BANDAI NAMCO Arts Concludes A License Agreement with Tracklib Becomes Must-see for music creators! Music From Lantis Becomes Available for Sampling!

BANDAI NAMCO Arts Inc., owner of the music label, Lantis, concluded a license agreement with Tracklib, a Swedish music sampling platform. The agreement will allow legal sampling available through this service. 

Sampling is a process of creating a new song by reusing a portion of a sound source from an existing song. Because of the difficulty in obtaining clearance from the copyright holders of the song and of the master recording, there have been many cases of unauthorized sampling, making it difficult for both creators and copyright owners to produce revenue. 

Use of Tracklib enables even an individual user to readily obtain permission for music sampling and to produce revenue. If a subscriber wishes to use their new song created using samples for commercial purposes, they can release it worldwide through music streaming services, etc. by making an application on the Tracklib service website and registering their usage information. 

This will provide an entirely new opportunity for existing original songs while creating a system whereby part of the profit from the new song created through sampling will return to the writer, composer and artist of the sampled song as royalties. 

To start with, the sound source of Higuchi Kaede, a virtual YouTuber from NIJISANJI, will be provided from December 20, 2021 onward. 

More sound sources will be added in 2022 be sure to check out more information about the service below! 

  <Available sound sources>

From MARBLE and AIM by Higuchi Kaede:

・Answer Song

・Stereo Identity

・Be Myself

・Q

・MARBLE

 ・Sugar Shack

・For you, etc.

<What is Tracklib?>

It is a Swedish sampling platform. It has been used by music producers from more than 200 countries since it was officially launched in April 2018 (as of December 2021).

 URL of the service website :　https://www.tracklib.com/

Date of launch : April 2018

The number of sound sources handled : 120,000 songs or more

Service charge : Essential $5.99/month | 5 track downloads/month

　　Standard $13.99/month | 15 track downloads/month

　　Professional $29.99/month | 35 track downloads/month

Interview: STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION is the sound-making project of songwriter-music producer and former rock band OLDCODEX member R・O・N who produces various sound contents. He named the project to entrust himself with the stereo, the sound source. In addition to his talent as a musician of various instruments, R・O・N also is a sound artisan who produces tracks with futuristic synths and melodies that resonate with your heart.

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Ken: First of all, thank you so much for letting us do this interview. We are big fans and love what you bring to the Japanese music industry. We also would like to congratulate you on the successful release of your latest EP, TRISTAR.

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: Thank you very much. 

Ken: Compared to your previous EP release OMEGA, what was your thought process when coming up with TRISTAR?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: We planned to put more pop and futuristic vibes into the song for MUV-LUV. The original MUV-LUV has big fans and they have an image for the ED theme. This time the order was to refresh and recreate the image for the new MUV-LUV. It was very challenging for me but also very exciting.

Ken: Which song would you say was your favorite to compose/write?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: It’s very hard for me to pick just one song. If I had to choose, it may be “Daisy”. It’s the beginning of STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION.

Ken: Do you have a certain process when coming up with your songs? If so, would you like to share it?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: First, set BPM. After that, sing with piano or guitar to fix the melody. Sometimes I write lyrics at the same time. Lastly, sound design and arrange mixing, and done.  

Ken: Which artist would you say is your biggest inspiration? Also, are there any international artists that inspire you as well?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: Maybe the band Korn gives me the biggest inspiration.

Ken: What song(s) had an impact on you growing up?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: Game music such as scores from the Final Fantasy series and also Mixture songs from the 90s.

Ken: How did the pandemic affect the way you approach your beats and composition for your music?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: There is no impact on my creation before the pandemic and after. I can finish the entire process at my home studio.

Ken: Who is the one artist you would love to work with in the future?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: I’d like to collab with the singer or the producer overseas.

Ken: For international fans, the way they usually find out about J-pop is through anime. First, do you watch anime? And if so, which would you say is your favorite?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: Not very much for now, but I used to. I like mainly robot anime like the Gundam series.

Ken: Do you have a message for your international fans?

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: Have fun with Japanese animation and also Japanese anime songs!

Ken: Once again, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule and we look forward to your upcoming releases!

STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION: Thank you too!

tricot Achieves Excellency with Latest Album!

Jodeki Standard Edition Jacket Cover

Jodeki Limited Edition DVD Jacket Cover

Popular four-member rock band tricot release their third major-label album Jodeki this past week on December 15 physically and across all digital music streaming platfroms.

The band have released a string of singles throughout 2021. They kicked off the year with “BAKURO”, followed by TV series theme song “INAI”, as well as “WALKING” (produced by NUMBER GIRL member Kentaro Nakao), all of which are included on Jodeki. The album also features a new recording of “Super Summer”, which was originally included on a 2013 compilation album released by revered Japanese label Pizza of Death Records; “Tissue”, a song that has a comforting feeling of weakness; and the title track Jodeki, which offers a playful message from tricot as they are today. The 12 songs collected on this album form a dense work that shows a side of the band that can truly be considered “tricot 2021”.

The band made the bold decision to make the instrumental versions of all the songs and their lyrics available ahead of the album’s release, before anyone had a chance to actually hear most of the songs with vocals included. This led fans to make surprised comments on social media such as, “Will all of those lengthy lyrics for “KAYOKO” really fit into the song?” and, “It’s incredible that tricot can make these songs work so well with just the music”.

The album jacket shows vocalist Ikkyu Nakajima’s pet dog Wicket standing proud in a dog-fighting cape embroidered with the album title, Jodeki. Be sure to order your copy Jodeki below, along with the streaming link here!

Standard edition 

Limited edition DVD

Three∞Loop to Release Slow Loop ED “Shuwa Shuwa”!

Slow Loop Key Visual

©うちのまいこ・芳文社／スローループ製作委員会 © Maiko Uchino・Houbunsha/SLOWLOOP PARTNERS

As announced by Three∞Loop in their recent YouTube livestream, “Shuwa Shuwa”, the ending theme of the TV anime Slow Loop, will be released as a single on February 23, 2022. Slow Loop will begin airing on Japanese TV on January 7, 2022.

Three∞Loop is a group consisting of the main voice actresses of Slow Loop: Rin Kusumi (playing Hiyori Minagi), Natsumi Hioka (playing Koharu Minagi), and Tomomi Mineuchi (playing Koi Yoshinaga).

“Shuwa Shuwa” will be released in two editions: a limited first edition and a standard edition. Both will feature original anime cover illustrations, and the limited first edition will come with a bonus CD containing the Slow Loop soundtrack by Takuro Iga, who is well-known for his work on slice-of-life anime. The single will have two songs: “Shuwa Shuwa” and “Yuru Yurariru”. The title song “Shuwa Shuwa” was written and composed by up-and-coming singer and songwriter Asako, and as the title suggests, it is a refreshing, cider-like pop tune. The coupling track “Yuru Yurariru” is a slow good night song.

In addition to the single’s release date, a new artist photo and CD cover art was also revealed. Please check out the adorable photo, which shows just how close the three artists are along with the trailer for Slow Loop below!

Standard edition

Limited edition 

Music Corner Week 99: Harumi

Harumi, who first made her debut in 2013, is a half Japanese and Filipino vocalist who looks to break out in the industry by becoming an artist who “sings from the bottom of her heart.”  With just one listen you can tell that she has that “it” factor to stand out vocally from the rest. Like our former music corner alum, Beverly, Harumi had originally started with a Japanese language barrier, but soon grew into an artist who had that soul feeling to her vocals. Harumi started choir when she was three years old and made a place in the industry by taking part in X Factor Okinawa Japan back in 2013 as well as in 2018 as a part of the UK edition of X Factor as well. 

After one listen you can just tell that she’s a step above the rest with her powerful vocals and range. Songs like “KOE” and “PRIDE” are just a small sample of her vocal prowess, and while several of her tracks are simplistic, composition wise, it’s all to put her vocal power on the front stage. Power-ballad style compositions like “Believe in Myself” and “Hearts Don’t Lie” also brings out the best in her, as you can’t help but get drawn into these tracks more and more. She’s also no one trick pony as her collaboration track “Radio” with Rude-a shows she can tackle any type of composition that can come her way with ease.

Currently Harumi has seven singles from 2018 until her latest single, “KOE,” back in November. She also released two EPs in 2019 and 2020 and one album, CLARITY, in 2019. Be sure to check out her official website, Twitter, and Instagram, along with the music video for “KOE” below as well!