the dumbest thing i've seen in j-pop

[@starfruitkirby6962]

I adore Ado, I think as an artist, she has a lot of potential, and she gets brownie points from me because of her utaite background + a lot of vocaloid producers kind of latching to her. However, I cannot begin to describe the face I made when I saw Show LP's announcement. Like I saw it and my first thought wass "Oh cool, another song for universal horror night, that's kind of neat" and then I saw that, no, in fact it is just a rerelease with a lot of fluff. I'm really glad that J-pop as an industry finally moved to streaming, but man I really hope this doesn't become a norm. some K-pop companies have started to do this exact thing to their artists (one single and a billion variations) and it makes me want to jump off of a bridge.

[@HagerEl_Sayed-cm1bn]

She honestly need to change her agency

[@thrownstair]

As someone who loves mashups and instrumentals, I fully support this kind of thing as a concept. HOWEVER, the way albums and songs are laid out on streaming has to change if this becomes the norm. Have separate mute buttons for the instrumental and acapella so they can be switched back and forth at will to compare, and let people have a speed control without automatic re-pitching for songs. People can cry "artistic integrity" all they like (ha ha) but the reality is either we keep letting record companies double-dip and game streaming numbers with "sped up" versions, or users will upload their own basic edits to DSPs.

[@hedobannord1184]

As though I like "Show" very much I don't get these kind of releases and I will surely not listen to this one. It cries "squeezing out every possible second of user's attention span for generating a bit of revenue" and has no artistical value whatsoever. Okay, back in the days (I'm old enough to remember Maxi-CD's being a thing in the West 🙂) there were releases similiar to this one - several CD singles for one song with a ton of remixes on it as well. But I hated them then and I hate them now...

[@saffronoak6276]

Im a big Ado fan and have seen this for a while for a few songs, but I did not realize it was this bad. I mostly saw shows versions like Speed and Slowed, but all those versions you showed I didn't know there were that many. I would understand the Instrumental version and remix versions, but the slow and speed-up ones are for who, and the others are just random. I mean, somethings you said I could say are more opinionated, and nothing wrong with that, but you did have points on how she's being managed, and I think who she's working with is just trying to milk every song any way they can stay relevant.

[@TopShonenRanks]

It’s really unfortunate. There’s so many issues I’ve seen due to streaming and it’s not so much that I wanna go in the complete opposite direction going full Tatsuro Yamashita and say “fuck streaming and we should go back to CDs!!!” but moreso companies are just milking artists with stuff like this. I also feel like there’s just been a huge saturation of singles (especially with some bands like Mrs. GREEN APPLE and YOASOBI) and B-Sides aren’t really a thing anymore cuz it makes more money and promotion to make a track a digital single. I’m glad at least with say Kenshi Yonezu’s album, he’s said that he didn’t want the album to be all singles and made enough new tracks to allow the album to stand on its own and his CDs sell so much like hot cakes that he can still do CD singles with B-Sides. Unfortunately tho most of the time labels are just spamming tie-ins and singles and it would lead to albums being single collections with no vision and like 1-2 new tracks

[@curealmy]

shouldve made this point in the video. vaundy album had literally one single so even though it wasnt great it was by far a more entertaining listen than something where ive heard everything already

[@TopShonenRanks]

@@curealmy Yeah tbh I feel like the disk 2 was probably a thing done by the label because they want all of these popular tracks on a CD, but yeah I think Vaundy really wanted his album to be kinda separate from the singles, and so I thought the disk 2 thing was kinda genius (at least considering it as more of a bonus disk than a part of the album) because it would allow him to make an album that’s very much its own thing and anyone that wanted those single tracks on a CD still have a means to get them. I think it’s something that King Gnu wanted to do with their 2023 album because they said there would only be a few singles on the album, but somewhere down the line things changed and the album just turned into kinda a mess of mostly singles, a ton of interludes, 3 new songs, and then rerecordings of single songs for no reason? Idk I love a lot of the singles on their own and maybe I’m overreacting but the album itself just seemed like a bit of a mess and a weird release for the band considering they haven’t dropped a song this year and one of the member’s other acts (Millennium parade) is going down this international direction that doesn’t sound very good imo

[@curealmy]

the disc 2 thing was dumb and shouldve been a separate CD bc it made the prices absurdly high and choked sales. i also think it was a label thing cause vaundy made a bunch of tweets having to clarify that disk 2 was not the album

[@samham2843]

honestly I feel bad for ado, she clearly has the talent and potential but she is being dragged around to do stuff like this, btw got recommendations for artists like vaundy and fuji kaze?

[@curealmy]

iri is more like fujii kaze, polkadot stingray is more like vaundy

[@samham2843]

@@curealmy thanks

[@LONKULADE]

​@@curealmyI love polkadot stingray!

[@SkyWireMashups]

If you would be willing to hear a difference in opinion, I feel like this is not that big of a deal. Western pop acts have been doing exactly this for the last couple of years, and while I don't doubt that streaming numbers are an incentive, many have pointed out that in the days before streaming it was not uncommon for artists to release CDs or vinyl that were essentially the same thing, especially because it meant that alternate versions could be used to better facilitate DJ mixes. The only thing that's really new about them today is probably the presence of the slowed down/sped up versions, which I don't care for but can at least see the appeal of. As a musician myself who also happens to love this song, there are things about this release that make me genuinely glad it happened. The instrumental and acapella getting officially released in high quality is INCREDIBLY appreciated for use in a remix, mashup or DJ set. And surprisingly even to ME, I got something out of the "Stripped" version (despite the misleading title, I expected some kind of faux-acoustic version lol), being able to hear details in the song I didn't notice before. I can't blame you for viewing this release through a certain lens given the musical climate we're in, but I also have my doubts about it being solely for the purpose of chart positions. For the song to even remain in the Top 40 an entire year after its release is INCREDIBLY impressive. I've seen genuinely popular songs fall from grace much faster on the Japanese charts. I don't doubt that her management hoped to give the song a boost, but I also wonder how much this was even made with the Japanese market in mind, I haven't seen these alternate version EPs and albums elsewhere in the Japanese music industry yet. Western pop fans may be more familiar with them from big pop stars like Ariana Grande, and with the inclusion of Jax Jones, who is popular in UK and US EDM spaces, I wonder if it was more an attempt to further Ado's global fanbase, rather than being geared towards the Japanese general public who are clearly still streaming the hell out of the song. Show is now one of Ado's staple tracks so maybe it was just something nice to do for the song's anniversary? I can't say I disagree with your wider comments on Ado's career and the music industry as a whole, though. She's released a handful of songs that I would consider all-time favourites, but her discography has a frustrating lack of consistency in both sound and quality. I do wonder what level of control she has for the music she releases. Personally I would love her to commit to a handful of producers and make a somewhat cohesive record with them. So I do sympathise with you, I think more people are becoming disillusioned with the state of the music industry and Ado's career is definitely emblematic of many of its issues. I just don't think this release is where I would personally begin to criticise it. I hope this doesn't come off aggressive or belittling or anything, I have a lot of respect for you and your channel, I just felt compelled to voice my opinion in a civil manner. And sorry for writing an essay.

[@sachitechless]

Ado fans calling someone a Swiftie for criticizing her music is wild cause I don't think they actually listen to that much Japanese music outside of Ado and YAOSOBI

[@_tsuki_]

A youtuber all about J-music is the last person you can call a swiftie people cant even creative with their insults nowadays smh

[@b_4esno4naya]

5:07 nah this is def cashgrab because ado's team officialy releasing instrumentals on piapro so show instrumental was there for a year since release

[@Autysta-ew4ug]

I don't know how some of these fanboys don't see the problem, I've been an Ado fan for 3 years already and I just don't vibe with her new music (with some exceptions), It lacks what her first album and old covers had - personality and originality. Actually it seems like her idol group - Phantom Siita is managed better than her

[@mistakeboi]

i personally think music streaming services will have speed sliders soon and then these types of releases will be very funny in retrospect

[@astralcat9469]

they do this then proceed to not put any songs by slapstick (one of the first seiyuu bands that was active from 1977 until 1986) on any streaming services despite two of their members' solo discographies (toshio furukawa's and yuji mitsuya's) already being released on places like spotify. i get that they might run into some controversy because one of the members was revealed to be a massive pos back in may, but still. i don't want the songs to be confined to youtube uploads forever

[@Khaotic_Moon]

4:30 WAIT THEY TOOK OUT WHAT NOW?! as a bass player i feel insulted in a way

[@wired_orange]

I knew you chain smoked

[@Goatman_inc]

I know nothing about jpop (no idea why KZbin recommended me this video), but rapper French Montana did a somewhat similar thing when he released his new album. Just with every single song, even the interludes for some reason. Great video tho glad I watched it!

[@megan-mr9vk]

from a kpop perspective, le sserafim has released 11 separate tracks on spotify for their song “crazy” in a similar way.

[@Veilamia]

POV: confused as to why this video was recommended to me but you do you king, speak your heart out.

[@Unbelievablyunfunny]

I thought show another story was a rerecord or a teddyloid remix

[@blockshift758]

This exist because "slowed Reverb rain parents argueing in the background" of good songs exist.

[@Khaotic_Moon]

honestly the art is cool, the mv was cool , but im so confused tbh T^T

[@Tudsworth]

The fact that this has just become the streaming meta nowadays, to the point that even artists as large as Taylor Swift rely on it to keep their albums and new songs relevant, is less a failing of any of the artists and more a failing of streaming platforms and charting bodies, but I feel like that goes without saying. The fact remains that while buying a CD or download compensates an artist, financially at least, as much as streaming that same record 1000 times, one of those things is considerably more valuable to Billboard. Like, the labels are making stupid decisions when they drop a Remix LP as if it's a "new album", absolutely 100%, but it's not as if the shitty decision sprung fully formed from the ether, we got there gradually.

[@curealmy]

remix albums are chill tbh, bunch of japanese bands do those and theyre pretty fun

[@Tudsworth]

@curealmy oh totally, I'm down for a remix LP if it's not just remixes of one song, Linkin Park's Reanimation made me Remix LP pilled from a young age. I should have clarified that things like the Show Remix LP are more the products of poor decision making than the concept itself.

[@ilovechuuyaa]

its her team not her

[@themelancholyofgay3543]

8 Mrs. Green Apple tracks... bro, they are so peak

[@mcbill7352]

Bro i keep on getting recommended ado videos because i commented on one and said she sucks 😭

[@curealmy]

youtube hates you

[@niicespiice]

labels are making stupid decisions, but also having unique versions of songs IS cool, i LIKE having acapellas (just not really on this song because i don't like this song), but still the re-speeded versions are pretty silly but what happened with AKB??? 3:34 "which checks out" why do you hate giga? i like some of his songs

[@curealmy]

AKB got a ridiculous amount of songs to #1 through selling millions of CDs that eventually became impossible to give away bc of how many there were giga is extremely hit or miss where sometimes he makes great songs and sometimes he makes insufferable songs

[@RipePineapples]

Cool opinions, I completely disagree with them on a fundamental level, but cool opinions nonetheless. I certainly never thought someone could think about this practice in such away, it was definitely an interesting watch at the very least.

[@jasperli]

I think UMG just wanted the ability to strike down any reuploads.

[@curealmy]

they can do that through ways that dont involve uploading to spotify

[@marytheostdumper]

Can you talk about your thoughts on AKB?

[@curealmy]

i dont care much for their music but find their sales tactics incredibly funny

[@Bolt_Bug]

i get what you mean, but honestly, who the fuck cares this much? if you dont like it, then dont listen to it. and i wanna say, i am not saying i want this kind of thing from ado, but who cares? also show is a banger imo