Interview With Shunji Inoue
Location: Email
Interview Date: 3/13/2018
Shunji Inoue has served as PROMIC’s Director since April 2017.
Thank you for agreeing to take some questions. The Foundation for Music Industry and Culture Promotion (PROMIC) recently created JAM LAB. Back in 2008, PROMIC made an effort to connect with American and European artists and broaden their brand awareness outside of Asia. Since that time, the anime industry has grown in the West, most notably due to the efforts of Crunchyroll. My questions in regards to JAM LAB:
Anime Herald: Will JAM LAB lead to more concerts in America for artists under the PROMIC umbrella?
Shunji Inoue: Although there are currently no plans at this time for PROMIC to organize concerts in the US, we will be supporting events relating to anime music which indirectly lead to more concerts.
Anime Herald: What is the general marketing plan for JAM LAB in regards to increasing awareness of Japanese artists in America?
Shunji Inoue: JAM LAB’s main objectives are to provide accurate and up-to-date information on ani-song and ani-song artists and also connecting ani-song professionals. We hope that providing correct information and building closer relationships between the actual players and driving forces in the industry will lead to greater exposure of ani-song in the US.
Anime Herald: Is JAM LAB designed mostly to make Japanese artists more accessible to American Industry professionals, or will JAM LAB make a broader push to the casual anime fan?
Shunji Inoue: Although we are currently limiting registrations for business users, anime and ani-song music fans are welcome to visit and browse the site as we want to provide everyone with the correct information. Most professionals in this field were and still are loyal fans of the artists and the music so we see fans as professionals of the future.
Anime Herald: Who do you expect to see as the biggest users of the service?
Shunji Inoue: As a service, we believe initially the majority of requests and inquires will be on artist interviews and live event bookings but we hope that there will also be interest in music license and usages.
Anime Herald: Region locking has been an issue for Japanese artists on Youtube. Will JAM LAB lead to more Japanese artists having their content available in America on Youtube?
Shunji Inoue: Region locking are in most cases policies by the copyright owners but since JAM LAB. is currently a non-profit, ad free service, we hope that perhaps in the future, exceptions can be made for certain videos to be made available for stream on this site only in locked regions.
Anime Herald: Will there be any attempt at some kind of grand collaboration, either via live performances, or via an album release that combines artists across multiple labels to promote the Japanese Anisong industry?
Shunji Inoue: We believe JAM LAB. itself is a wonderful opportunity for anime music related companies to come together and participate for the benefit of the industry. We hope to see more cross label / management efforts, especially on the concert side and we will let you know through JAM LAB. when they happen!
Anime Herald: Given the B2B exposure available in the music industry in Los Angeles, will JAM LAB have a presence at Anime Expo?
Shunji Inoue: Yes, we plant to be at Anime Expo in July to present ourselves and to meet and connect with US anime professionals to see how we may be able to improve our services.
Anime Herald: Finally, is there anything you would like to say directly to the readers of Anime Herald?
Shunji Inoue: First of all, thank you for supporting Japanese anime. If you are a professional in the anime or ani-song industry, by all means please sign up and for fans and future professionals, please visit our site for updates on ani-songs and artists. Yoroshiku!
With the view that the anime fans of today are the industry professionals of the future, it appears that PROMIC are going to take the long view in regards to JAM LAB. 2018 is likely a bit too soon to see any effects of this push, but perhaps in 2019 we’ll start to see a bit more exposure for Japanese artists in the West.
Thanks to Shunji Inoue for granting this interview. Additional thanks to Erik Jansen of MediaLab and David Cirone of Resonance Media for helping to put this interview together.
Shunji Inoue is the President of Lantis.
