Does anyone else here think AKB's management could be doing a lot more to connect with English-speaking fans? I can think of so many things they could do, for example English-tagged PVs on youtube. One of the main reasons for the Hallyu wave is that K-Pop videos are so easily accesible for non-Korean speakers. A lot of AKB'S PVs aren't even on youtube, and the ones that are are usually only searchable in Japanese. An English website and shop would also be good, and of course the shop would have to deliver worldwide. They could even release the DVDs as region unlocked with subtitles, and open the fanclub and Live on Demand to overseas fans. I know AKB's target audience is the Japanese market only, but most of these ideas would be pretty simple and cost effective, and I know they would make things a lot easier for all of us and maybe even pull in some new overseas fans. What do you think?
I don't mind the lack of videos on YouTube. Considering almost all major Japanese record labels/music companies remove unofficial videos of their content (even anime songs) from YouTube, its not actually limited to AKB alone - in some sense the lack of videos actually helps the Music Industry in Japan (and AKB) as it somewhat contributes to keeping the physical CD market in circulation and demand. AKB does upload full PVs on its official channel, I mean just recently we got the full dance version of UZA and also Gingham Check before that, this is also to add with some of the other full PVs that are avaliable - Ebi Kachu, HebiRote, etc On the actual topic of bringing more the 48-culture to English fans, I think the usage of G+ by AKB members + translation are a first step, so I could definitely see the opening of the fanclub to overseas (or a whole new club together for overseas-fans) to be a feasible method. As for the subtitles, some of the PVs on the official channel have english subs available (i.e. HebiRote), so I guess it might work as well.
The oversea's fandom is not really large enough as is for them to put a large investment into. Their website did have an english option (seems to have been removed) but the main headers are already in English anyway. Their youtube channel uploads the videos which are viewable around the world (which isn't as standard as you'd think.) They did do a "What is AKB48?" video for their youtube in English (although it's about a year out of date now) The sousenkyo was broadcast in English too, but I believe many of us watched the Japanese feed anyway. The google streams are viewable worldwide. While yes they could do a lot more to court a foreign fanbase, they don't release singles outside of Asia, and the cost of doing so would probably outweigh the sales. While they don't specifically target us, they don't lock us out of as many things as they could. Sure Importing is a pain, but that's standard when you buy international. The only thing I can think of that they stop us accessing is DMM, but you can circumvent that via proxy, and they're still getting money at the end of the day so they won't clamp down on that. TV shows can be watched legally via Keyhole TV (if you can put up with the shocking video quality) music videos are made available on their youtube channel, albeit not all of them (their sister groups are much better at this.) The only thing that could be done would be English translation of things, but for the most part what foreign fanbase there is, tends to cover as much of it as they can for free. While they do take down TV shows and things uploaded illegally to youtube, I have one of their Janken videos uploaded that I did subtitles for, and they've allowed me permission to keep it up. They know we're here, if we get large enough that it makes financial sense to expand their operation to cover us, then they would (i mean.. who doesn't like more money?) currently it doesn't. So we have to take a grassroots approach to it, and support them and share what we can.
For me, being able to watch a PV on Youtube wouldn't stop me from buying the CD, because the experience just doesn't compare to owning the CD yourself and being able to listen it whenever you want. I guess it's different for everyone though. I agree that the G+ profiles and subbed PVs are a great start. I agree with you that a big investment in international fans would not be worth it, but I think that short of actually releasing their music outside of Asia there are plenty of cheaper things they can do. I guess it's better than nothing that the website headers are in English, but I still find it impossible to navigate lol. Fansubbers are definitely a godsend for international fans, but they take money away from AKB management, so it would be in their own best interests to add subtitles to the DVDs! You are right though - all we can do is be patient and support AKB as much as we can.
The small crowd of fans worldwide may probably depend on they do not do as much abroad. To get some facts you need to actively seek and as long as there is little in English is difficult. Without my friend who can Japanese, I had grown tired long ago. Then I want to invite all abroad to enter the country in the user panel. It's always fun to know who you're talking to.
I actually think AKB's management is already way more generous than some other Japanese acts with catering to the foreign market. They provide/collaborated with Google+ so that the I-fans will be more at ease following the members activities compared to if they only used ameblo. They even stream some important events like the election and Janken tournament. Also AKB has quite a few international fan sites/subbers handling releases and subs. What the management should probably consider is actually to do more touring/concerts. KPop acts makes profit from their foreign activities by actually having so many concerts/tours and merchandise sales, even from small acts (non big names). I think I've heard AKB doing a small tour before like in Macau but did they ever held a large scale concert out of Japan before? I'm pretty sure AKB is quite well known and have quite a large number of followers in China/Hong Kong/Taiwan. But then again the main problem is probably the scheduling and the amount of man power. They can't really bring the whole 48 members to such concerts because it will cost quite a lot and it will need more staff to accommodate all the needs which will result in a bigger cost of production.
Remember that they used to have minI concerts in Singapore as it does have a decent Japanese population there. Now, the concerts have been pulled back and the cafe will be closed. They've even cut back events in Hong Kong when there's a relatively good fan base there. I think management is now strategizing what to do and where to go now that the overall groups have changed esp. with the departure of Acchan. It has to worry how to maintain itself as members will eventually leave as they currently are, like in the sister groups and within AKB itself recently with Nacchi and Yuka. It's not as simple as many fans think it could be as management must plan for the future of the group which is unclear at the moment considering the recent graduations and shuffling of the teams and members.
My opinion? I guess that the members really care about all their fans, even if those fans live in a far country...and I'm quite sure that the management cares about the fans in nearby countries because that allows them to send some of the girls from time to time quite easily and even create a franchise. The rest of foreign fans? They don't care about us, they ONLY want our money. At first they seemed to care (I mean when some of the members performed in Russia, France or the States) but now I believe I know them better...
English is the world business language, plus they already have SNH48 on the way to cover china and I'd assume Taiwan since we haven't heard a squeek about TPE48 in forever. They already have JKT48 who seem to be finding some success in Indonesia, and as mentioned Singapore tend to get a lot more concerts and attention than other foreign territories already. In reality if the language is the main stopping point, most of the JKT girls speak English to some degree, and all are active on both google+ and Twitter, often in English, or at least they'll sometimes provide their own translation of what they just said. Also because Indonesia seems to be fairly good with English as a second language (from all the people I've ever met and speak to on twitter) you can find a translation of almost anything they do pretty quickly if you ask around.
I'd love for them to come over here and stuff but I guess in management's defest, even though the group is massive, it's also kinda their weakness too because of all massively proportionate logistics involved to have everything done and coordinated. But should they definitely expand more with English language support? They definitely should.
Well, it's true that that's one of their weaknesses, but it's also one of their strenghts, because it would allow them to send 'on tour' a part of the members from time to time... For example...once a year or every two years they could create a 'worldwide team' ...one of the top members (Tomochin, Mayu, yukirin, Yuko...) ...two of the rest of senbatsu (Rena, Sae, Kitarie, Umechan...) ...three members from AKB ...two from SKE ...two from NMB ...two from HKT and send them to perform abroad, for example, in London, New York, Los Angeles and Sidney. Having these members a couple of weeks away wouldn't have a huge impact on the group's schedule but most of the fans would have a chance to attend a show (yes, I know it would be a tiring trip, but it would happen once in a lifetime for each member and it might be their only chance to visit those countries too...)
I would really like to see the girls on a tour but let branch people abroad choose who can fit. Simply pick the senbatsu gang is not a good idea, no names but some of them will be a joke abroad. In Japan, it is enough with a cute look and childish voice, but here you have to really be able to sing and act on stage. Forget playback devices and lipsync, only the suspicion of such may initiate a debate. As I pointed out earlier, the language is a disadvantage, or rather the lack of English. Both personally and song-wise. It can work with the Japanese for a while but soon disappears the enthusiasm. For example, we had singing groups and soloists from Africa sung in Swahili and Xhosa but they disappear as quickly as they came. Exceptions include Miriam Makeba but she knew English. I have a sufficient interest to look up the lyrics here at Studio48 but I'm pretty unique in this context. Edit: A good start would be to distribute DVDs without region coding, I'm lucky to belong to the same encoding. CD with only a little English too.
i think it's hard for a group to be called "idols you can meet" when they live across an ocean. what makes AKB and AKS groups unique are the daily theatre shows and the handshake events. you can't get those as an overseas fan, therefore, overseas fans have to be seen as a very niche group.
You think it matter so much? There are few of our fans who can really meet their idols but it works anyway. Idols you can meet are only important in Japan where idols are usually completely inaccessible.
Well the main theme Akimoto Yasushi had when creating AKB48 was to create an idol group where you can go and meet. So at beginning AKB48 was targeted at Akihabara regulars Still I think this theme stands for all the 48 group... Akimoto-sensei is trying to create group in different areas where you can easily access to their shows and event. Which is why (I think)there is SKE48, NMB48, HKT48 and so on. We can see he is slowly expanding and building an empire of 48 groups. Akimoto-sensei is reaching out to the oversea fans, by creating jkt48, snh48, tpe48 so the oversea fans there can enjoy the local 48group. Of course everyone would love to see AKB48 perform in their country, but as for now they aren't really well-known outside of South East Asia. Being careful is good, since we can see how many Asian artist have tried their career in US/EU and failed(then never heard of again..disappeared)...But I feel they are slowly but surely getting closer to conquer Asian, having already taking over Japan... If we really want to meet them, we just can go to Japan and meet them right?
I would mention that he failed with Italy. and the USA don't seem to respond too much. So the oversea market exist but remains too small for now.
That's hardly surprising. It would be naive to think that AKB48 is able to have an acceptable success in the USA or Europe relying only on the videos people watch on youtube. It usually takes far more than that (especially when your 'product' is a group of young girls singing only in japanese). Aki-P put his toe in the water and felt it was cold so he decided not to swim in the swimming pool. I can't blame him for that, because it was indeed a risky gamble, but it seems quite obvious that he has resigned himself to be successful only in Asia.
resigned doesn't fit our argument i would say. Simply because in the next decade the biggest world music market will be in asia, especially in China.Aki p is not resigned, he is aiming for bigger goal When you see hallyu (korean) strategy management like SM entertainement, they are clearly aiming to appeal Chinese market (launch of the new group Exo, which is half korean half chinese). And also the culture of japanese idol is too "unique" for being mainstream and globally populair. Meanwhile K-pop is fitted for american pop and R'n'B, there's no equivalent of akb48 in Europe nor america. That's why the overseas market in america is not interesting. Well, we guys are the exception i guess. I won't whine for it, it kinda make us special, isn't it?
And, honestly, that's what most groups that are from Asia have done, and will do. There's not enough money in it for them to expand very far, so they won't bother. Especially when you're dealing with a HUGE group like AKB - they not only have to bring themselves, but also makeup artists, managers, camera people (you really think they wouldn't film it?), etc. It's a huge entourage, and moving all of those people around is a HUGE expense that, likely, wouldn't be made back. The ONLY reason you might see more K-pop across the world is because of Psy, and that was a freak accident. Until and unless J-pop gets that same kind of popularity, you won't see AKB or anybody else outside of Asia for a long time. ETA: Plus there's no market for it. Language barrier aside, the minute idols got to be popular in most of the world, people would start screaming about pedophilia. That's just the way it is.
