Japanese pop/rock music is introduced through mass media: radio and television. The latter is especially important for understanding the present condition of the Japanese pop music.

In the 1970s and '80s, there were several live music programs on TV such as the Za besuto ten, or The Best Ten on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting Station) which introduced the latest hit songs. The impact of these music programs was enormous. To be on the top ten chart increased the recordings and concert sales a great deal. The Japanese tend to buy everything new and popular so that they can keep up with other people and share recent topics. Otherwise one might say to you, "Don't you know that new song? You are out of fashion!"

The strong influence of The Best Ten, however, was suddenly decreased when one of the personalities on the show, Kume Hiroshi quit. Also, most of the other music programs accordingly disappeared. One of the reasons is that the promoters of the Japanese pop music made too much of an effort to make the music competitive by employing idol singers or "aidoru-kasyu." The idol singer is a singer whose charming appearance captures the audience, even though his/her singing is not as good as a professional singers'. Many of today's female idol singers has been hired from fashion models. Most male idol singers are trained to be good dancers as well as singers. The promoters of the idol singers do not expect their successes in music. Their main concern is how many TV commercials and TV show they can appear in. Therefore, the musical technique is just an extra ability for idol singers.

Another reason is that the Japanese have become interested in more diverse music than the latest hit songs. They are tired of homogeneous hits produced by aidoru singers whose music is not necessarily good. The emergence of Japanese rock bands, or "bando" in late 1980s is one example.

Today, recent Japanese pop music is used as (1) the theme songs for TV shows (most of them are for TV dramas), (2) the background music for TV commercials, used in (3) a few music programs, sold as (4) recordings, sold by (5) "rental CD stores," and used in (6) karaoke.

The first two are especially important, because today television is the most popular Japanese entertainment. Recent pop pieces are produced according to the schedule of TV programs, especially that of TV dramas. The release date of the recording and the broadcasting date are set by TV stations and record companies before the actual recordings are sold. If the TV station decides not to use a certain song in their program, record companies cancel the CD release of the song already recorded. Record companies and the singers' promoters introduce songs to TV stations to be used in their programs. They (or musicians themselves) give a demo tape to the TV station.

Recently, record companies have given away some (or most) of the songs' copyright to the "branch" company of a TV station. The TV station gains a lot of money from the sales of the recordings and their associated record company can gain some money too.

The concerts of Japanese pop/rock singers contribute somehow to the sales of the recording, but some pop/rock agencies consider that they are merely a means of promotion to increase recording sales. Some musicians even do not have a concert. They just make recordings in a studio and make 1,000,000-disc hits.

Most Japanese pop and rock musicians make music videos for a few music programs on TV, such as Countdown TV (TBS), Video Jam (TV-Asahi), and Music Tomato Japan (TVK--TV Kanagawa). Japanese music videos are imitations of their American counterparts aired on MTV. Both Japanese and American music videos feature a live or staged performance, a direct visual interpretation of the song's words, or a much more loosely related series of images.

The enka recordings make much less money compared with pop and rock recordings. While the big hit of pop music goes up to 1,000,000 disc sales, some 100,000 disc sales is a big sale for enka. The biggest money makers for enka singers to make money is the concerts in small cities outside Tokyo, called "chihô-jyungyo" or "dosamawari." Concerts could and often do take place in a small community centers, bars, or shopping malls as well as regional concert halls. Enka singers can make thousand to ten thousands of dollars from these kinds of concerts.

To gain more money from the concerts, the enka agents make every effort for their singers to be more popular.

First, they make contracts for the enka singers to be on TV. There are a few TV programs which feature enka singers. Enka no hanamichi (Flower Road of Enka") on TV Tokyo is one of such TV programs.

Second, the enka singer make recordings of enka pieces. Many unknown enka singers sell their recordings (mostly cassette tapes, sometimes CDs) at concerts. Some singers make recordings with their own money, just for promotion of themselves. Major record companies in Japan make their private records, or P-ban. By releasing P-ban from a major record company, unknown enka singers can promote themselves as big singers, since the names of these companies are known to most Japanese people because of star enka singers.

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