I was on youtube, and I searched for "The Pillows Scarecrow" and the music video didn't show up! There were some live videos and covers, but no music video, whats up?

I'll up it on my account; we'll see if they let it through.

edit: nope, rejected; terms of use violation. sorry.

since when did Avex get uppity about Youtube vids?

Apparently recently. :/

aha No wonder i couldn't find it a while back. Well i have it already in pc and dvd

If want i can upload it and you can download it from like megaupload or something if you want? If i can?

I'm too lazy to go find the actual article, but here's what's going on in a nutshell;

Basically, Japan's media/entertainment groups (feat Avex) are fed up with youtubes so-called "copy right infringement" on Japans artists material (namely pvs) and they are bringing the ban hammer down on youtube.

The big corporations (feat Avex) are saying that youtube is taking away from the overseas prophets their artists could be making off of the promo video extras, which is their main concern given that youtube is a free upload/video viewing site, and have been trying to rid youtube of all of the content that isn't a fan taken live show video (i.e promo videos).
(Avex has been against this from the beginning by the way, which was early 2006 in case anyone was wondering)

HOW they found out about the videos: dumb fucks tagging stuff in kana/kanji instead of romaji.


My take on this crap is this; promo videos are supposed to be free hence "PROMO", and yes it sucks that some people take advantage of things like this, HOWEVER, if things were cheaper to have imported from Japan then more people would be willing to buy it. It is NOT ok to infringe upon an artists copy written materials or steal them either, HOWEVER passing around music like an underground Traci Lords porno circa 1984, is how music fans have been able to broaden their horizons and that's how most people find out about Japanese music in the first place.

SO, I guess the message that the Japanese music industry is trying to send us is this; "We would rather you not buy our shit or even recognize that we are here, ok thanks for coming out".

Or at least that's what I get from it.

That sucks. I hate labels like that. They should know that the free vids are more helpful than harmful to their sales.

When I saw No Self Control on youtube, I loved it so much I ordered Runner's High the same night. My first pillows CD.

Maybe I'm just wierd though. Maybe everyone just watches them so they don't have to buy them...

[quote="supertrampolineschoolkid"]The big corporations (feat Avex) are saying that youtube is taking away from the overseas [b]prophets[/b][/quote]

Oh man Japan is sooo cool!

But yeah, on a serious note...they should realize that people upping videos is helping the artists a lot more than hurting them.

One thing I DO object to though: People uploading the SONGS from the album with a simple background for the "visual" aspect. If it's a music video, fine, but ripping the entire album and putting on youtube is just dumb.

I wouldn't say that. I uploaded "Something like a romance" on youtube with the album cover. Sent it to a couple of friends, posted it on a forum, it really attracted people to the pillows, they were blown away by the technique and stuff. I think free promotion on the internet is the best thing, cause if you're a good artist and you're getting good exposure through the internet, they will come to your concerts. it weeds out the shit bands from the good ones. Sufjan Stevens is a good example of this, he doesn't care if people download his music, but really, the reception he's gotten from so many people downloading his music has upped his popularity to great proportions.

Let's hate companies because they decide to promote their products differently than we would have. If we complain vehemently enough, we may just be the next VP's of Marketing for a major Japanese music label. Then we'll show those ignorant Japanese how it's done, and lead the company to prosperity with soaring stock prices and a thick, black bottom-line, since we obviously know what's best. We all know those Japanese labels probably became profitable, successful, and well-established through sheer and utter luck.

[quote="sheerheartattack"]Let's hate companies because they decide to promote their products differently than we would have. If we complain vehemently enough, we may just be the next VP's of Marketing for a major Japanese music label. Then we'll show those ignorant Japanese how it's done, and lead the company to prosperity with soaring stock prices and a thick, black bottom-line, since we obviously know what's best. We all know those Japanese labels probably became profitable, successful, and well-established through sheer and utter luck.[/quote]

I'll just say this: An album from a Japanese artist is around $30. Singles can be around $9-15. I'm not going to spend that much money on music that I might not enjoy. One of the best ways to explore new artists is by watching music videos and live videos (for free).

If it weren't for many of the things that label companies are disallowing, I would likely own less (paid for) Japanese music.

^+1

On the other hand, we're the minority - foreign Japanese music enthusiasts. We're not exactly the people Avex is targeting.

Avex is mainly focused on getting Ladybird Girl playing on the huge TV screen in the huge Shibuya intersection. They're gonna be focusing on getting short little ad spots promoing Tokyo Bambi. Maybe they're trying to hook up the pillows with another larger band (like Mr. Children) to get the pillows more exposure.

In other words, they're interested in promoting the pillows in many different ways that will be accessible to the average Japanese music viewer, not to us necessarily.

It's like this: I haven't had the need to watch Fall Out Boy music video rips on Youtube to know that I hate their guts.

I think Avex's decisions, from our perspective, are dumb and counter-effective...but from their perspective (international fans being very very few), it should make them more money in the end.

I guess?

Honestly, do people really use YouTube that much to view PVs?

[quote="Kaze no Mirai"]Honestly, do people really use YouTube that much to view PVs?[/quote]

I can't p2p. So yes.