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bmsgNikkei had a BMSG special issue released in print last year that is slowly being released online as a series.
Nikkei x BMSG series: Revolutionaries changing Japan through entertainment (BMSG エンタメで日本を変える革命児たち)
The first installment of the series talked about BMSG FES '24. The second provides an overview of the history of BMSG.
For 3rd to the 5th installments, it was a special talk between the BMSG Artists:
3rd installment - SKY-HI, REIKO, NAOYA, KANON special talk
4th installment - Novel Core, edhiii boi, JUNON, RUI special talk
5th installment - Aile The Shota, SOTA, SEITO, TAIKI special talk
In the 8th to 11th installments, Nikkei Entertainment spoke to people outside of BMSG, but worked closely with their artists or SKY-HI.
8th installment: Hosoda Takahiro, the CCO (Chief Creative Officer) of the advertising company, TBWA \ HAKUHODO.
9th installment: Ashizawa Noriko, Planning and Promotions Management of Spotify Japan
10th installment: Dr. R Sakai, a key producer of BMSG songs
11th installment: Shikano Atsushi, editor-in-chief of MUSICA magazine; producer of music festival "VIVA LA ROCK"
I've summarized what all four had to say below.
Enjoy!
Note: He is the director behind boss’s message on sustainability and reducing waste; and the video, “Less Waste, More Music”
How his company and BMSG’s connected
- TBWA \ HAKUHODO is an advertising company, they sell products, they also create TV programs and short films. Boss went to see Hosoda-san at TBWA \ HAKUHODO one day quite casually, lol.
Boss talked to him very passionately about the content he wants Hosoda-san to work on, which is the sustainability of Japanese music’s business model, that this business model that worked 30-40 years ago is stretching the industry thin; that young talent are suffering; and fans are being taken advantage of. While Hosoda-san thought boss was rather eccentric, he was also very drawn to boss at the same time.
- Not so long after this meeting, the text was released first on the BMSG website and posted by boss. It was much longer than what boss had told Hosoda-san it would be😂
- Hosoda-san was impressed that boss could write this, and he was also surprised by the perspective not as “BMSG” but as “the music industry.”
- Furthermore, the reason for this lengthy text is that it serves as a consideration for the various stakeholders affected by boss’s proposal, including retailers, labels, and fans.
- Usually, a video like boss’s “Less Waste, More Music” would be filmed in a CD retail store, but Hosoda-san found filming for boss’s video very fun and interesting, because it’s not everyday that you are filming the CEO of a music production company talking about sustainability in his own words.
- Similar to BE:FIRST and BMSG, Hosoda-san wanted this to reach people globally, so English subtitles were added, but there were reactions from Taiwan and countries in Asia as well, it made him feel like things were working.
- Just like boss is wanting to create a new ecosystem for the music industry, Hosoda-san hopes to achieve the same with this project. For example, creating a cycle where items created during the music-making progress can be turned into merch
- Hosoda-san has a book called “The Textbook of Concepts”, where he says everything starts from a vision. He doesn’t think there are many vision-driven music companies out there. He thinks the name BMSG, “BE MY SELF” is a counterthesis to the industry. BMSG’s transparency doesn’t hide behind an image, instead they show you what’s behind the scenes.
- Hosoda-san thinks there’s no one else besides boss who can talk about his vision(s) as one of the leading people in music / entertainment. Boss not only understands but can clearly articulate the systematic problems of the industry but he can also tell you how to go about it in the future by saying, “X can be Y if we do this.”
- As a leader, Hosoda-san says boss is the type of leader that doesn’t stand “above” you, he stands “in front of” you. Since he has a vision, he’ll make a performance out of it first… and before he realizes, there is an audience behind him supporting him. Hosoda-san thinks this is great, he wants more people around the world - who are hoping to be leaders – learn more about SKY-HI.
Note: She is the Head of Planning and Promotion Management for Spotify Japan
Note 2: The numbers for beef was quoted in WBS Economy News Academy interview in case it looks familiar
Note 3: This is data from 2024, until the next Nikkei interview or interview with boss, we won’t know what 2025 looks like, their Spotify Wrapped from this year is our best bet
BMSG listener demographics (with the example of BE:FIRST)
- Male to female ratio: 3:7
- Well-balanced across all ages, but Millennials and listeners in their 20s are the main listeners
- Local to overseas listening ratio is high among Japanese boy groups. 6:4
- The listeners were mostly local at the start of BE:FIRST’s career, but the past three years has seen an increase: Japan → USA → Germany → Indonesia → Brazil. Although the top 4 countries changes from time to time, USA has stayed at #2 so far.
Aile The Shota’s listening demographics stood out
- While listener age, gender and overseas listening ratio was nearly identical t that of beef, listeners were split almost evenly between those accessing tracks via My Playlist and Favorites versus those discovering Shota through Artist Radio and autoplay. This suggests they're not only reaching audiences through the BMSG community but also frequently being discovered through algorithms like Chill R&B.
- Beef’s listener demographics started trickling into younger demographics from Boom Boom Back, it was a hip hop sound with a MV that fit the Y2K vibe and choreography that had some buzz on TikTok and became a viral hit. The song was also on Spotify’s “Buzz Tracker” for March, 2023. Through support from Spotify Japan and TikTok for a month, Ashizawa-san thinks they helped beef expand their listening demographic to a younger group of people. Releasing Mainstream and Masterplan afterwards, which were also very hip hop, it helped cement their position even more.
- Through their collab with ATEEZ, there was an influx of young listeners from Southeast Asia so she thinks that might have decreased the average listening age.
Spotify Japan and SKY-HI
As an artist, boss was already using streaming services prior to setting up BMSG. Once he started THE FIRST, stating he wanted to create a boy group that is made in Japan, and now a statement of how to keep the music industry sustainable, a lot of what he says resonates with global streaming services.
Spotify Japan and moving forward
There is no one recipe for success. It’s often a build up of “potentials”. For instance BE:FIRST and ATEEZ’s collab definitely boosted beef’s overseas listener demographics. Of course, there are a lot of cross-cultural, multi-language collabs taking place, but considering the ecosystem of streaming services it is definitely something that helps. Tie-ups with overseas influencers, overseas tours, overseas festivals / events may all potentially be a seed that grows through trial and error, so it’s a matter of not letting go of these “potentials”. Spotify Japan is focusing its efforts on establishing collaboration with editors in each country so that when a song starts gaining traction overseas, they can have it added to local playlists.
Dr. R’s impression of BMSG
- Since boss produces, writes, and composes songs for his artists, BMSG artists are not simply singing songs created by others. This allows them to nurture artists who value their own convictions and artists who are deeply rooted in music. The “SKY-HI”ism is seeped into all his artists.
- Looking at BMSG POSSE, he sees them as a group of very interesting and creative people gathered together, and they are all growing at a very fast speed. For example, Novel Core. When he first started working with 😈, compared to his absolutely incredible rapping skills, he thought Core’s singing felt rather underdeveloped. Now his vocal technique has settled, the range of melodies he can sing has broadened, and his singing skills have improved tremendously.
- As for BE:FIRST, compared to when he saw them at the time of THE FIRST, they have come to understand their own voices and what is asked of them, such that they are now able to think about what to do next. For instance 🐢, he’s been singing a lot of clear and pretty vocal lines in their songs, but he can now also show off a more rough, aggressive vocal tone for “Slogan”.
- Everyone in BE:FIRST has grown in confidence and Dr. R thinks the biggest motivator behind that is “Mainstream”. All the members thought this is a cool song, but how the public and fans think about it, they did not know. Now that it is properly recognized, it’s given them confidence for what happens ahead. When they performed “Masterplan” for the first time at Tokyo Dome, it even felt dignified in a way.
- Dr. R thinks the success with Mainstream and their confidence afterwards is the communication and trust BE:FIRST has with the fans. In challenging themselves in doing a song like “Mainstream” because “it’s what they like”, and telling Dr. R, “This might be a hard song but is the right answer for us” – they trust that there are listeners who will get the message that this is the kind of music they like. Because of their trust in their fans, the boys and producers (like himself) can comfortably go full throttle when making a song for them.
- Even if a good song is made, how it is sold and promoted is important, and SKY-HI is a great support in that regard – what the fans want, how to spread it widely while also valuing what is important – boss is smart and has the brains to figure that all out. He thinks [BMSG] is coming up well.
How Dr. R created “New Chapter” and “Swan’s War”: Dr. R says SKY-HI has a good grasp of all his artists and can imitate / copy them well in recording / producing, so when he goes to Dr. R, he already has a ton of ideas for him; “I want so and so to sing like this”. For Dr. R’s part, he approaches composing tracks for BMSG FES with the mindset of creating a space where every participant, regardless of numbers, can fully express their individuality. Sort of like he creates the main structure and frames of a house (through his beats), and boss designs and puts furniture in them.
Sota was involved in the work of “Slogan”, Dr. R thinks by gradually handing over the lyrics and melody composition work, which had primarily centred around boss, to the other members, he thinks boss is fostering a broader perspective in song production and enabling them to grow naturally. If the artists can gradually take on the tasks boss handles, it will free shacho up to pursue other endeavours.
Shikano’s impression of BMSG Artists
- Hard working and quality
- He can sense boss’s shrewdness in selecting those who understand the essence of advancing smartly.
J-ent values quality towards its audience but within the industry itself the aggressive and pushy attitude in order to climb to the top has been the atmosphere for decades, BMSG (artists) may be the catalyst to shift that vibe [in the industry], because in order to go to the world having good character is important.
Shikano’s stories of BMSG Artists at Viva La Rock
- With boss: Through VIVA LA ROCK, he witnessed firsthand SKY-HI's journey to gaining recognition at rock festivals. Shikano-san supported him by having boss perform in the festival's signature segment, the “VIVA LA J-ROCK ANTHEMS”, led by Seiji Kameda.
- Core and Shota: Once they learned about boss’s relationship with Shikano-san they wanted Shikano-san to tell them more of “this side of boss that they don’t know.” Shikano-san says it’s extremely rare for artists to say such things, so he thinks the artists in BMSG trusts boss a lot.
Shikano-san on BE:FIRST
Over the past year or two, Shikano-san says boy groups have emerged as a new key presence at music festivals. While female idol groups began appearing at music festivals about 10 years ago, he recalls feeling uneasy back then. Despite their headliner-level drawing power, they seemed to adopt an attitude of “We’re grateful just being allowed to perform.”
In 2022, when BE:FIRST first appeared at VIVA LA ROCK, Shikano-san welcomed them right in the center of it all, but he thinks BE:FIRST themselves might have felt like they were intruding on someone else's turf. But, out of all the artists that performed at VIVA LA that day, BE:FIRST was the very last group to leave; having really enjoyed themselves and soaked the festival in. His staff were having a late night meeting for the next day so they left looking rather apologetic, lmao. After thoroughly experiencing what a rock festival is all about, he thinks beef started thinking about how they should be from there. They were ready to absorb everything like a sponge.
Over the next three years, BE:FIRST evolved into a presence that exuded the confidence to carry the weight of being a boy band while headlining music festivals. Shikano-san thinks their greatest source of confidence is the certainty that they are consistently creating music they find satisfying. As long as they hold on to that feeling, then he thinks they won’t go wrong.
TOKYO ISLAND and MAZZEL
- Through his experience working with Beef, Shikano-san has come to understand that fans of BMSG artists are often into hip-hop, Kpop, and rock. He also strongly believes that these fans like artists who make music with a distinctively human touch.
- He believes BMSG is a company that aims to purify the entertainment industry through the art of music, thereby naturally opening a path to the world.
- Shikano-san offered MAZZEL a spot to perform in TOKYO ISLAND because he believes mazz has big potential to be a fascinating presence. Having been chosen by BMSG, mazz embodies the company's philosophy and possesses the unique ability to view both the BMSG ethos and BE:FIRST's story both objectively and subjectively.
BMSG from here
Shikano-san thinks BMSG is striving to change the industry – transforming what already exists into transparent, clear ones. They are attempting what no one else has dared to do, whether out of fear or “That’s not for someone like me to do” mentality. He believes BMSG is the only production (company) in the industry that is capable of pulling this off.
Hope you enjoyed!
Please note I translate these for free and I'm not a professional, so they may not be 100% accurate.
Retranslations or sharing of the summaries is fine! For retranslations, please notify me beforehand and credit once posted!
Translations do take time to complete, so if you like my translations you can consider tipping me on Ko-Fi!
Nikkei x BMSG series: Revolutionaries changing Japan through entertainment (BMSG エンタメで日本を変える革命児たち)
The first installment of the series talked about BMSG FES '24. The second provides an overview of the history of BMSG.
For 3rd to the 5th installments, it was a special talk between the BMSG Artists:
3rd installment - SKY-HI, REIKO, NAOYA, KANON special talk
4th installment - Novel Core, edhiii boi, JUNON, RUI special talk
5th installment - Aile The Shota, SOTA, SEITO, TAIKI special talk
In the 8th to 11th installments, Nikkei Entertainment spoke to people outside of BMSG, but worked closely with their artists or SKY-HI.
8th installment: Hosoda Takahiro, the CCO (Chief Creative Officer) of the advertising company, TBWA \ HAKUHODO.
9th installment: Ashizawa Noriko, Planning and Promotions Management of Spotify Japan
10th installment: Dr. R Sakai, a key producer of BMSG songs
11th installment: Shikano Atsushi, editor-in-chief of MUSICA magazine; producer of music festival "VIVA LA ROCK"
I've summarized what all four had to say below.
Enjoy!
Hosoda Takahiro
Note: He is the director behind boss’s message on sustainability and reducing waste; and the video, “Less Waste, More Music”
How his company and BMSG’s connected
- TBWA \ HAKUHODO is an advertising company, they sell products, they also create TV programs and short films. Boss went to see Hosoda-san at TBWA \ HAKUHODO one day quite casually, lol.
Boss talked to him very passionately about the content he wants Hosoda-san to work on, which is the sustainability of Japanese music’s business model, that this business model that worked 30-40 years ago is stretching the industry thin; that young talent are suffering; and fans are being taken advantage of. While Hosoda-san thought boss was rather eccentric, he was also very drawn to boss at the same time.
- Not so long after this meeting, the text was released first on the BMSG website and posted by boss. It was much longer than what boss had told Hosoda-san it would be😂
- Hosoda-san was impressed that boss could write this, and he was also surprised by the perspective not as “BMSG” but as “the music industry.”
- Furthermore, the reason for this lengthy text is that it serves as a consideration for the various stakeholders affected by boss’s proposal, including retailers, labels, and fans.
- Usually, a video like boss’s “Less Waste, More Music” would be filmed in a CD retail store, but Hosoda-san found filming for boss’s video very fun and interesting, because it’s not everyday that you are filming the CEO of a music production company talking about sustainability in his own words.
- Similar to BE:FIRST and BMSG, Hosoda-san wanted this to reach people globally, so English subtitles were added, but there were reactions from Taiwan and countries in Asia as well, it made him feel like things were working.
- Just like boss is wanting to create a new ecosystem for the music industry, Hosoda-san hopes to achieve the same with this project. For example, creating a cycle where items created during the music-making progress can be turned into merch
- Hosoda-san has a book called “The Textbook of Concepts”, where he says everything starts from a vision. He doesn’t think there are many vision-driven music companies out there. He thinks the name BMSG, “BE MY SELF” is a counterthesis to the industry. BMSG’s transparency doesn’t hide behind an image, instead they show you what’s behind the scenes.
- Hosoda-san thinks there’s no one else besides boss who can talk about his vision(s) as one of the leading people in music / entertainment. Boss not only understands but can clearly articulate the systematic problems of the industry but he can also tell you how to go about it in the future by saying, “X can be Y if we do this.”
- As a leader, Hosoda-san says boss is the type of leader that doesn’t stand “above” you, he stands “in front of” you. Since he has a vision, he’ll make a performance out of it first… and before he realizes, there is an audience behind him supporting him. Hosoda-san thinks this is great, he wants more people around the world - who are hoping to be leaders – learn more about SKY-HI.
Ashizawa Noriko
Note: She is the Head of Planning and Promotion Management for Spotify Japan
Note 2: The numbers for beef was quoted in WBS Economy News Academy interview in case it looks familiar
Note 3: This is data from 2024, until the next Nikkei interview or interview with boss, we won’t know what 2025 looks like, their Spotify Wrapped from this year is our best bet
BMSG listener demographics (with the example of BE:FIRST)
- Male to female ratio: 3:7
- Well-balanced across all ages, but Millennials and listeners in their 20s are the main listeners
- Local to overseas listening ratio is high among Japanese boy groups. 6:4
- The listeners were mostly local at the start of BE:FIRST’s career, but the past three years has seen an increase: Japan → USA → Germany → Indonesia → Brazil. Although the top 4 countries changes from time to time, USA has stayed at #2 so far.
Aile The Shota’s listening demographics stood out
- While listener age, gender and overseas listening ratio was nearly identical t that of beef, listeners were split almost evenly between those accessing tracks via My Playlist and Favorites versus those discovering Shota through Artist Radio and autoplay. This suggests they're not only reaching audiences through the BMSG community but also frequently being discovered through algorithms like Chill R&B.
- Beef’s listener demographics started trickling into younger demographics from Boom Boom Back, it was a hip hop sound with a MV that fit the Y2K vibe and choreography that had some buzz on TikTok and became a viral hit. The song was also on Spotify’s “Buzz Tracker” for March, 2023. Through support from Spotify Japan and TikTok for a month, Ashizawa-san thinks they helped beef expand their listening demographic to a younger group of people. Releasing Mainstream and Masterplan afterwards, which were also very hip hop, it helped cement their position even more.
- Through their collab with ATEEZ, there was an influx of young listeners from Southeast Asia so she thinks that might have decreased the average listening age.
Spotify Japan and SKY-HI
As an artist, boss was already using streaming services prior to setting up BMSG. Once he started THE FIRST, stating he wanted to create a boy group that is made in Japan, and now a statement of how to keep the music industry sustainable, a lot of what he says resonates with global streaming services.
Spotify Japan and moving forward
There is no one recipe for success. It’s often a build up of “potentials”. For instance BE:FIRST and ATEEZ’s collab definitely boosted beef’s overseas listener demographics. Of course, there are a lot of cross-cultural, multi-language collabs taking place, but considering the ecosystem of streaming services it is definitely something that helps. Tie-ups with overseas influencers, overseas tours, overseas festivals / events may all potentially be a seed that grows through trial and error, so it’s a matter of not letting go of these “potentials”. Spotify Japan is focusing its efforts on establishing collaboration with editors in each country so that when a song starts gaining traction overseas, they can have it added to local playlists.
Dr. R Sakai
Dr. R’s impression of BMSG
- Since boss produces, writes, and composes songs for his artists, BMSG artists are not simply singing songs created by others. This allows them to nurture artists who value their own convictions and artists who are deeply rooted in music. The “SKY-HI”ism is seeped into all his artists.
- Looking at BMSG POSSE, he sees them as a group of very interesting and creative people gathered together, and they are all growing at a very fast speed. For example, Novel Core. When he first started working with 😈, compared to his absolutely incredible rapping skills, he thought Core’s singing felt rather underdeveloped. Now his vocal technique has settled, the range of melodies he can sing has broadened, and his singing skills have improved tremendously.
- As for BE:FIRST, compared to when he saw them at the time of THE FIRST, they have come to understand their own voices and what is asked of them, such that they are now able to think about what to do next. For instance 🐢, he’s been singing a lot of clear and pretty vocal lines in their songs, but he can now also show off a more rough, aggressive vocal tone for “Slogan”.
- Everyone in BE:FIRST has grown in confidence and Dr. R thinks the biggest motivator behind that is “Mainstream”. All the members thought this is a cool song, but how the public and fans think about it, they did not know. Now that it is properly recognized, it’s given them confidence for what happens ahead. When they performed “Masterplan” for the first time at Tokyo Dome, it even felt dignified in a way.
- Dr. R thinks the success with Mainstream and their confidence afterwards is the communication and trust BE:FIRST has with the fans. In challenging themselves in doing a song like “Mainstream” because “it’s what they like”, and telling Dr. R, “This might be a hard song but is the right answer for us” – they trust that there are listeners who will get the message that this is the kind of music they like. Because of their trust in their fans, the boys and producers (like himself) can comfortably go full throttle when making a song for them.
- Even if a good song is made, how it is sold and promoted is important, and SKY-HI is a great support in that regard – what the fans want, how to spread it widely while also valuing what is important – boss is smart and has the brains to figure that all out. He thinks [BMSG] is coming up well.
How Dr. R created “New Chapter” and “Swan’s War”: Dr. R says SKY-HI has a good grasp of all his artists and can imitate / copy them well in recording / producing, so when he goes to Dr. R, he already has a ton of ideas for him; “I want so and so to sing like this”. For Dr. R’s part, he approaches composing tracks for BMSG FES with the mindset of creating a space where every participant, regardless of numbers, can fully express their individuality. Sort of like he creates the main structure and frames of a house (through his beats), and boss designs and puts furniture in them.
Sota was involved in the work of “Slogan”, Dr. R thinks by gradually handing over the lyrics and melody composition work, which had primarily centred around boss, to the other members, he thinks boss is fostering a broader perspective in song production and enabling them to grow naturally. If the artists can gradually take on the tasks boss handles, it will free shacho up to pursue other endeavours.
Shikano Atsushi
Shikano’s impression of BMSG Artists
- Hard working and quality
- He can sense boss’s shrewdness in selecting those who understand the essence of advancing smartly.
J-ent values quality towards its audience but within the industry itself the aggressive and pushy attitude in order to climb to the top has been the atmosphere for decades, BMSG (artists) may be the catalyst to shift that vibe [in the industry], because in order to go to the world having good character is important.
Shikano’s stories of BMSG Artists at Viva La Rock
- With boss: Through VIVA LA ROCK, he witnessed firsthand SKY-HI's journey to gaining recognition at rock festivals. Shikano-san supported him by having boss perform in the festival's signature segment, the “VIVA LA J-ROCK ANTHEMS”, led by Seiji Kameda.
- Core and Shota: Once they learned about boss’s relationship with Shikano-san they wanted Shikano-san to tell them more of “this side of boss that they don’t know.” Shikano-san says it’s extremely rare for artists to say such things, so he thinks the artists in BMSG trusts boss a lot.
Shikano-san on BE:FIRST
Over the past year or two, Shikano-san says boy groups have emerged as a new key presence at music festivals. While female idol groups began appearing at music festivals about 10 years ago, he recalls feeling uneasy back then. Despite their headliner-level drawing power, they seemed to adopt an attitude of “We’re grateful just being allowed to perform.”
In 2022, when BE:FIRST first appeared at VIVA LA ROCK, Shikano-san welcomed them right in the center of it all, but he thinks BE:FIRST themselves might have felt like they were intruding on someone else's turf. But, out of all the artists that performed at VIVA LA that day, BE:FIRST was the very last group to leave; having really enjoyed themselves and soaked the festival in. His staff were having a late night meeting for the next day so they left looking rather apologetic, lmao. After thoroughly experiencing what a rock festival is all about, he thinks beef started thinking about how they should be from there. They were ready to absorb everything like a sponge.
Over the next three years, BE:FIRST evolved into a presence that exuded the confidence to carry the weight of being a boy band while headlining music festivals. Shikano-san thinks their greatest source of confidence is the certainty that they are consistently creating music they find satisfying. As long as they hold on to that feeling, then he thinks they won’t go wrong.
TOKYO ISLAND and MAZZEL
- Through his experience working with Beef, Shikano-san has come to understand that fans of BMSG artists are often into hip-hop, Kpop, and rock. He also strongly believes that these fans like artists who make music with a distinctively human touch.
- He believes BMSG is a company that aims to purify the entertainment industry through the art of music, thereby naturally opening a path to the world.
- Shikano-san offered MAZZEL a spot to perform in TOKYO ISLAND because he believes mazz has big potential to be a fascinating presence. Having been chosen by BMSG, mazz embodies the company's philosophy and possesses the unique ability to view both the BMSG ethos and BE:FIRST's story both objectively and subjectively.
BMSG from here
Shikano-san thinks BMSG is striving to change the industry – transforming what already exists into transparent, clear ones. They are attempting what no one else has dared to do, whether out of fear or “That’s not for someone like me to do” mentality. He believes BMSG is the only production (company) in the industry that is capable of pulling this off.
Hope you enjoyed!
Please note I translate these for free and I'm not a professional, so they may not be 100% accurate.
Retranslations or sharing of the summaries is fine! For retranslations, please notify me beforehand and credit once posted!
Translations do take time to complete, so if you like my translations you can consider tipping me on Ko-Fi!
