I thought I'd keep the year end blogging momentum going in view of the new year in case you've been living in a well with a laptop with an Internet connection... okay let's start haha
This is just one of those posts from Klassic Note which of long-term observation, defies the standard definition in Klassic Note, and thus we make change for it, and make decisions on how to classify them. This time, we talk about music releases, whether physical or digital, in this time of age.
As you know, today's music can be released in a variety of ways, from physical media like CDs to now digital download and even music streaming services, there are now easier and cheaper ways to listen to the music you love. But it is also because of that that Klassic Note has to adapt, for if you recall this passion project of mine started in 2008, and man did things change a lot in this past decade. So let's talk about it.
LIMITED EDITION ONLY SINGLES
Surprisingly not uncommon, but I only got my first taste of it in miwa's single in 2013 "Miracle". In this single, I gave both tracks which will make it qualify for being on my shelf back then. However, I went in for more research and found out that this release only came with a two-disc pack, along with the music videos of the two topic songs in the release, and does not have a single disc Regular Edition, if you have seen my Klassic Note Reviews before. And thus, this one does not qualify, at least under Klassic Note, to be reviewed and to be on my shelf. The reason here is simply that I only have a track record and also on financial grounds, to only review the music in Regular Editions rather than anything that comes with it like in a Limited Edition release typically with music videos or live performance footage. The bare minimum. Where anything more is not forgivable. You'll notice this trend later in further releases below and see that my judgement on this may deviate from the usual.
MULTIPLE REGULAR EDITIONS
Yes, this is a problem. With the rise of Anime music releases, and blurring the line between Anime and mainstream artists, there is a need to make sure Klassic Note can differentiate between them as one of them is taken into review but the other is not. Reason is that Anime-related releases do not count towards honouring the mainstream artists who work more than those Anime releases which are typically produced by Anime music producers selecting voice actors to sing them, making it less than supporting the artists than just supporting the Anime work. So, with this out of place, how can it be more complicated? The producers out there thought of a way to make sure they can brand artists on their work while still make sure the Anime credit is seen as clearly as possible to make sure consumers remember to give them a listen, and that is Anime Edition releases. Typically these releases are Limited Edition to give it some form of scarcity, but recently it has gone mainstream to give itself a bigger image so as to attract a wider audience, and that's where the problem comes in. Which release am I supposed to give? Say fhana for example. on their single in 2015 "Comet Lucifer". Clearly, there is a difference between giving the Anime Edition and regular Artist Edition. Both have different tracks, both represent different images the artist wanted to convey. So how? Which one should I select? And thus foreseeing this difference, reviews of these singles now in Klassic Note is determined by which version is available for listen as of 2014, and even then most of the time they won't pass the criteria. I can foresee this will no doubt still be a problem in the future as with music streaming I will be able to listen both of the versions and yes, fhana has finally revealed its music library in Apple Music. Let's just say this is going to be undetermined until I have to deal with such a case, yes?
ANIME VERSION AS REGULAR
Aw man, this one's a pain in the neck. Remember what I mentioned above about Anime music producers and companies being smart about how to brand their artists while making sure the Anime credit is seen clearly on the cover? Now instead of splitting them up in different versions or levelling them up to two Regular Editions, it is now merged into one. And who shall be on the cover: artist or credit? You might ask. For the producers, it seems that the latter is more important. And so we see in MICHI's 2nd single in 2016 "Checkmate!?" and Taketatsu Ayana's 2014 single "Kajirikake Ringo" that the Anime cover took the place of the artist instead for their Regular Editions. So now what? I used to be able to resolve these, but now that I can give the whole single should I accept the fact that Kon Natsumi's debut single has an Anime drawing instead of her face on the cover? I mean, for most applications this sounds fine, but then as I mention, in Klassic Note we like to do reviews to honour artists or the songs BUT never the Anime credit behind them. Looks like capitalism has taken a wrong turn, but we still have to come into a conclusion. So with Kon Natsumi being the first obstacle that I have to overcome, on the summer of Klassic Note 2014 I have officially given the green light to Anime covers on Regular Editions so I can continue to review the songs in order to give the artists behind them some form of credit. Hey, in these releases I already barely talk about production, so whatever.
DIGITAL RELEASES AND WHEN THEY MATTER
This one has also been a problem happening in the long run. Many artists, at least not from Japan, started to only release digital versions of songs online as download or streaming around 2013 to 2014, and that made reviewing in Klassic Note hard, and if it ends up on the shelf... I can't even put it on there. See the problem now? I only give reviews on physical releases because it's there. In any digital medium in case you don't know you only sign a contract of rent of the song whether it's streaming or download. (Yeah, don't believe me? Look it up) So when Tsuji Shion decided to release a slew of singles digitally online in 2015 it became a problem in Klassic Note. Specifically, her summer single "Summer Flag/Hanabi ga Agattara" was so good I decided to give both topic songs, but... I can't review it. And it still stands today, in Klassic Note, that I shall not review any digital release unless it is available in physical copy. And it's not I burn an empty CD of it, no, which means I'll just miss out reviewing a lot of releases which just for some reason, do not have a physical copy due to production budget reasons. So say goodbye to Tsuji Shion's single and VELTPUNCH's singles in 2015 because I can't review them as much as they are good. So yeah, still the Klassic Note standpoint today, and it will likely not change unless I can come up with a way to represent them online. The biggest problem now is that it is really easy to give digital singles as most of them are single track, and if they do well then two months later they will release a physicsl copy but along with a larger release like an album. (Looking at you, TWICE, and your repackaged album) And that will no doubt continue to be a major factor to me rather reviewing single track CD releases and give a review of a multi-track digital single. The upside is that music companies do know if their songs are popular that eventually physical releases will be made, like King Gnu's 2018 single "Prayer X". I just hope more will do that if their songs are popular. Those songs deserve a better place than in the digital medium.
LIVE ONLY RELEASES
Okay, this one is in exception category already, so I'll make this a special part of this blog's topic then. Back in 2013 I wanted to give SPECIAL OTHERS credit for how awesome they are as a musical band in Japan. And to that, I thought of a way to do so. I'll give a so-called "best compilation" so long as they are able to present it in some way that I can review, or at least, buy. So in comes their 2nd major live DVD release which, hear me out, has a Regular Edition live CD as a physical release!! So I'm like "Why not give them now?" than regret later (I wasn't wrong; their best album is actually sandwiched in the Limited Edition of their 2nd collaboration album) and so I did it. I bought the album after giving the amount of songs needed to pass the requirement in Klassic Note. However, as 2014 was the first year I did reviews, I didn't have to think about whether I needed to review this album, and so I didn't. I technically let it off in view of me trying to give support to the artists I like who in a thousand years will NEVER release a single since they just don't. This one is for you guys, SPECIAL OTHERS.
This is it for today. The current schedule for the slew of blog posts for until the new year is currently as follows: today is meant to be a special #KN10YEARS post in case you didn't notice, tomorrow I'll be doing another Entertainment News Special hoping that I can revamp the presentation of it once again maybe give it a new name(?) or something, the eve of new year will be the first time I'll move announcing Klassic Note Song Award Results to this blog because I'm sick of maintaining the posts on another site which loads slower than me waiting for a cup of noodles to cook (yeah, no joke), and I'll start the new year with another Klassic Note Artist Evaluation once more (it's going to be real pain this year), and a special post maybe on the things I hang in my room. I swear, there's only one thing (besides the one Garfield frame which I will also explain there) I hang in my room. I'm no otaku, okay? Okay until then everyone.