old events in tokyo

Chapter 213 SMAP's Counterattack
The time has entered the end of May, and looking at the Japanese music scene this month, artists of the Being series continue to smash the charts.

Among the top ten charts of the entire month, Being occupies six places, among which ZARD's "You Are No Longer Here" and "Swaying Missing" are both on the chart.

And among the top five, WANDS, ZARD, DEEN, and Daikoku Moji occupy the top four respectively.

Half of the music world is owned by the Being department, but this does not mean that other record companies surrendered.

Tetsuya Komuro launched the trf band in February. After trying electronic dance music for the first time, he hibernated for a while.

Now he is gearing up again, ready to sell electronic dance music to the vast audience that supports the Japanese music scene again.

Tetsuya Komuro is not the only one who is ready to move. Santomo Iijima has always been thinking about SMAP's performance on the record, and recently he has made new moves.

The song "Like the Starlight in That Sky", which Kazuki Akiyama was invited to contribute, has also been produced.

It was originally expected to be released in June, but because the recording of the single went well.The follow-up production time is also slightly advanced, so it is planned to be released in advance.

The most important thing was the last week at the end of May, surprisingly no popular singer released a song.It may be at the end of the month and wait for the beginning of the next month, and releasing songs will benefit the ranking of the monthly chart.

However, Sanzhicai Iijima didn't care about these things. If he didn't seize the opportunity during such a rare gap, would he have to wait and face the encirclement and suppression of various gods?

So under her strong suggestion, Kitagawa also agreed to her plan.

It's just that because the initial publicity plan was planned in early June, and now it is ahead of schedule, many resources need to be reallocated.

This made Kitagawa Mary quite critical, thinking that Kitagawa had indulged her subordinates too much.

Even so, since it is ready to be released in advance, all publicity resources must be followed up in advance.

So SMAP has also become extremely active during this period of time, with variety shows, radio stations and so on.

While increasing the exposure rate, it also promotes the upcoming release of the latest single of the group.

Naturally, Kazuki Akiyama's name is often mentioned, and Johnny claimed that Kazuki Akiyama not only provided lyrics and music, but also participated in the production of the single.

This is also the first time that Kazuki Akiyama has confessed to a singer and artist other than Being, and what is even more rare is the first time he has appeared in people's field of vision as a man in black behind the scenes.

No matter which one it is, the industry and the outside world are full of curiosity about this single. The song I sang and composed is a big hit, so why don't you contribute to others?
What kind of performance will it be like to participate in behind-the-scenes production for the first time?What's more, the overwhelming public reports about him last month are still fresh in the public's memory.

So on the first day when this single was released in the last week of May, it attracted a group of curious customers.

Fans including the original Kazuki Akiyama were a little impatient. They couldn't wait for his own singer's album, so it seemed good to listen to the songs written and composed by him first.

And the shrewd Santomo Iijima also firmly grasped a gust of wind, and it was a variety show radio station, as well as various offline meet-and-greets and signings. In short, SMAP's schedule was also full.

Some mainstream music magazines also paid attention to this single because of the disturbance at the end of May.

Tomizawa Issei, the sound critic of "MUSIC", wrote in the latest commentary,
"Kazuki Akiyama, who has recently disappeared from the public eye, has once again attracted people's attention because of his first confession and music for an artist group other than the firm.

The author also listened to this single titled "Like the Starlight in That Sky" for the first time. Just looking at the name, it reminds people of the theme of inspiration and gentleness.

The facts are not as expected, it is indeed a very gentle inspirational song as the author said.

But there is also something beyond the author's expectation, that is, this single is neither a 'saliva song' suitable for idols, nor is it a fast-paced rock that is popular nowadays.

On the contrary, it is a very "warm" slow-paced inspirational song. As the author said at the beginning, it gently tells you that as long as you persevere, you will eventually shine like a star.

Sure enough, there are traces of Kazuki Akiyama's "gentle" style of music, and it is also the slowest song among all the songs he has created so far.

Even so, it does not mean that this song is not good enough. On the contrary, the author really likes Kazuki Akiyama's attempts at different genres.

As for SMAP-san's singing, no matter how good your skills are, at least your performance is very full in terms of emotion.

It may be associated with the various experiences of the group's debut, and the singing of several members is also very empathetic, especially Takuya Kimura.

Unexpectedly, there is also a member with such a gentle voice in SMAP, which is a surprise.I don't know if it is due to the behind-the-scenes production that Kazuki Akiyama participated in, as the outside world said.

In short, this is a single worth recommending, and the arrangement is quite novel. "

With Johnny's efforts, as well as SMAP's non-stop publicity, as well as reports from media magazines.

When the sales volume was released in the first week, SMAP's latest single successfully won the top spot with a sales volume of nearly 40.

This is also the first time that SMAP has been ranked No.1 on the ORICON weekly chart since its debut.

Naturally, it was also the best first move, not to mention Johnny behind Kitagawa.

At least the SMAPs are rejoicing, and Santomo Iijima is quite satisfied with this result.

Compared with when SMAP first debuted two years ago, the situation of unsalable records is much better.

Never mind it's because no well-known singer released a song this week, so he took advantage of the market's loopholes.

It was only because of Kazuki Akiyama's addition that such a result was achieved.

At least the sales volume is real, and the evaluation from the outside world is not bad.That alone confirms that the single has been a success so far.

SMAP also shattered the rumors that they were not fit to release records and could not sing.

And because of the sales performance in the first week, Johnnys also decided to follow up and invest more resources in publicity, which is bound to push SMAP to a new height.

Naturally, "MUSIC STATION", which has always had a close cooperative relationship with Johnny's, has also become an indispensable stop for playing songs.

What's more, SMAP has won the weekly crown, and being on the show has become a matter of course.

When Tamori asked how he felt about working with Kazuki Akiyama, Shingo Katori, the youngest, rushed to answer.

"Akiyama-san is really a very gentle person, when we were in the recording studio, even if we sang wrongly or had flaws.

He will also tell us gently, don't rush and take your time.Then correct our mistakes bit by bit.

Not only that, but also taught us a lot of recording skills, really gentle, very different from the people I met before. "

"It's up to you to say Kazuki Akiyama's gentleness, just ask the audience in the audience." Tamori teased him with a smile.

"Hay~!", "Haha..." The female audience in the audience also yelled quite cooperatively, and then laughed again.

However, what they don't know is that in the coming June, Kazuki Akiyama's name will once again come into people's field of vision intensively.
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PS: there is still at night

　thanks for your support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)