Musician in Tokyo? Indie?

Last summer I participated in Tokyo BootUP - a network of Tokyo musicians determined to make something of the new music world that’s shaping up as the majors finally fall from grace (or greed, depending on who you ask).

99% of their communications are in Japanese, though, so I’m going to try posting English translations of their updates here from time to time, since they’re a good group to team up with.

Note the July 31 application deadline if you want to be involved as a performer.



From: Tokyo BootUP <hello.tbu@tokyobootup.jp>
Date: July 23, 2012 18:26:20 JST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: 【TOKYO BOOT UP! Newsletter】=2012.7.23=●Application Deadline 7/31●Shin Tokyo Daigaku【Second Term #2】7/26
■□■━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 
【♪TOKYO BOOT UP! Newsletter】=2012.7.23 edition=
NEWS 
1. Shin Tokyo Daigaku【Second Term】#2 Gigadiran (mothercoat) presiding
2. TOKYO BOOT UP!2012 Application deadline coming up
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━■□■
Hello! TOKYO BOOT UP! Is now in its third year. As the promoter, we are always thinking about how to give back to the performers by reflecting on our past experiences. We have yet to figure out how, but we understand that we have to strive to create the foundations so that we can say “aha!” in 3 years’ time. Our motto last year was “from Japan to the world”, which led us to participating in SXSW. This year, we have teamed up with the world’s largest digital distribution company, TUNECORE, to create more opportunities around the world. The pre-existing music industry framework is being torn down and it is instead becoming even more underground than before. We are at the beginning of a new generation where artists can connect directly to their fans. When this becomes more of the norm, we believe that events such as SXSW where new acts can be “sampled” will be recognized and understood. With that in mind, we want to create a new “sampling” ground in the Japanese style with TOKYO BOOT UP!. We hope you will support us.
NEWS-1
★Shin Tokyo Daigaku【Second Term】#2 Gigadiran (mothercoat) presiding
【Date/Time】 July 26, 2012 (Thursday) 18:30-21:30
【Venue】 KDDI Web Communications
6F Sumitomo Fudosan Kojimachi Building, Sango-kan
3-6 Kojimachi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
【Timetable】
・18:30-19:00 Sign-in / informal meet & greet (mini reception)
・19:00-19:45 First period “Licencing contracts within the recording business”
Professor: Koji Iida (Professor at Meiji University School of Law / Attorney-at-Law admitted in NY)
・19:55-20:40 Second period “Close-up on TUNECORE”
 Guests: Iichiro Noda / Yoheii Kounoue / Gigadiran (mothercoat)
・20:40-21:30 Reception / open mic
【Class fee】Fees for reception (500 yen) inclusive
・Regular: 1,500 yen
・TBU Staff, and performers (including this and previous year(s)): 1,000 yen
・Students (College / vocational): 500 yen (you can participate just by paying for the reception fee)
❏Shin Tokyo Daigaku was created in May to hold TOKYO BOOT UP! classes.
The first semester (6 classes in total) gathered 230 students, surpassing our expectations.
The second semester will start in July. During this term, we will take an in-depth look at TUNECORE, which will be a new venue for Japanese musicians to promote their music.
❏TUNECORE was created in the US in 2007 and has grown to become the world’s largest digital distributor.
It is able to stream media worldwide, and gives back to the artist 100%. TUNECORE’s Japanese service starts this summer.
❏As long as you have rights, you want to learn more about them! So what are your rights?
You have various rights when releasing music, whether by using TUNECORE or through other channels.
It is important to know your rights in order to maximise your opportunities and to create/maintain collaborations.
Professor Koji Iida is the leading practitioner on licensing contracts both domestically and internationally – don’t miss this!
❏A musician will be a guest at every lecture.
Our classes have gained popularity as you will be able to meet important people from the industry and beyond, to exchange information and thoughts with. Moreover, participants from TOKYO BOOT UP! (both current and previous) qualify for a discounted rate of 1,000 yen (including reception fee).
❏We have started an open mic session. During the reception, you will have 3 minutes to talk about any topic you choose. Performances welcome! Personal PR OK! Please use these 3 minutes as you wish. We have had someone sell their CDs during these 3 minutes before, to great effect.
NEWS-2 
TOKYO BOOT UP!2012 Application deadline coming up
7/31 is the last day to apply.
We have created a short video explaining how to apply.
❏We have also prepared some perks for TOKYO BOOT UP! 2012
(1). Flight subsidy for SXSW performers (you must clear some conditions to qualify)
(2). TUNECORE discount (all participants qualify)
(3). Two one-day passes for TOKYO BOOT UP! 2012 (all participants qualify)
(4). TOKYO BOOT UP! special merchandise (all participants qualify)
We look forward to your applications.
Thank you for reading.
———————————————————————————————
▼【TOKYO BOOT UP! 2012】
2-23-14 Higashi Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0044
Towa Igreg 303
office hours : 11:00 - 19:30
cel:090-3315-2671 (docomo)
cel:080-3253-1633 (iPhone)
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
【TOKYO BOOT UP!】
————————————————————————————————-
TOKYO BOOT UP!2012 ★10/6.7.8!
10.6~8 @MARZ/Motion/marble etc.
We are currently accepting applications (6/1 ~ 7/31)
———————————————————————————————
Flight subsidy for SXSW2013 performers available
▼Artists who have received a subsidy for SXSW2012 are:
The Rubies (from The Emeralds)
THE AKABANE VOLGARS ON STRONG BYPASS
———————————————————————————————
TOKYO BOOT UP! College – “Shin Tokyo Daigaku” in session
Musicans, students welcome! Total 6 classes per term
Second term (2012 July ~ October)
Third term (2012 November ~ December)
Fourth Term (2013 January ~ March)
———————————————————————————————

Leave a comment