is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder

Max Matsuura , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder of Avex Group, one of the largest music labels. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notably Ayumi Hamas ...

and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

talents like

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur. By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia. Due to her success and relevanc ...

and internet sensation

PikoTaro , better known by his stage names and , is a Japanese comedian, television personality and entertainer. Kosaka insists that Pikotaro is another personality promoted by him, but they are considered the same person. He is currently signed with Av ...

. It has also shifted into other business domains like anime, video games and live music events, partnering with

Ultra Music Festival Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music festival that takes place during March in Miami, Florida, United States. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes. It was first held on Miami Beach, bu ...

and hosting the annual A-nation. The company is a member of the

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is a Japanese bank holding and financial services company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. MUFG holds assets of around US$3.1 trillion as of 2016 and is one of the "Three Great Houses" of the Mitsubishi Group alongside Mitsubishi Corpor ...

(MUFG) ''

keiretsu A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. The ''ke ...

''.

Name

Avex is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

of the English words Audio Visual Expert. Since its foundation, its corporate name was Avex

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

, Incorporated, and ten years later it was changed to Avex, Incorporated. The current name, Avex Group Holdings, Incorporated, was adopted in 2004 as part of reconstruction process after

Tom Yoda is a Japanese businessman. Profile Born May 27, 1940 in Chikuma, Nagano-ken, Tatsumi (nicknamed Tom) finished high school at Nagano HS in 1959 and Business Administration at Meiji University in 1963. In 1969, he became Sansui Electric's dire ...

's resignation. Avex Group Holdings, Incorporated was used for the main subsidiaries, while the old name (Avex, Incorporated) was for entertainment components of the Group. In 2005, Avex, Incorporated became Avex Entertainment, Incorporated, and stayed on as part of the Group.

History

1988–1999: The early years

Avex was registered June 1, 1973, as , although it did not become established until 1988. They began as a CD wholesaler based in

Machida, Tokyo is a Cities of Japan, city located in West Tokyo, the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 428,851, and a population density of 6,000 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography ...

. :ja:エイベックス・グループ Avex Group's article on the Japanese Wikipedia. In September 1990, they opened a recording studio and created Avex Trax as a music label. In the same year, they created "Musique Folio Inc.", a music publishing company, which became "Prime Direction Inc." In 1993, they transferred to

Aoyama, Tokyo is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Tokyo, located in the northwest portion of Minato Ward. The area is well known for its international fashion houses, cafes and restaurants. or "North Aoyama" refers to the area on the north side of Ao ...

and created a U.S. branch, called "AV Experience America Inc." The year also marked the first of Avex's yearly events. It was held in

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

under the name "avex rave '93" and attracted 50,000 attendees. This led to the creation of the Cutting Edge label. In 1994, they formed two UK subsidiaries, "Rhythm Republic Limited" and "Avex U.K. Limited". Later that year, they opened a disco, claimed on their website to be "the world's largest scale disco", named

Velfarre was a disco located in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, Japan. Velfarre was the self-professed "largest disco in Asia" with a capacity of 1,500 people, with three floors above ground and three floors below; owned by Tetsuya Komuro and Avex Trax. V ...

. In 1997, they opened a series of concert halls called "

Zepp The Zepp music halls are a group of Japanese music venues covering every area of the country. They play host to many international tours and are a popular stop among Japanese musicians. Each venue takes the Zepp name, along with the city in which ...

" with

Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

. In early 1999, they signed an agreement with

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...

and

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...

to handle the companies' Japanese CD releases. Later that year "Avex Mode", an animation company, was established. In December, the company was listed on the 1st section of the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

under the

ticker symbol A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. In short, ticker symbols are arrangements of symbols or characters (generally Latin letters ...

7860.

2000–2009: Times of unity and divisiveness

In 2001, Avex opened the "avex artists academy" music school. In 2002, they released the " CCCD", a type of copy-protected CD, and opened their building in Aoyama, paid for by Sumitomo Life and worth 205 billion yen. In 2003, they opened a classical music business (named Avex Classics). In January 2004, they began selling Japanese music CDs in South Korea. In December of that same year, President

"spotted" former

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

Ami Suzuki is a Japanese recording artist, DJ, and actress from Zama, Kanagawa, Japan. Having been discovered at the talent TV show ''Asayan'', she was one of the most popular female teen idols in the late 1990s. However, in 2000, Suzuki faced legal probl ...

performing live at the annual festival of their school,

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

. He subsequently signed her to the Avex label. In 2005, Avex acquired distribution rights for

Aozora Records __NOTOC__ is a Japanese record company owned bClear Sky Corporation Established May 3, 2000 to handle the independent release of Hitomi Yaida's debut maxi CD ''Howling'' to the Kansai area of Japan, it was the subject of a bidding war amongst the ...

' catalogue including all future

Hitomi Yaida is a Japanese pop/folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. She often goes by the nickname Yaiko. Her musical style is often called "heart rock" by her fans. Yaida is an established musical artist in Japan and has also had minor club hits in ...

releases. In early 2008, Avex partnered with Victor JVC to officially create the label

D-topia Entertainment D-topia Entertainment (previously known as DTJ or D-Topia Japan) is a Japanese record label produced by Terukado Ōnishi, officially established in public prior to December 14, 2007. The label is dedicated to promoting girls' entertainment, parti ...

as a business partnership between the labels and its founder, Terukado Onishi, with the

sales promotion Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing ...

handled by Victor while the area promotion handled by Avex. As part of the Avex Group's 20th anniversary celebration, a big project occurred with avex trax's "produced by avex trax" artists; the band

Girl Next Door The girl next door is a young female stock character who is often used in romantic stories. She is so named because she often lives next door to the protagonist or is a childhood friend. They start out with a mutual friendship that later often ...

, formed and debuted in September 2008. Avex Group launched its own

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, ...

service, BeeTV, May 2009 in partnership with NTT DoCoMo.

2004: Internal feud : Max Matsuura v. Tom Yoda

In August 2004, a feud between Max Matsuura and co-founder Tom Yoda affected the group. It started because of Yoda's ambition to expand Avex into other entertainment-related ventures, especially producing

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s. In addition, he accused Ryuhei Chiba, the company's executive director and president of Avex Inc. (now Avex Planning and Development), of pursuing personal profit from a few big artists. July 30: In a board meeting, Yoda introduced a

resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

calling on Chiba to resign because of an alleged

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

. A source says the disagreement arose because Chiba had signed an artist managed by a member of his family. The board backed Yoda's resolution in a 6-1 vote. However, Matsuura — described by insiders as a close ally of Chiba — introduced a second resolution demanding that Yoda step down due to "a difference of opinion in management principles". Matsuura's motion was defeated 5-2. He and Chiba resigned the next day. August 2: Matsuura and Chiba announced their resignations in a meeting with employees of Avex. Chiba denied any fault, while Matsuura complained that Avex had lost its love of music and said he wanted to start over. They had the support of many staff who also said they would quit. More significantly, the label's top star,

, said she would leave. As a result, Avex's stocks in the TSE fell by 16 percent that day. August 3: Due to pressure by employees and artists and to save the company from bankruptcy, Yoda resigned and was replaced by Toshio Kobayashi.

2010–present

AGHD is listed at the

Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Locat ...

and

Börse München The Börse München is a stock exchange based in Munich, Germany. Founded in 1830, it currently lists over 6300 securities. History The Börse München was officially founded in 1869, but its origins go back to the 1830s, when traders from Muni ...

of Germany under the ticker symbol AX8. More K-pop artists from other agencies continued to sign with Avex such as

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...

(2006),

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production compa ...

2NE1 2NE1 (, ) was a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016. The group was composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experiment ...

(2010), S-plus Entertainment's

SS501 SS501 is a South Korean boy band consisting of five members: Kim Hyun-joong, Heo Young-saeng, Kim Kyu-jong, Park Jung-min and Kim Hyung-jun. They debuted in 2005 with the EP ''Warning'', which included their first number one song, "Never Again ...

member

Kim Hyung Jun Kim Hyung-jun (; born August 3, 1987)"Kim Hyung Jun's Official W ...

(2011),

Pledis Entertainment Pledis Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded by Han Sung-Soo in 2007. The label is home to actress Nana, Hwang Min-hyun, Baekho, and K-pop groups Seventeen and Fromis 9. Its name originates from the pleiades, a star cl ...

's After School (2011), NH Media's

U-KISS U-KISS ( ko, 유키스; ja, ユーキス) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2008. Their name is an acronym, standing for Ubiquitous Korean International Idol Super Star. The group's current lineup is composed of Soohyun, Hoon, Kiseop and ...

(2011) and Yejeon Media's

Shu-I Super Tribe (So Hot Union of Idols) was a South Korean five member boy band. They debuted on September 11, 2009, with their digital single “Bomb Bomb Bomb”. Before that they had been training for two years together. Their name SHU-I can transla ...

(2011). On July 21, 2011, it was announced that Avex had paired with Korean management label YG Entertainment to form YGEX. In 2012, the group began offering limited releases for sale, DRM-free for the first time within Japan on

Amazon MP3 Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and online music store operated by Amazon. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007, in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights man ...

. Max Matsuura and Toshio Kobayashi, the company's top two individual shareholders, launched their own investment companies to anchor their shares in 2012. As a show of modernization, Avex Group moved to

Izumi Garden Tower The is a 201 m (roughly 659 ft) high-rise building in the Roppongi district of Tokyo. The tower features a hotel, apartments, a fitness center, offices, shops and restaurants. When construction was completed in 2002, the tower was the tall ...

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...

in October 2014. The company was designated to the 36th floor – the former address of

DWANGO The Dial-up Wide-Area Network Game Operation, better known by the acronym DWANGO, was an early online gaming service based in the United States. Launched in 1994, it was originally known for its compatibility with ''Doom'', for which it function ...

. On February 15, 2017, Avex Group discontinued all foreign exports of Blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs published under their Avex Pictures label. The company provided no official statement on the decision.

Operations

Subsidiaries

In April 2010, the Avex Group corporation was re-structured to establish Avex Music Publishing Inc. as a consolidated subsidiary, in a corporate spin-off of music publishing division of Avex Group Holdings Inc. Thus the Avex Group became a pure holding company, with a corporate structure as follows:

Japan

* * * * (Formerly ''Musique Folio Inc.'' and ''Prime Direction Inc.'')

Other

* Avex International Holding Corporation * Avex Asia Pte. Ltd. * Avex Taiwan Inc. – Est. July 1998 * Avex USA Inc.

Affiliates

* Memory-Tech Corporation * RecoChoku Co., Ltd. * AWA

Music labels

* Avex Casa (house music and electronica) * Avex Classics (

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

) * Avex Globe (

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

's label) * Avex Ideak * Avex International (international releases) * Avex IO * Avex Trance (trance music) * Avex Trax (first record label of the group (1990)) * Avex Tune (dance music) *B-ME (joint venture with BMSG) * Binyl Records (rock music) ** Dive in! Disc ** Gokukara Records (joint venture with

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until ...

) ** PopTop * Blowgrow *

Commmons Commmons is a Japanese record label founded by Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. Avex Group, Japan's biggest independent record label, is its official parent company. History Commmons was founded in 2006 by Sakamoto with the help of Avex and ...

(joint venture with

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

) * Cross-A * Cutting Edge (second record label of the Group (1993.12)) * Dimension Point (

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...

's label) * Disc du Soleil * Dois Irmaos (

Lisa Ono Lisa Ono (小野リサ; born 29 July 1962) is a Brazilian Japanese bossa nova singer. Life Lisa Ono was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1962 but moved with her family to Tokyo at the age of 10. From that time on she spent half of every year in ...

) * Espionage Records (joint venture with Verbal) * Five-D Plus * Foxtrot (joint venture with Rams Incorporated) * FRAME (joint venture with Level-5; founded by the latter with

Up-Front Works is a Japanese holding company for various entertainment companies. Its subsidiaries include the talent agency Up-Front Promotion and Up-Front Works, a music production and sales company that manages such record labels as Zetima, Piccolo Town, ...

) * Hach Entertainment (joint venture with NTT SmartConnect) * Hi-BPM Studio * HPQ (

Visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Som ...

) *

Idol Street Idol Street (stylized as iDOL Street) is a Japanese record label and music project specializing in idols. It was launched by Avex on October 2, 2010 as a dedicated idol record label. The first artist on the new label was the idol group Super ...

(for

performers, launched October 2, 2010, by Tatsuo Higuchi) *

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

* J-Friends Project * J-More * Justa Music * Locomusic (

Love-chan (stylized as LOVE) is a fictional female bunny character and singer created by Japanese singer Ai Otsuka. Love was to star in an album originally titled ''I canChu♥'' and a promotional music video from ''I canChu♥'', but the release was change ...

's label) * Love Life Records (

Hitomi Hitomi may refer to:. People * Hitomi (given name), a feminine Japanese given name * Hitomi (voice actress) (born 1967), Japanese voice actress * Hitomi (singer) (born 1976, as Hitomi Furuya), Japanese singer and songwriter * Hitomi Nabatame (b ...

's label) * Mad Pray Records (

Anna Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer, actress and semi-retired model. Since 2005, she is primarily known as a singer.Oricon pr ...

's label) * Maximum 10 * MENT RECORDING (joint venture with

Johnny & Associates is a Japanese talent agency, formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which trains and promotes groups of male entertainers known as . History 1962–1989 In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency rente ...

) * Motorod Records * nakedrecords * Oorong Records (joint venture with Oorong-sha Group) * Rhythm Republic *

Rhythm Zone (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music. History The label was founded in 1999 by Max Matsuura with a focus on urban music, signing M-Flo as its first artist, then followed by Exile. In 2000, ...

(third record label of the Group (1999)) ** Fluctus ** Riddim Zone ** Starz by Rhythm Zone * Rising Records * Sonic Groove * Superb Trax * Tachytelic Records (joint venture with

Taku Takahashi is a Japanese hip hop recording artist, DJ and record producer who debuted in 1997 as a record producer of the hip hop group M-Flo. The group rose to prominence in the early 2000s, with hit singles such as "How You Like Me Now?" and "Come Agai ...

) * Tank Top Records * Tearbridge Production * The Six Dragons * True Song Music (

Dai Nagao Do As Infinity is a Japanese pop and rock band that formed in 1999 with three members: vocalist Tomiko Van, guitarist Ryo Owatari, and guitarist and composer Dai Nagao. The band's name is sometimes abbreviated as DAI, alluding to the fact that ...

's label) * Velfarre Records *

YGEX YGEX is a Japanese record label. A subsidiary of the Avex Group, it is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded on April 12, 2011 by Japanese record company Avex Group and South Korean entertainment company YG Entertainment, and this is the ...

(joint label with

)

Entertainment ventures

* Movies ** Domestic *** Avex Pictures **** DIVE II Entertainment ** Foreign *** Elephant Pictures *** PiX Inc. * Artist Management ** Avex Management ** Platinum Productions * Digital ** Avex Broadcasting and Communications (joint venture with NTT docomo) *
mu-mo.net
(Japanese) (own music store of the Group) * Theater Company **

$4.50 Theater Company The is a Japanese theater company established in 2017 by two Japanese producers Yasushi Akimoto and Max Matsuura , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder of Avex Group, one of the la ...

Labels distributed

A stAtion , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor, creative director, and writer. He appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas, including ''Mei-chan no Shitsuji'', ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'' and ''Zettai Kareshi''. Additionally, he was well kn ...

(

Ayaka , known simply as Ayaka, is a female Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer formerly signed to Warner Music Japan. Born in Osaka, she moved to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She married actor Hiro Mizushima on February 22, 2009. B ...

's own record label), since 2012. * AKS Co., Ltd. (

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

's agency), since 2006. (Avex currently handles AKS'

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

releases.) *

, since 2005. ** GMT Records, since 2005. *

Armada Music Armada Music is a Dutch independent record label that specialises in releasing electronic dance music. The name Armada derives from the first two letters of the founders' first names: Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis. Signed a ...

* , since 2003. *

CAM Entertainment is a Japanese record label founded by CyberAgent, the company behind ameba. The initials CAM mean Cyber Agent Music. Artists * Maki Ohguro * Miyu Nagase * Maika Sawaki * Sacon * Strawberry Record * Wonder-holic * Eri Yoshida * Mistral See ...

, since 2008. *

, since 2008. (co-distributed with

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ent ...

and

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...

) *

Danger Crue Records Danger Crue Records is a Japanese visual kei independent record label located in Tokyo, Japan. It was originally the record label of the Danger Crue music office, both founded in 1981. According to D'erlanger drummer Tetsu, Danger Crue was formed ...

, from 2006 to 2012. (now handled by

Sony Music Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

) *

Disney Music Group Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...

, from 1999 to present (co-handled with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

from 2018 for albums when live converts are handled by Avex). * Fluxus Entertainment *

Free-Will is a Japanese independent record label founded in 1986 by Color vocalist Hiroshi "Dynamite Tommy" Tomioka, with branches predominantly in Japan and the United States, as well as previously in Europe. It also continues to co-manage many of its ...

** ISM Label (

kannivalism Kannivalism (stylized kannivalism) was a Japanese visual kei rock band originally formed in 2001,''Cure'' magazine, Volume 30, March, released Jan 1 206, pg 38 signed to Free-Will and distributed by Avex Trax. However, they disbanded that same ...

's label), since 2006. * HATS Unlimited (

Taro Hakase is a Japanese musician who specialises as a violinist and composer. Biography Career Hakase was involved in a Japanese band called Kryzler & Kompany which formed while he was in college. He played the violin, while Tsuneyoshi Saito played ke ...

's label) ** AG Label * Higashiyakena Soundbuilder ( HY's label), since 2000. *

I Scream Records I Scream Records is an independent record label founded by Laurens Kusters in 1994 in Brussels, Belgium. The label has an extensive catalogue and is one of the leading punk and hardcore labels in Western Europe. History The label's first re ...

, since 2010. (Japan only) *

(Taiwan and Hong Kong only) **

J Storm is a Japanese music and film company owned by Johnny & Associates. It was established on November 12, 2001, initially as a label for the Johnny's group, Arashi, after which it was named. Aside from producing and releasing CDs and DVDs, the co ...

Johnny's Entertainment is a Japanese talent agency, formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which trains and promotes groups of male entertainers known as . History 1962–1989 In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency rent ...

Kontor Records Kontor Records or Kontor New Media is a record label based in Hamburg, Germany. The label's artist roster includes ATB, Tiësto, Armin van Buuren and Scooter. Jens Thele is the head manager of Kontor and is also the manager of Scooter. Edel ...

P-Vine Records P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name c ...

(co-distributed with

and

BMG Japan Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...

) ** Almond Eyes ** Kai-san Factory *

, since 2000. *

S2S Pte. Ltd. S2S Pte. Ltd. was a Japanese record label founded by Ken Suzuki. History S2S was founded and established in Singapore in October 1997 as an artist management and production house- S2S Pte Ltd. In 1999, S2S Inc, Japan was set up as a distribution ...

(Japan only) *

Toy's Factory is a Japanese record label founded in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of the entertainment company VAP, based in Japan. On May 30, 1990, it was established as an independent company. Toy's Factory, as of the first half of 2012, is the four ...

(Taiwan only, since 2012) * Vamprose, since 2008. ( Vamps and

Monoral Monoral is a Japanese alternative rock band signed to Sony Music Japan. The band consists of Anis Shimada ( lead vocals and guitar) and Ali Morizumi (bass, guitar and keyboards). Members Anis, the band's lead singer, born on February 23, 197 ...

's label) *

Vandit Vandit Records is a German record label founded in 1999 by Paul van Dyk. Its first release was van Dyk's own tracks "Another Way" and "Avenue". The Berlin-based record label is largely focused on trance and progressive house. The label has been ...

Vine Entertainment A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

* Yamaha Music Communications Inc., since 2006. **

contemode Contemode, stylized in all lowercase, was a Japanese record label founded by Yasutaka Nakata in 2003. The label was based in Shibuya, Tokyo and specialized in a variety of music styles including electropop, Shibuya-kei, lounge, dance, and hardc ...

Promotional projects

Aoyama Christmas Circus may refer to: Places * Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan ** Aoyama Gakuin University, a university located in Aoyama, Tokyo ** Aoyama-itchōme Station, a railway station in Minato, Tokyo, Japan * Aoyama, Mie, formerly a town in Naga District, but now part of ...

(annual Christmas tree lighting event)

IFPI membership

The Group is a member of the

IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...

for Hong Kong and Japan.

A-Nation

Each year since 2002, Avex has hosted a summer concert tour around Japan, "A-Nation", featuring the company's most successful acts. It is held every weekend in August in different Japanese cities. Top Avex acts like

Kumi Koda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single "Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, "Real Emotion ...

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

Ai Otsuka is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Suminoe-ku, Osaka, Japan. She is a popular artist on the Avex Trax label and is best known for her 2003 hit "Sakuranbo", which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 103 weeks. A piano player ...

BoA Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...

Do As Infinity Do As Infinity is a Japanese pop and Rock music, rock band that formed in 1999 with three members: vocalist Tomiko Van, guitarist Ryo Owatari, and guitarist and composer Dai Nagao. The band's name is sometimes abbreviated as DAI, alluding to the ...

, TRF, Every Little Thing and

perform to major crowds each year. In 2008,

made her first appearance at A-Nation and performed on all dates that year. For the first time in 2012, Kumi Koda did not perform due to her pregnancy. Festival sponsors include

Joe Weider Joseph Weider (; November 29, 1919 – March 23, 2013) was a Canadian bodybuilder and entrepreneur who co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) alongside his brother Ben Weider. He was also the creator of Mr. Olympia, Ms. O ...

and his Weider fitness products, Seven & I Holdings Co., NTT DoCoMo,

Mizuno Corp. () is a Japanese sports equipment and sportswear company, founded in Osaka in 1906 by Rihachi Mizuno. Today, Mizuno is a global corporation which makes a wide variety of sports equipment and sportswear for badminton, baseball, boxing, cycling ...

, Nissay (through its You May Dream! Project), and others.

International partners

* USA – Morgan Rich Corporation/

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

–

S.M. Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

, KT Music *

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

–

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

–

BEC-TERO Music Tero Entertainment Public Co. Ltd., formerly known as BEC-Tero, is a mass media and entertainment company in Thailand. It organizes and promotes concerts, owns record labels and produces films and television shows. BEC-Tero was formed on March 27 ...

* China P.R. – China Record (Shanghai) Corporation

References

External links

Japan

*
Avex Network

Asia ex. Japan

Website in Taiwan

Website in China

Website in Hong Kong

Avex Group Asia Portal

Others

* * {{Authority control Japanese companies established in 1988 Japanese talent agencies Conglomerate companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Japanese independent record labels Record labels established in 1988 Entertainment companies of Japan Entertainment companies established in 1988 Mass media companies established in 1988 Holding companies established in 1988 Holding companies based in Tokyo Mass media companies based in Tokyo IFPI members Multinational companies headquartered in Japan Anime companies 1999 initial public offerings

Name

History

1988–1999: The early years

2000–2009: Times of unity and divisiveness

2004: Internal feud : Max Matsuura v. Tom Yoda

2010–present

Operations

Subsidiaries

Japan

Other

Affiliates

Music labels

Entertainment ventures

Labels distributed

Promotional projects

IFPI membership

A-Nation

International partners

See also

References

External links

Japan

Asia ex. Japan

Others