Why 73-year-old guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka has captivated young people around the world—The global breakthrough sparked by streaming (Former professor, 811th day of retirement)

The guitar sound of Masayoshi Takanaka that has captivated people in their 20s and 30s overseas

For our generation, when we think of Japan's representative rock and fusion guitarists, names like Char and Masayoshi Takanaka come to mind. It might be a bit biased, but these two, who are now over 70, are the ones I immediately recall from the 1970s and 80s (if we go to a slightly later generation, perhaps Tomoyasu Hotei or Makoto Ayukawa). I heard the news that Takanaka-san is holding a world tour this year. Even more surprisingly, this topic was featured on NHK's "Close-up Gendai." Tickets in major cities like London and New York sold out on the day they went on sale, and he mobilized a total of about 45,000 people (other performance locations included Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland). What surprised me even more was the audience demographic. It wasn't Japanese fans in their 50s and 60s from his "Sadistic Mika Band" days, but young people in their 20s and 30s from overseas who filled the venues. Takanaka-san's superb guitar technique and singing melodies strongly captivated the local youth. Despite the songs being instrumental, they reportedly sang the melodies loudly and even engaged in "mosh pits," bumping into each other and pushing while riding the rhythm. Watching the footage, the enthusiasm was just like a punk rock concert. This phenomenon may indicate a new trend where past Japanese music is being re-evaluated across borders and generations. (Please also see the title photo and the photo below: Note 1)

The global hit followed by "Close-up Gendai"

On "Close-up Gendai," MC Maho Kuwako mentioned that the reason young people in the West became obsessed with Takanaka-san's music was streaming services. Streaming, which now accounts for about 70% of global music sales, is a service that allows people to easily enjoy music online, and Japanese music is now being listened to all over the world. The first signs of change appeared about six years ago. The urban and sophisticated "City Pop" sound that was popular in Japan in the 1970s caught the eyes of music fans around the world, and the number of plays surged. Furthermore, on streaming services like Spotify, other songs that might suit the listener's taste are automatically recommended. It seems Takanaka-san's songs reached Western fans through that flow. In addition, fans' posts on social media and videos played a major role. An old Japanese song discovered by someone spreads through videos and posts, and then reaches someone else's ears. Such a chain reaction seems to have led to a global breakthrough in an unexpected way. (Please also see the photo below)

Supposed to "fade out quietly," but the legend is reignited

And this year, Takanaka-san decided to hold his first world tour. It seems there was a data-driven strategy behind it. The promoter who organized the tour analyzed in which cities around the world Takanaka-san's songs were being played the most. Based on that, they decided to hold the tour targeting the eight cities worldwide with the highest play counts. The strategy was a brilliant success. Tickets sold out on the day they went on sale, and the success of the live performances further increased streaming play counts. During the tour, he reportedly recorded a record-high 1.2 million plays in a single day. Incidentally, Takanaka-san himself was so surprised by the great success of this tour that he suspected it might be a "global hidden camera prank." Furthermore, he said in front of the camera, "It was amazing. It was fun. It was really interesting. I thought my life would just fade out quietly, but this is the best. No, it feels great." His expression conveyed the joy of being welcomed back in a new era.

A borderless music revolution in the streaming era

Music critic Nariaki Shiba, who appeared as a guest on the program, pointed out that the mechanism for creating hits in the modern age has fundamentally changed. In the past, the center of a hit was CD sales. And to spread that, television and word-of-mouth played important roles. However, today, the number of streaming plays has become the primary indicator. In other words, the yardstick for measuring the value of music has changed from "number of copies sold" to "number of times listened to." And social media is strongly supporting that diffusion. The biggest feature of this new dynamic is that social media and streaming easily cross "borders" that were difficult for traditional media like television and word-of-mouth to cross. Furthermore, this time, the collaboration between data analysis and live performances accelerated this global virtuous cycle. By predicting how many listeners are in each city from the play count data, and holding live performances after anticipating the attendance, not only do the fans who come to the venue spread the word, but the listeners expand further through their social media posts and the like. As a result, streaming plays increase, creating the next wave of expansion. A new model of hits is being born where live performances, social media, and streaming are linked. (Please also see the photo below)

Will streaming change Japanese music?

On the other hand, it was introduced that the Japanese music industry is lagging slightly behind this global trend. While streaming has grown to account for about 70% of global music sales, the ratio is still low in the Japanese market. The chart shown in the program compared the breakdown of music content sales between the world and Japan. In the world, since the 2010s, the proportion of streaming, shown in blue, has grown significantly. On the other hand, in Japan, the growth of that blue part is not very large. It was warned that this delay might be leading to the stagnation of the Japanese market and its lack of presence in the global market. (Please also see the photo below)

Furthermore, in the age of social media, music is no longer just something to listen to. As fans post "dance cover" videos or use songs as background music, it seems to have transformed into something to "participate in and enjoy." User-generated content, or UGC, has now become a crucial catalyst for creating hits. The times are steadily changing. I thought I would ride that wave a little and try listening to some new music occasionally, rather than just oldies. See you next time. (Please also take a look at the photo above.)

――――
Note 1: From the NHK "Close-up Gendai" special feature, "New J-Pop Trends: From 70s Songs to Reiwa Idols"