Multidimensional Artist Project “SZNO” Making Their Major Debut with 1st Digital Single “xx”

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Bandai Namco Music Live Inc. , in collaboration with MusicRay’n (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Ryoichi Sugiura), has launched the multidimensional artist project “SZNO” (pronounced: Suzuno), which operates in both the real and virtual realms. We are pleased to announce the release of their debut single, “xx” (pronounced “Bye-Bye”) which was made available across all digital streaming platforms.

▼About SZNO

SZNO is a multidimensional artist project that operates in both the real and virtual realms. It was born from a collaboration between Bandai Namco Music Live, known for its Lantis label and expertise in producing music content like the Love Live! series, and MusicRay’n, a Sony Music Group company renowned for discovering and nurturing talent such as Sphere, TrySail, and CHiCO. Look forward to discovering more of SZNO’s world as it gradually unfolds with each music release.

Be sure to check out “xx” on all streaming platforms here!

Girl Group SWEET REVENGE Makes A Splash With Debut Music Video "Might Just"!

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“Might Just’ digital Jacket Cover

New Asian-Pop band SWEET REVENGE has released today a music video for their debut single “Might Just.” The trio came together by competing in a global audition process to find the next pop sensation from entertainment powerhouse, LDH JAPAN. As part of the “Global Vocal Battle Auditions,” one of the international judges and world renowned producer AFROJACK was impressed with the group’s stand-out vocal and dance performances. Through their musical journey priming to launch – reminiscent of superstars BLACKPINK – they created their identity SWEET REVENGE, evoking a sweetness backed by femme fatale energy. Now, after four years of honing their skills, the girls are making their official debut into the J-Pop world with their colorful new music video for “Might Just.”

SWEET REVENGE is a multi-ethnic group, with ASAMI hailing from Japan, AGNES who is Dutch and West African, and LARISSA, a native of the Netherlands. In “Might Just,” each of the members show off their unique aura and style before coming together to create a bouncy hook, backed by a dreamy production style. The track is produced by GRAMMY award-winning producer group The Stereotypes, whose plucky synths and energetic hi-hat drums give the song a cotton candy atmosphere.

The “Might Just” music video, directed by Los Angeles-based Amber Park, features the bright performers with their own animated digital avatars. The character designs were made by Shinsei Galverse illustrator Ayaka Ohira and the avatars shown in the music video were created by creative studio Active Theory. The artists wore motion-capture bodysuits to record and track the choreography, all done by the LDH DIGITAL team to breathe life into their anime-friendly/kawaii-esque mascots. This single will appear as the opening theme in the upcoming anime series, "The Girl Downstairs.” The program is originally a popular Korean webtoon that was adapted into a Chinese anime series, and is now set to air on Japanese TV on July 3, 2024. 

Be sure to check out he music video for “MIGHT JUST” below along with the streaming link for the track here!

moya, Global Brand Ambassador for the High School Girl Uniform Brand Lucy Pop, is Releasing the Song ‘This Is My Story’, with Lyrics Entirely in English! She Even Helped to Write the Lyrics!

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In recent times, middle schoolers have been making waves on Japanese social media, such as ‘Hikiniku’ from the popular middle schooler Youtube channel ‘Kozou tyonmage’, which has 1.54 million subscribers, and the 15-year-old middle school student tuki. who scored a number one hit on the domestic Spotify virtual chart with her song “Bansanka”.

Against this backdrop, the 13-year-old middle school student moya, who began working as a global model for the high-school girl uniform brand almost exactly six months ago on May 12th, 2023 released her original single ‘This Is My Story’ on streaming services worldwide on November 12th, 2023. She did this on her own record label, moya records. This marks her debut as a recording artist.  

Seeking to emulate Bruno Mars, with a dream to be an international artist moya came to her father hoping to translate lyrics that she came up with in school into English. Her father spoke with his friend, English native speaker and music producer U-SKE ASADA to translate the lyrics and to lead the composition of the track. 

Dai Hasegawa, who teaches the bass to moya, worked as the director of the music video, using the school where moya came up with the lyrics as a location, and focusing on scenes of moya in a uniform from the Lucy Pop brand for which she works as a global model. moya arranged the camera work, lighting and editing all on her own. The choreography was created by natsukiii, who moya takes lessons from. Viewers will get to see scenes of moya dancing on the roof of the school.

Moreover, as evidenced by how she is learning to play the bass, moya is interested in playing instruments, so along with her father, she found other musicians on TikTok and YouTube and approached them in English; such as Ecuadorean guitarist John Carpio, the Spanish drummer Darío de la Rosa who now lives in the U.S.A. and the Canadian bassist Colin Sankey. Combining the work of these international artists with U-SKE ASADA on keyboards, they created special instrumental tracks to accompany the song, making both instrumental and karaoke versions of these tracks available on streaming here, and be sure to check out the music video below!

MEWLIVE: A New VTuber Space Opens! Commemorative First Livestream!

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Bandai Namco Music Live Inc. has announced their plans to open a new VTuber space named “MEWLIVE” on September 28, 2023, with the goal of creating a world where performers can freely express themselves beyond the boundaries of real and virtual. To commemorate this opening, a special livestream is scheduled for the same day at 7:00 PM (JST).

■MEWLIVE Commemorative First Livestream: A New VTuber Space Opens!

This livestream will feature the MEWLIVE CEO, voice actress Kotori Koiwai as the MC, VTuber Musubi Gaou as a performer, and VTuber analyst Sui Kawasaki as a guest.

Throughout the livestream, they will share information about MEWLIVE’s concept, its affiliated VTubers, and upcoming activities, so be sure to check it out!

About MEWLIVE

MEWLIVE is a new space where VTubers serve as a bridge between our world and virtual space. Our goal is to create a world where performers can freely express themselves beyond the boundaries of real and virtual.

■MEWLIVE CEO X (former Twitter)

■MEWLIVE official YouTube channel

MC

Kotori Kowai

Profile

A voice actress. She has voiced characters such as Renge Miyauchi in Non Non Biyori and Tomoka Tenkubashi in The Idolmaster: Million Live! She is also known as a composer who has written, composed, and arranged jingles that play on TBS Radio. She is renowned as an audio enthusiast who owns over 200 earphones and headphones and gained fame for selling tens of thousands of earphones with just one tweet.

She made headlines as the first voice actress to become a MENSA member. She belongs to Peerless Gerbera.

■Official X (formerly Twitter)

■YouTube channel

Performer

Musubi Gaou

Profile

The modern incarnation of the once mighty Mosasaurus of ancient oceans. She currently leads a laid back life as a sea god. In fact, she’s so laid back that she fell asleep and washed up on a Japanese beach, where she was picked up by her current owner. With newfound time on her hands and her owner’s PC, she decided to try streaming.

■Official X (formerly Twitter)

■YouTube channel

Guest

Sui Kawasaki

Profile

While active as a VTuber, she also works as a VTuber analyst.

She regularly shares content that is useful for novice VTubers and provides insights for listeners who are interested in the VTuber industry.

She also has a passion for motorcycles and posts daily motorcycle-related shorts!

■Official X (formerly Twitter)

■YouTube channel

Formed from LDH’s biggest ever audition show ‘iCON Z’, Japanese vocal & rap group WOLF HOWL HARMONY make major-label debut with avex (rhythm zone)!

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‘Sweet Rain’ Digial Jacket Cover

WOLF HOWL HARMONY are a new vocal and rap group formed from LDH’s largest ever audition show ‘iCON Z ~Dreams For Children~’, which gathered some 48,000 competitors. The group is made up of ‘iCON Z’ finalists GHEE and HIROTO and round 2 participants RYOJI and SUZUKI, who also perform as the vocal group DEEP SQUAD. And now, on August 23, the four-piece group have made their major-label debut on Japanese label avex’s rhythm zone imprint. The group’s name WOLF HOWL HARMONY references the members’ overlapping life stories, four howling lone wolves who have become one pack together.

Member Comments

● RYOJI

“At last, the time has come. The road so far has been rough, and the days have not been easy. Knowing through experience how unusual it is for us to have the chance to stand on this start line, I feel immense gratitude to all those who have supported us. 

“This is where WOLF begins. We intend to work as hard as we can so that we can bring joy to our fans and show the depths of our love. Please join us for the ride! Let’s see all the world has to show us! Thank you everyone for your warm support.”

● SUZUKI

“We finally made our major-label debut this past week. This achievement was not made by us alone: Our success is thanks to everyone who has supported us so far. We will commit everything we have and repay our fans through our work. No matter how large the goal, we can achieve anything together. We will continue to give it our all, so I hope you will stick with us!”

● GHEE

“This past week we were able to make our debut as WOLF HOWL HARMONY!! Now we stand at the start line – the main event. We will stake our lives to deliver the very best to all of the LOVE RED. We will do all we can to grow even more as artists and to repay the kindness of our fans, so please give us your support!”

● HIROTO

“This past week, on August 23, we successfully made our debut as WOLF HOWL HARMONY. Thank you so much! We couldn’t have made it this far without everyone’s help during the social media screening phase of the audition. Going forward, we will work with all of you to achieve our many goals and dreams, and I hope our existence can bring constant excitement to our fans. Thank you for your continued support!”

The song was selected by fans who cast their votes on social media, and the lyrics express the painful feeling of being “more than friends but less than lovers”. With its kinetic melody that is perfect for the summer season, the song has been performed at venues around Japan since the end of June as part of the ‘WOLF HOWL HARMONY -iCON Z Yumesha Shugyo-’ event. 

A music video was also recently released, featuring a rain-like variety of textures inspired by the personalities of the four members, and showcases each member’s individuality while also expressing the message of the song. The video was directed by Hidejin Kato, who has worked on music videos for a large number of artists. Check out the bold color tone changes throughout the video.

WOLF HOWL HARMONY fans, known as LOVE RED, have already set social media alight with excited comments, and expectation is building for the group’s next video release.

Two years on from their audition experience, “dreamers in training” WOLF HOWL HARMONY have finally made their major-label debut. Don’t take your eyes off them. Be sure to check out ‘Sweet Rain’ across all digital streaming links here!