Eurobeat Prime :: Forum

I wouldn't have bought a large portion of my older SEBs had it not been for that channel.

Bonkers wrote:DirectorK, You're mad that a playlist of a genre of music you don't even legally & financially support got shut down? No, you have no right to complain.

You ask, "And there's 241 albums out right now! Do you seriously expect people to just go out there and buy every single album out there? :

From the Distributor's (Avex) standpoint: YES! That's WHY they're sold. That's why anything is sold! If you want the music, that's how it comes packaged. End of story (it doesn't matter if you think it's outdated). I'm in the States, and it costs roughly $27-$28 TOTAL with shipping, to get a NEW SEB from CDJapan. There are countless used copies on Ebay and Amazon that run cheap. If you can buy a new video game, audio accessories, laptops/PC/iPad, go to the movies, out to eat, or anything else that runs you $27, then you can afford an SEB cd.

Once again: You have no right to complain what the distributor does with their product if you're not going to legally obtain/support the product.


On the YT issue, the only reason I bought what I did was because I was able to hear it first. (Where would my collection be without Mi's para videos?) The music being on YT could only benefit Avex, so I don't understand this move (unless peeps were supplying the download link in the description). I think that's something Avex and these producers need to think about, especially for international peeps; maybe put the tracks on their own YT channel. Also, there are countless mp3 stores (Beatport, junodownload, trackitdown), They need to hone into these sites as well, and not just for Japan residents.

You're right, I don't have the right to complain. Except there's one problem as you just stated with last part of your reply. WHERE is the OFFICIAL Eurobeat channel on YouTube? The answer: NOWHERE. I do a own few albums, would love to own them all, but I don't have the money and neither eBay or Amazon has every single album available. eBay does have the biggest collection so far but not all of them are cheap, especially the oldest ones going all the way back to the very beginning. Last I looked, SEB Vol. 1 was $200 dollars. I don't have that kind of money to spare.

And let's not forget how rare these albums are. These albums have never been reprinted and not a single album to my knowledge has sold over 1,000 copies. Maybe in the golden age they did but not so much now. So that's why I say how hard it is to get a physical and that SEB is not like some famous band that has a good number of albums that still sell even today. You, as a fellow American, were to get an album at a decent price. Good for you, I'm glad you were able to. But what about the rest of us foreign fans? I live in California where getting a job is here so god damn near impossible it's not even worth the effort!

If Avex Trax would do exactly as you said, putting the music up on YT themselves and/or selling it internationally, I wouldn't have a problem! I'd be more than happy to buy every single album that came out. They should have started doing that years ago. They haven't, and they probably never will. So it's been up to us fans on YT to try and expose Eurobeat to the world by uploading the music ourselves, knowing full well that what's being done is in fact illegal. I might have done it myself. Buying the albums just isn't enough!

That's not to say I'm endorsing anyone who file shares, but in their defense, what other choice did they have? Avex Trax has proven time and again they're not going to do anything to promote Eurobeat so the fans had to do it instead. Not just because to give it more exposure but also to help preserve it. That's what Lebon14 was trying to get at and I'll say it again. We are losing what makes Eurobeat great and no seems to give a shit. If nothing else, the producers should be eternally grateful for their efforts in trying to keep their music alive.

The question you need to ask yourselves, and this goes for the producers too, is this: "Is this what you want?"

Eurobeat is dying, you can't deny it anymore. What was once a great genre is now a mere skeleton of itself. If something isn't done, Eurobeat will fade away and only those who live in those times will remember it. If something is not done, we may as well look for another genre that is good and unique as Eurobeat and never find it. Ever. Eurobeat is a special kind of music, it doesn't deserve this kind of fate. It deserves much better. And that's what EUROLOVERS was trying to do, even if it was illegal. And even with EUROLOVERS gone, it's not going to stop others from continuing what he did. No matter how many channels Avex Trax has terminated another one will rise and continue to rise until Avex Trax gives us what we want.

So ask yourselves again: "Is this what you want?"

Should Eurobeat die today, do you want to look back years from now haunted by the fact that you did nothing to save Eurobeat when you could have? Think about it.

I've been an avid listening of Eurobeat for over a decade ever since I first heard Dave Rodgers Space Boy on Initial D. I have never paid more attention to any other genre than this. And I for one outright refuse to let it die a horrible fate! It's time for us fans to come together and do something about it because Avex Trax is not going to do it. Yesterday was dark day for Eurobeat fans and it's only going to worse from here.

So asks yourselves one last time: "Is this what you want?"

DirectorK wrote:So asks yourselves one last time: "Is this what you want?"

I honestly thought eurobeat as a genre died in 2012, when there wasn't a single new Super Eurobeat compilation and the general mood seemed to be leaning towards apathy. Many people predicted Super Eurobeat would conclude with volume 200, and even during the 200's and 210's, most people here seemed to feel eurobeat was on its very last legs. I was surprised when SEB picked up again in 2013, but like my good friend the_ditz, I basically abandoned the series after volume 229 due to the scene's lack of excitement.

I honestly wouldn't mind if the eurobeat industry finally passed away for good, with only indie eurobeat living on. I simply wish Avex would make it at least someone convenient to purchase all albums in the Super Eurobeat series, plus all of the unreleased/nonstop-only songs by A-Beat C, TIME, and SCP. I hate that even almost 17 years later, there's still no way to listen to Dusty's "He Ho Let's Go" except as a nonstop segment on Euromach 3. Same goes for the arseload of great songs from Euromach 14 after nearly 15 years.

xiao wrote:We also gotta remember ~ as long as Japan exists ~ Eurobeat will live.

It's a long bygone fad that peaked back around the turn of the millennium and has declined ever since. Velfarre has been shut down for a decade now. Initial D is finally over. Even Dance Dance Revolution, the second-biggest promotional tool of eurobeat outside of Initial D, has been irrelevant since the start of this chronological decade.

Aside from a handful of independent artists; Eurobeat was never tangibly-real to those outside JP. Cause Eurobeat by it's conceptual-definition ~ is just a sub-genre of Eurodance meant for the Japanese.

It still has a sizable cult following outside of Japan. It may be targeted towards the Japanese, but it's still produced primarily in Italy and is almost exclusively sung in English. Its origins are in italo disco, a genre that basically manifested itself in the global mainstream throughout the 1980s with songs like "I Should Be So Lucky," "Self Control," "I Heard a Rumour," and "Too Many Broken Hearts." Frankly, I see eurobeat as mostly just 80s music on crack, or what popular music would've evolved into had the spirit of the 1980s never died. In all honesty, I really can't stand when people try to label the genre for being exclusively Japanese because that just alienates it from those who aren't from Japan or are primarily into Japanese culture.

I personally got into eurobeat because I just found it to be fun, energetic, exciting music. I was never really that much of a Japanophile like a lot of people here are. My musical tastes already veered towards eurodance (and 80s music) in the first place, so catching on to eurobeat was fairly natural for me. the_ditz was in the same boat.

DirectorK wrote:...And I for one outright refuse to let it die a horrible fate! It's time for us fans to come together and do something about it because Avex Trax is not going to do it.

I see a lot of words but no answers/solutions. This isn't just you, a lot of people are saying stuff like this. Like you said, waiting for Avex to do 'something' is useless, so we have got to do something else. What do you suggest we do?

I'm also really annoyed by people saying 'eurobeat isn't available in Europe'. To me that sounds like people from Ireland being annoyed that other people listen to dubstep too, even though they're not from Dublin. Eurobeat is just the name of the genre.

Since I really like eurobeat and it's community, I am willing to help out with any plans that are feasible. Just hand me those, and then we'll talk.

MKwiakaku wrote:I'm also really annoyed by people saying 'eurobeat isn't available in Europe'. To me that sounds like people from Ireland being annoyed that other people listen to dubstep too, even though they're not from Dublin. Eurobeat is just the name of the genre.

Well, that's because Europe was the origin of eurobeat in the first place. The genre's roots aren't even as an exclusively Japanese-targeted music but rather italo disco, which dominated Italian dance clubs in the mid-1980s. The only reason it became so heavily associated with Japan is because Italy and Japan share a strong music import relationship, in the same way anime and manga are extremely popular in France. Once 80s-style italo/Hi-NRG/freestyle music lost popularity internationally in the 90s in favor of house, new-jack swing, etc., Japan became the sole market focus of this very Italian style of music, with producers forced to experiment with new sounds in order to keep it relevant, hence the genre's sonic transformation from 1991 to 1996. Newer eurobeat may be faster any synthier, but its compositional origins are still all the same. Is it not at least a little ridiculous that the land that friggin' produces eurobeat hardly gets to enjoy its own creations?

Since Avex & Co. are all walking backwards and being like that they should probably… bring back the old and good eurobeat just because

MKwiakaku wrote:This isn't just you, a lot of people are saying stuff like this. Like you said, waiting for Avex to do 'something' is useless, so we have got to do something else. What do you suggest we do?

Making the Italian producers go "rogue". In other words, put their stuff up for sale online and then, when Avex notices, then they go "*cough cough* We don't want to be stuck in the 80's and to thinking backward. We want full rights to our song and distribution. We still allow you to distribute within' Japan but not exclusively anymore!"

If money is involved, then, they could open Patreons. Tbh, they should. I know I would drop a few bucks to SCP.

MKwiakaku wrote:I see a lot of words but no answers/solutions. This isn't just you, a lot of people are saying stuff like this. Like you said, waiting for Avex to do 'something' is useless, so we have got to do something else. What do you suggest we do?

I'm also really annoyed by people saying 'eurobeat isn't available in Europe'. To me that sounds like people from Ireland being annoyed that other people listen to dubstep too, even though they're not from Dublin. Eurobeat is just the name of the genre.

Since I really like eurobeat and it's community, I am willing to help out with any plans that are feasible. Just hand me those, and then we'll talk.

Sorry, I was really frustrated and in a bit of a rush when I made that comment.

The biggest thing we need to do is to send a clear message to Avex Trax that we want Eurobeat to be available online. It's something we fans have asked for for years and it still hasn't happened. We've coped with it thanks to EUROLOVERS but now he's gone unless some miracle happens and he gets his channel back. The termination of that channel is, for me and I'm sure many others, is the last straw. If we can create a petition and have enough people sign it to show Avex Trax that this is what we want we might be able to finally get their attention.

And if that doesn't work, maybe we can gather enough followers that we can make a special trip over to Tokyo and march on Avex Trax HQ demanding for Eurobeat to be more accessible. That actually might be a better idea because Avex Trax will finally see with their own eyes that there is a fanbase outside of Japan and they need to embrace them. It's not fair that the Japanese get to enjoy this music and we don't. Nothing against anyone here who's Japanese by the way.

Another idea is to try get through Eurobeat noticed by creating some sort of fan project. Like maybe creating an animated short film that is a musical with Eurobeat being the music style and the characters doing para para dancing. Silly I know but it is an idea.

The thing is, if we can get some a group of animators to create a short film based on that idea, we can send to Avex Trax and the producers as a bit of a sales pitch and they might go, "Hey, this is actually a cool idea! Let's invest in it!".

Anyone here familiar with with an American independent animation studio called Rooster Teeth? For the last few years they've producing an anime inspired web series called RWBY. I'm not a big fan of the show but it's grown extremely popular among the anime community. It could look something like that.

The only other thing we could do is our own Eurobeat compilation series like the SUPER AMERICA BEAT thing I suggested earlier. I'm willing to bet there's enough American fans, or at least in North American fans, out there that be willing to do it like Travis Stebbins of Odyssey if we made a real effort. It'd be interesting to see what American style Eurobeat would be like.

Or we could do what Lebon14 suggested, make the Italian labels go rogue and open up Patreons.

DirectorK wrote: It's not fair that the Japanese get to enjoy this music and we don't.

And I tell you again, you can get used copies on Amazon for as low as $12 (or lower). YOU have a way to get this music. Whether it's the way you want it or not is not Avex's problem or concern. It all comes back on you.

I'm tired of you throwing out the argument that it's blocked from you. It's not. So you can stop throwing that out now.

I even set the view from lowest priced to highest.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_pric ... e-asc-rank

#Infinity wrote:Even Dance Dance Revolution, the second-biggest promotional tool of eurobeat outside of Initial D, has been irrelevant since the start of this chronological decade.

Uh I think many people would disagree with you on that statement.

Here's my comment on the drama.

It was never a good idea to post a newly released SEB 241 on YouTube. It seems that the EuroLovers guy does not read these forums apparently. He's probably Japanese. If he had known the upload drama, this would not have happened.

It is increasingly not becoming a good idea to post stuff on YouTube due to how easy it is to terminate channels for copyright claims. The whole channel was not on a good foundation and should have moved to another web server possibly.