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How films in concert became big business

Avex Classics International (ACI) head of Europe & The Americas Kate Caro has spoken to IQ about the growing popularity of films live in concert.

The company – a division of Japan’s leading entertainment business Avex Inc – last week announced it has acquired the rights for James Cameron’s Avatar films.

The concerts are licensed by Disney Concerts and 20th Century Studios, with the world premiere of Avatar LIVE to be held at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 27 October. James Horner’s epic score will be performed live by an orchestra, choir and soloists, conducted by Ludwig Wicki, while the blockbuster is shown on the big screen.

Avatar is made for the big screen,” says Caro. “And what is fantastic about the live in concert forum is that it’s not just going to see your favourite film on a big screen again, you’re seeing it with thousands of people with a live orchestra on stage – and also a live choir in this case. So it’s heightening the emotions and making it much bigger experience for everyone, and that is phenomenal.

“Avatar is 2hr 42m long and there are only 20 minutes without music, so it’s a big play for the orchestra and a huge performance. But that just shows you how crucial James Horner’s score is to the film. We’ve got the world premiere fixed for October and an eight-concert tour in France. And we’ve got lots of plans for Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Australia and Asia, and some high-profile plans for America as well, so it’s an exciting one for us.”

“Musically, we need to ensure that technically everything is absolute highest quality. Nothing can afford to go wrong”

The deal continues a long-standing relationship with James Cameron that has seen Avex produce Titanic LIVE, Aliens LIVE and The Terminator LIVE in concert at venues around the world.

“It’s been a really long and collaborative partnership,” Caro tells IQ. “There are a lot of stakeholders that we have to ensure are happy because these films are everything to them and we are essentially taking their babies and producing them in a concert format.

“Musically, we need to ensure that technically everything is absolute highest quality. Nothing can afford to go wrong. The stakes are high in live performances, so we have top teams making sure that everything goes according to plan so that the audiences get the best possible experience.”

ACI’s film in concert shows have been performed in more than 80 cities across 30 countries, and Caro points out the productions have helped introduce new audiences to classical music.

“Everybody, whether they know it or not, is exposed to classical music all the time – through documentaries, through film, through TV series – it’s all underscored by orchestral music,” she says. “But this is providing an entry point to those who haven’t been exposed to live symphonic music before. We’re seeing a huge array of audiences and it’s wonderful to see their reactions.”

“We’ve got two Indian titles, Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion, with more to come”

She adds: “We have carefully curated [our catalogue] so we have a variety of titles to suit different audiences worldwide, because that’s really what we’re aiming for. We want to find projects that will work for all audiences, not just the UK or English-speaking markets.

“We have huge global blockbusters like Avatar and Titanic. We’ve got critically acclaimed masterpieces such as Amadeus – we’ve had 170 performances in 27 countries of that show – and Blade Runner has a six-concert UK tour coming up in September.

“We’ve got two Indian titles, Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion, with more Indian titles to come. We’re finding that’s a really interesting market, both for audiences who haven’t experienced films like that in this way before, but also for promoters and especially orchestras who have wanted to engage with local Indian communities.”

Caro explains how the films in concert concept has evolved as it has grown in prominence over the past decade or so.

“You’ve got the theatrical release and the streaming release now, and film live in concert has almost become a third pillar to that. You’re seeing so many titles now coming out in that forum, which is fantastic to see. It’s providing people with different ways to see film, but also experiencing music live in that way as well.

“It has become more of a commercial enterprise than it was, say, 15 years ago, when most of the films with live orchestra were perhaps a little bit higher-end and niche at that point.”

“We’re very lucky to have developed Blade Runner LIVE and The Terminator LIVE, which are not for orchestras but touring bands”

Detailing the complexities involved in the presentations, Caro says that although some venues “work better than others”, the firm has learned to be adaptable.

“We try and make it work wherever promoters want to do it, whether that’s indoor or outdoor, big or small,” she says. “We’re very lucky to have developed Blade Runner LIVE and The Terminator LIVE, which are not for orchestras but touring bands. Blade Runner‘s for 11 musicians and The Terminator is for eight musicians, so those can work in smaller venues – perhaps where you couldn’t fit a full orchestra on stage – or indeed where the acoustics  are not going to be as good for an orchestra, so these work very well in terms of flexible spaces.

“But you need to ensure that you don’t lose too many seats in terms of sight lines. Promoters will be keeping an eye on the box office very carefully, of course, because these do come with high cost productions. At Avex, we’re picking and choosing really carefully. We want to ensure that if a promoter is going to be paying to have an orchestra on stage, it’s an expensive undertaking for them so we need to make sure that it’s really worth their while.”

Earlier this month, Live Nation and Mattel, Inc announced a North American film with orchestra tour of Barbie The Movie: In Concert, and looking to the future of the concept, Caro is confident there is still vast untapped potential to explore.

“We’re often approached with by studios with some of their back catalogue, but it’s an expensive undertaking to make sure that it’s done really really well so we are quite careful to choose the projects we’re working on,” she says. “We’re also keen to build relationships with directors and with studios, and build a trustworthy two-way relationship, where we’re listening to them and they’re listening to us and projects get built.

“As we’ve shown with with Baahubali, we’re forging into a different marketplace with Indian titles and there is huge expansion to be done with other very popular genres as well. There are some that come to mind that haven’t had this treatment yet, like anime, which could be really exciting.”

 


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AEG Presents partners with Japan’s Avex Entertainment

AEG has joined forces with Avex Entertainment, a Tokyo-based music and entertainment company, to launch AEGX, a joint venture that aims to create new opportunities in both the Japanese and global live music markets.

AEGX will give Avex artists access to AEG Presents’ venues, festivals and global touring partnerships, while also allowing AEG to utilise Avex’s platform to reach Japanese audiences with its promoted acts. Founded as a dance music label in 1988, Avex’s business now includes recording, artist management, merchandise, anime, concerts, events and more.

“This is really a perfect example of synergies being scaled for the benefit of global artist development, which is at the core of what we do,” says Jay Marciano, chairman and CEO of AEG Presents.

“Partnering with Avex to launch AEGX gives both Avex and AEG Presents a path to create real opportunities for musicians who increasingly see the world as a borderless global community. I can’t wait to see what we all do together.”

“We are thrilled to take this stride forward together and look forward to the future”

The initial focus for the new venture will be on the co-promotion of AEG artists, and the development of music festivals and venues, in Japan, as well as the promotion of global tours for Asian artists, including both Avex- and non-Avex-signed acts.

The companies have previously collaborated on tours such as Ed Sheeran and Celine Dion, while AEG-owned ticket seller AXS is, with Avex and Yahoo Japan, a partner in ticketing service Passrevo/Yahoo! Tickets.

“We are very excited to announce the launch of AEGX with AEG Presents,” says Katsumi Kuroiwa, president and CEO of Avex. “Our companies both share the same goal with this new partnership: AEGX will serve music fans around the world by contributing to the global development of western artists, while also expanding the reach of Japanese artists beyond its borders.

“The Covid-19 pandemic reminds us of the positive power and limitless potential of music and entertainment. We are thrilled to take this stride forward together and look forward to the future.”

 


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Land of the rise in fun: Why booming Japan is such a tough market to crack

Big in Japan’ was a term, in the 80s and 90s, for modestly successful American and European acts that found slightly unlikely mega-stardom in the Land of the Rising Sun.

It wasn’t an insult, exactly – who wouldn’t want to be big in Japan? – but it was often used sneeringly, whether directed at Mr Big, the early-90s rock supergroup who still hop up into the big leagues every time they touch down at Narita International Airport, or Scatman John, whose 1994 record Scatman’s World is, remarkably, Japan’s 17th biggest-selling international album of all time.

But the days when Japan might have been seen as an easily impressed bonus market for Western acts are long gone. Over the past 20 years or so, the balance has shifted dramatically, as Japanese domestic music output – as well as that of nearby frenemy South Korea – has surged in both quantity and quality. Today, international music takes, at most, a 10% share of the live market, with domestic on a commanding 85% and South Korea’s K-pop juggernaut accounting for about 5%.

Today, the Japanese music market is the second biggest in the world, behind the US and ahead of Germany. Its live sector has set new records in both of the past two years, hitting ¥332 billion in 2017 (around €2.7bn) and then rising again to ¥345bn (€2.8bn) in 2018 – a 3.7% uplift that came in spite of a small decline in the number of shows – according to the All-Japan Concert and Live Entertainment Promoters Conference (ACPC).

“The Japanese market in live entertainment has been on the upward trend since the middle of 2010,” says ACPC director Takao Kito. “That’s not only because of the increase in live shows caused by a drop-off in CD sales, but because of a change in users’ minds from consuming products to experiences.”

Clearly, Japan remains a highly appealing market for international promoters and artists, and the big ones are certainly chipping away at it. Live Nation has a Japanese office and, with local partners, has co-promoted plenty of recent arena shows. AEG, meanwhile, worked in partnership with Japanese giant Avex on its recent Ed Sheeran and Celine Dion concerts. But both global promoters know they face a stiff challenge to get much deeper into the Japanese business.

Korean stars record Japanese versions of their songs. In a country where little English is spoken, and even less Korean, such things make a difference

“It is a very mature, competitive market that Live Nation has had a hard time getting traction in,” concedes Live Nation Japan president John Boyle, who has headed the giant’s Japanese push since early 2018. He says Live Nation has big hopes for Japan but fully appreciates the challenge of bringing them to fruition. “I think it is more challenging than anywhere else in the world,” he says.

The fact is, for all its surging fortunes, Japan has numerous characteristics that fly in the face of Western music business orthodoxies and, in many cases, restrict access from outside. CDs remain dominant, claiming 80% of music sales, but though the physical market has certainly declined, streaming has not yet caught on, removing a vitally important channel for artists seeking to find exposure in a new market.

Record companies remain powerful but heavily domestically focused, with local majors – of which there are many, including titans such as Avex, Universal, Sony Music Entertainment Japan and JVC Kenwood – unlikely to take a punt on an unknown foreign act, however successful they may be elsewhere. Tour support, once commonplace, has fallen out of fashion.

Meanwhile, large venues, remarkably scarce in the immense sprawl of Tokyo, book up years in advance, with weekends often block-booked by domestic promoters working in groups. For international operators attempting to route world tours and finding only assorted weekday evenings available, locking down an appropriate venue at the right time becomes profoundly difficult.

Where smaller international bands are concerned, the situation is not much easier. There are no booking agents in Japan, and mixed festival bills are limited and hard to crack. While promoters are heavily engaged in scouting new talent, few are tempted by foreign artists with little following. So new indie artists looking to build an audience typically need to deal direct with Japan’s rai-bu houses – small, private venues that usually don’t pay – and organise their own promotion.

But of course, that 10% doesn’t come from nowhere. Sheeran, needless to say, does good business, selling out the Tokyo Dome and Osaka’s Kyocera Dome in April, supported – as he was across all of Asia – by Japanese rock heroes One OK Rock. Live Nation, too, has its own pipeline: recent arena shows include Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Maroon Five, with U2, Queen and Adam Lambert and the Backstreet Boys coming soon.

“The market for international artists – not counting K-pop – is now around a third of what it was 45 years ago”

Paul McCartney, who spent a memorable nine nights in a Tokyo jail in 1980, once again has the run of the place: he has played 19 shows and a dozen VIP soundchecks in Japan since 2013 – at the Tokyo Dome, the Ryōgoku Sumo Hall and the Nippon Budokan in the capital, plus trips out to arenas in Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka.

What is very clear though, is that, Western rock and pop sensations aside, Japan’s growth is very much coming from within. “I have been in this business for nearly 45 years,” says Yoshito Yamazaki of long-serving music, sport and musical theatre promoter Kyodo Tokyo, which promotes Korean sensations BTS in Japan, “and I’d say the market for international artists – not counting K-pop – is now around one third of what it was 45 years ago.”

Japan’s own J-pop is a broad and varied thing, nominally encompassing everything from singer-songwriters such as Kenshi Yonezu and Gen Hoshino, to multiplatinum pop-rockers Mr Children, to J-pop/metal fusion Babymetal, although its most prominent category is idol groups – manufactured pop bands assembled by all-powerful, notoriously controlling management agencies. Many of Japan’s major pop stars are made this way, including boy bands Arashi, KAT-TUN, Exile, Suchmos and others, and girl bands such as AKB48, Morning Musume, Momoiro Clover Z, Keyakizaka46 and Nogizaka46, who inspire obsessive cults and make most of their income through live work and, more to the point, relentless merchandising.

Homegrown rock is booming in Japan, too, led by Babymetal but also One OK Rock, Band-Maid, Scandal and Man With a Mission. And, of course, the nation has long supplied intriguing cult artists to the rest of the world, from the Yellow Magic Orchestra and its lynchpins Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto to Shonen Knife, Cornelius, the Boredoms and Boris.

K-pop, meanwhile, has made a big impression in Japan, even as diplomatic relations between the two countries have soured in recent years. But unlike Western artists, Korean stars such as BTS, Blackpink and Twice record Japanese versions of their songs. In a country where little English is spoken – and even less Korean – such things make a difference.

 


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