New Japanese Pop Idol Shocks Fans With News - She’s Not Real
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If Disney could produce popstars in a laboratory they would.
For folks interested in how the Japanese content industry does it, see Merry White's books on the Japanese youth culture, particularly as it regards magazines. (They might need an update for the Internet age, but not all that much of one.)
They basically did.
I follow Korean pop culture more than Japan's, but I definitely have a sense that the K-POP labels have virtual stables of up and coming "properties", getting paid little, living in bunks with other stars-in-training and eating instant noodles, but being given the very best in song and dance lessons for hours a day, waiting to be selected by their manager to begin a nationwide PR blitz and concert series for at least 2 years of "instant" stardom, then cultural obscurity.
I imagine that something no entirely dissimilar happens in the U.S., but the feeder system is all different...
The K-Pop starlet BoA is one I remember very well (also semi-popular in Japan if I understand correctly), chosen at about 13 (years ago), dropped out of school and "manufactured" through endless training programs to become what she is today. Interestingly, she was an investment by her label specifically for export to the U.S. and Japan. She hasn't done well in the States, but her label seems happy with her performance across the Sea of Japan, infiltrating J-Pop. Her interviews in the States (in very good, but accented English) came across as weird, slightly aloof, uncomfortable and detached...kind of what you'd expect out of somebody who has never really lived a normal life.
Every once in a while the mainstream will flirt with some of the indie groups, sometimes some of the style rubs off and the Pop industry will change.
One very well known case (in Korea) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seo_Tae_Ji basically revolutionized the entire industry a couple of times, changing styles like some people change hair cuts. He basically introduced hard rock and rap into the mainstream (which basically was stuff like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2lD9cvkDx8 ) until he came along.
But there's really some great stuff in the indie scene there. One duo has recently started getting noticed a bit in the mainstream.
I would bet the ad spends and branding costs would dwarf the money spent directly on grooming the performer.
Someone I knew in London 5 or so years ago got a Development Deal with one of the major labels. He stayed in his normal job, but was paid a retainer to not talk to any other labels for a period of time. I don't know how much it was, but the first time the money hit his account he thought he'd been overpaid and called them so they could correct their error - he was told it was the right amount.
They'd give him some studio time occasionally and have him record demos and do showcase performances for various important people. They offered him a personal chef and a personal trainer to tone up.
Last I heard nothing had ever come of the whole thing. No records released, no attempt at publicly launching his career, etc. I assume the money stopped coming at some point.
Sort of the feeder leagues that produce second and third rate stuff until something percolates up and makes it into the major leagues. I wonder how much music (and videos) is out there? I'd bet some (a small percentage no doubt) of it is pretty good.
http://www.theonion.com/video/disney-lab-unveils-its-latest-...
Seeing this, I think that could be closer to reality.
We could also even go back to Fritz Langs's 1927 film Metropolis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_%28film%29
The plot development is rather horrible, but idea wise very infuential.
Gibson's stuff seems to never feel old, a remarkable achievement for sci-fi stuff from before the internet era.
You've also politely failed to notice that Gibson, along with many other people, believed the hype about AI twenty years ago. ;)
Gibson's great because he notices things. For example, I will be eternally grateful for all the Joseph Cornell stuff in Count Zero because it prompted me to go see a show full of actual Joseph Cornell boxes, which are wonderful and are exactly as Gibson described them.
The Cornell exhibition I went to see is, alas, closed now:
http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Cornell-Lynda-Roscoe-Hartigan/d...
...and all the boxes are back in the hands of various collectors. But modern art museums have them in smaller numbers. I saw a few of them at the Art Institute of Chicago, for example.
The Japanese culture at large is quite in phase with virtual stuff and robots.
Effectively, Miku is a sort of "democratized" form of pop culture: instead of a single media company tightly controlling a pop star, it's the masses who reap the benefits.
Hatsune Miku is to Japanese pop idols what Touhou is to popular traditional franchises like Gundam -- and accordingly, has grown in popularity at nearly unheard-of rates. If we're lucky, the next few decades will have more and more of this: pop culture made by consumers, for consumers, for the benefit of consumers.
For example: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303361/>;
http://search.cpan.org/~jrockway/Acme-MorningMusume-ShinMemb...
20 years from now. You are befriended on Facebook++ by a person who looks somewhat like all the previous girlfriends you have had. Initiating a 3-D video chat, she seems very friendly and has a lot of the same interests as you do. Every now and then -- so infrequently that you do not notice -- she mentions a particular brand or commercial product, always providing a link. Other than that, she's just a great friend. Always there to provide advice, always willing to cheer you up, always enjoying your jokes and stories. Heck, maybe she's even willing to help you out with your startup, providing introductions to her friends and helping you with your marketing. Maybe she helps locate your next big client. Great stuff, eh?
Except she doesn't exist.
http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/play/deaikei-duties-posing-online...
(So long as the advice the scammer gives is good!)
This was a great video showing how far from reality Photoshop can take a picture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
We're now to the point where supermodels feel bad about themselves when they look at photos of themselves. That is seriously messed up.
This fictional Japanese video star is just the next nutty step.