J-Pop Write-Up

I doubt it. 

But, we can hope so.

And it seems thousands of other people feel as strongly as I do. Or perhaps Vocaloid fans are just good at hacking. Even if this isn’t enough to bring Nebula to the Olympics, it’s definitely catching some attention. I heard about it from a friend online, but this article confirms it.

Frankly, I don’t think Queen Elizabeth II would quite know how to take that. I wonder if anyone watching would know the truth behind Vocaloid music producer’s intentions. Perhaps Hatsune Miku performing at that event could give this community a powerful voice.

As much as you can swing Vocaloid fans as being eerily obsessed with a not-quite-real, real-ish 16 year old Japanese girl named Hatsune Miku, it’s not really an accurate portrayal. Vocaloid fans are primarily anti-label, not anti-life. Their primary concern is being able to produce content without the influence of traditional record labels. Certainly, fanmade sexual content is floating around out there, but it’s really more about the ability of people to lay claim to their eternal right to make and share in musical activity. So, for starters, let’s just set that whole “strange Japan” bundle aside, and look at the real material issues out there that effect the works that created Hatsune Miku.

This doesn’t have to be done in a library or court house. We can solve this puzzle together just by listening. I like following along with Vocaloid lyrics, seeing if I can understand what they mean. Let’s not underestimate the P’s animacy in creation of their content here. Metaphors abound. And, there may be camps forming. Groups of P’s with varying philosophical stances toward music production, and the monetary value of music. We can listen to the production quality of the music. Is the texture of the music smooth? Does the song capture my attention? Could someone profit from this music? Let’s not forget that the cheapest labor is and has always been free labor.

Is there something that I’m missing out on? Obviously! There’s tons! Like, is there some tab of the transgressions noted by producers toward the record labels? What about producers who sign to major labels? Or is this, as Raymond Williams suggests, a “structure of feeling?” Is the micro-struggle between the concept of a virtual Japanese idol singer, supported by her producers/consumers, and the assumably conservative reaction in England to these results something worthy of attention? Or is it just a blip in history?

Be it by pure technological shock value or an expression of political-economic turmoil, Hatsune Miku and Vocaloid as a concept seem always to ensnare attention. But often this attention is misdirected toward unproductive means. Vocaloid is a powerful new technology that has the ability to change the game. Our macabre fascination with Hatsune Miku culminates in a question that society must address one day soon.