Netlabels in Japan

Since the mid-2000s, a counterculture has taken place where numerous netlabels, online labels that release their music for free, located in Japan have been formed and garnered a huge amount of publicity which, according to writer Patrick St. Michel, has shaped how popular Japanese music is produced. Japan's netlabel phenomenon was the first time in the history of the nation's music industry where underground musicians could produce their works however they wanted to and have their music noticed by the public; this is an aspect that was previously absent at a time when major labels in the country followed a conservative method where they managed how artists would produce their music. Starting in the 2010s, the netlabel scene has crossed over to the mainstream music landscape and all across the world, with netlabel producers transitioning into working for bigger labels and western producers like Cashmere Cat and Ryan Hemsworth being influenced by the music of Japanese netlabels.

History and notable labels

Origins and impact

Kill Screen writer Caty McCarthy summarized that the ability to create whatever music an artist wanted to in Japanese netlabels was "welcome in a music scene where cookie-cutter idol groups are common, and diversity among their style is rare." She categorized Japan's netlabel scene as a counterculture against the nation's major labels who would've otherwise not allowed how producers in the netlabel community made their work: "For largely the first time, underground musicians were given the voices and agency they so desperately desired."[12] She also highlighted the Japan netlabel landscape to have more of an "actual, tangible community" than netlabel scenes in other territories, noting it to have "grandiose roster-wide celebrations" and "subterranean bass-heavy parties."[12] As St. Michel wrote, "the most influential Japanese netlabels have already helped shepherd a new generation of producers to greater awareness while shaping the future of popular Japanese music."[13]

In a March 2013 interview, Hikada said that around 2008, there were approximately 20 netlabels located in Japan; he saids that the amount rose to around 150 five years later.[4] An attribute to the success of Japanese netlabels is the popularity of

Live performances

There are very few netlabels in Japan that have the budget to set up and hold live events.[4] However, all of the live events that have occurred have been successful, St. Michel analyzed.[4]

In December 2012, the Tokyo nightclub Womb held "an all-netlabel party" featuring acts from netlabels such as Maltine, Bunkai-Kei, No Disco and On Sunday Recordings.[4]