for a week or two.......or a couple hundred lol
Good luck, though!