Yukika (Ains) label history (Let's talk labels?)

[inartistic 1150]

Idk where to put this or how to title it... sorry mods! But I came across an old thread (Wtf is Ains), and thought I'd dump a short history of Yukika/Ains. Only it turned out to be way longer than I expected, and had some crossover with non-Ains labels. So... I thought I'd dump it in the general section. Maybe this can turn into a general discussion of vk labels? (Didn't see anything similar extant when I searched.) Anyway, here:

Yukika (雪花) is a dude who was vocalist of a band called ETCETERA (エトセトラ). They were on their own label, called ● drop cafe, which I think he owned. Later, they joined a bigger label called ● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE.

 

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Yayoi (弥生) is a dude who was in the bands Vice†risk and La'miss fairy, among many others. Back in the day, he owned a label called ● Eternal, which was in turn a sublabel of KISAKI's ● Matina label.

Eventually, ● Matina closed, and so did ● Eternal. Later―around the same time that KISAKI opened his new label ● UNDER CODE PRODUCTION―Yayoi opened a new label called ● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE.

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ETCETERA eventually disbands, and ● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE closes, whatever. Afterward, Yukika forms a band called Fils, but they operate without a label and disband pretty quickly. Yukika then forms the band CLUTCH (クラッチ) under his own record label, ● Culminate Screen.

 

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● Culminate Screen mostly had shitty bands, but there was this one group called CATHELINE (キャサリン)... They got a little popularity, jumped ship to Speed-disk, and became R-18, then R-15, then R Shitei (R指定).

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CLUTCH disbands, ● Culminate Screen closes, whatever. Yukika keeps at it, forms a new band called Buddy, and starts a new label, ● A heretic sound music.. Here's where it starts getting interesting:

Yukika gets lucky, and signs this band called ALSDEAD to his label. Somehow, they get a little popular, and he's probably making money from his label for the first time ever. Meanwhile, this little band called Valluna (ヴァルナ) starts hanging out around label (without actually joining), so that's pretty cool.

Cut to late 2009. Remember that Yayoi guy, the president of the label that Yukika's band ETCETERA used to be on? Yeah, that guy suddenly has a new label called ● FIREBALL―which has no artists, btw―and Yukika slides ● A heretic sound music. right in there as a sublabel of ● FIREBALL. That's definitely some tax evasion shit, right?

Like 3 minutes later, ALSDEAD mysteriously announces that they're “graduating” from ● A heretic sound music.. The next month, Yukika's like, “Hey guys, ● A heretic sound music. is closing.” (Haq;ch. and Navir, the two unsuccessful bands on the label, are just left to fend for themselves.) But don't worry! Yukika has formed a new label: ● Galaxy, which is also a sublabel of ● FIREBALL. (Yukika even co-sponsors one-day revivals of ● Eternal and ● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE with Yayoi, 'cause they're totes great friends now.)

 

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Btw, did you catch that? He transforms his label into a sublabel, then immediately closes it and forms a new sublabel under the same company. He keeps the one band who was somewhat successful, and drops off the other two in some barren desert somewhere. That's definitely some tax wizardry, right? Or maybe just a cute way to end those other bands' contracts?

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So ● Galaxy is here, and they've got the somewhat successful ALSDEAD band. Then, surprise surprise, Valluna (ヴァルナ) joins ● Galaxy.

 

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ALSDEAD was, like, doing pretty good. But right after their first release through ● Galaxy, they jumped ship to their own label, ● CTA Works ('cause they're assholes?). ● Danger Crue scooped them up after, which is a pretty big deal, 'cause, like... ● Danger Crue isn't major, but it's as close as most visual bands will ever get, and it has major distribution through ● SONY. It seems like they really fell off after that, but maybe that's just in the overseas community.

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That Valluna (ヴァルナ) band is doing well, like really well. Which, in the VK world, means it's time for a disbandment. So, Valluna (ヴァルナ) disbands, and the important members immediately come back as DIAURA.

DIAURA is doing super well; so much so that their album is distributed by the major label ● CROWN, which is rare for a tiny label like ● Galaxy. So Yukika and Yayaoi must be dragging home small bags of money every day, which is great. But eventually, Yukika gets smart, and is like “fuck this, I want all the bags of money”; so in early 2012, mentions of something called ● Ains start springing up. ● Galaxy is still publishing releases and sponsoring lives, but this ● Ains thing is being mentioned too.

Smash cut to March of 2012, and ● Galaxy has, like, lowkey disappeared, and all of DIAURA's activities are going through ● Ains now. Considering ● FIREBALL seemed to only ever be a shell company for ● Galaxy, I guess it closed too.

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I wanna talk about Yayoi some more.

Way back in 1979 (supposedly), some dude founded an entertainment company called EXCEL. That dude turns out to be Yayoi's father! In the 90s, ● EXCEL RECORDS released some omnibus CDs featuring Yayoi's then-current band, ANGEL DUST. (KISAKI's band, MIRAGE, was also on those CDs, so I guess that's how KISAKI and Yayoi hooked up, which lead to KISAKI giving Yayoi the ● Eternal sublabel of ● Matina.)

Anyway, around the time when Yukika closed ● Galaxy and formed ● Ains, EXCEL was reorganized into ● EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT, with Yayoi as the new president. The new ● EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT has had several clients―including KISAKI and some people from bands belonging to ● Eternal/● CLIMAX ENTERPRISE―but the company doesn't actually do anything, as far as I can tell. I guess it acts as a talent agency, but all of its clients are already being managed by record labels, so what's the point?

More recently, Yayoi formed the new record label ROCKSTAR RECORDS. (And, of course, all of that label's artists are simultaneously signed with ● EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT.)

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Ok, ok, it's 2012, ● Ains exists as its own entity, and DIAURA is helping Yukika drag home bags of money, which he gets to keep to himself this time. Now that he's making Trump Checks™, Yukika can afford to sign a new act, so he snipes people from the band RELOAD (リロード) to form Grieva (グリーヴァ). Just for shits and giggles, they're on their own ● Ains sublabel called ● MadWink.. (I truly assumed that ● MadWink. was created just for aesthetic reasons, but maybe it's some weird tax evasion thing too, idk.)

Grieva (グリーヴァ) is literally (literally, kids) a Dir en grey cover band (with other influences thrown in there, but it's mostly Deg), but they're like, killin' it. So Yukika tries to strike lightning twice, and creates a GAZETTE (ガゼット) cover band, Gossip (ゴシップ), also under the ● MadWink. sublabel. At the same time, KUROYURI TO KAGE (黒百合と影) forms under a different ● Ains sublabel called ● yamikakumei (闇革命). (Again, I assume the sublabel is for aesthetic purposes.)

Soon after, Grieva, Gossip, and KUROYURI TO KAGE release a coupling CD which is published by ● UNIVERSAL MUSIC. (This doesn't mean they're major, or that they left ● Ains. I'd assume it's probably some sort of test for ● UNIVERSAL MUSIC to see if they want to deal with ● Ains more in the future.)

Now, here's the most recent weirdness:

Some new band MEDIENA (メディーナ) appears, and they give off major “● Ains vibes”―in the sense that their graphic design is clearly done by the ● Ains graphic designer, and their release schedule is put together in a way that's similar to ● Ains bands. They're also always playing at ● Ains lives, but they clearly state that they're on a label called ● V-eyes RECORDS, which has nothing to do with ● Ains. ...Or does it? When their release was put up on iTunes, the publisher was listed as ● Ains; so I guess that explains that, lol. I personally consider ● V-eyes RECORDS to be a “secret sublabel” of ● Ains, though I have no official statement to back that up, and can't give a reason why they'd do that (tax stuff?).

There's also a new band called MALISEND, whom some people assumed to belong to ● Ains. I actually think that's wrong, at least when they formed.

Early on, MALISEND was clearly not using the ● Ains graphic designer, and their first releases were not announced in the same way that ● Ains releases are (ie. not using the same marketing staff). Also, tbh, their first look was not up to ● Ains quality. And finally, I want to mention that their first releases were completely independent (independent UPC & no label listed). However, their most recent release was through a new label called ● Culminate―and was published by ● Ains, according to Brand X. So, in my opinion, MALISEND did not form under ● Ains (like MEDIENA probably did), but is now signed to another “secret sublabel” of ● Ains. (Might the name ● Culminate be a tribute to Yukika's early label, ● Culminate Screen?)

And here we are

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To recap...

Yukika forms drop cafe

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Yukika's band joins CLIMAX ENTERPRISE

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Yukika forms Culminate Screen

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Yukika forms A heretic sound music.

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Yukika meets up with Yayoi, the former president of CLIMAX ENTERPRISE

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Yayoi forms FIREBALL, and Yukika transforms A heretic sound music. to a sublabel of FIREBALL

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Yukika closes A heretic sound music. and makes a new FIREBALL sublabel called Galaxy

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Yukika forms a new, standalone label called Ains

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Yukika transfers DIAURA to Ains and closes A heretic sound music., and Yayoi goes to EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT

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Yukika makes an Ains sublabel, MadWink., for Grieva

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Gossip joins the sublabel MadWink.

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KUROYURI TO KAGE joins the new Ains sublabel, yamikakumei

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Grieva, Gossip, and KUROYURI TO KAGE release a coupling CD which is published/distributed by UNIVERSAL (but they're not major)

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MEDIENA forms under an unofficial/secret Ains sublabel, V-eyes RECORDS

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MALISEND forms independently, but joins what might be another unofficial/secret Ains sublabel, Culminate

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Idk, I hope that was enlightening or entertaining to someone! Please let me know if you have any comments or corrections!

I've always found the world of VK record labels to be really fascinating. KISAKI's label history is deliciously convoluted, but I think Yukika actually beats him out, lol.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Damn, thanks for this informative read. That Yukika dude is one sly motherfucker, lol.

[TetsuAkira 289]

Interesting read! Never knew it went that deep, it's crazy.

[The Reverend 3566]

Great post!

 

I enjoyed reading about the conflicting dynamic of bands 'breaking up' and reforming to get out of label obligations... but also labels 'dissolving' and reforming with just the popular bands moments later themselves.

[Aferni 2381]

Yukika is getting all kinds of fuckin monies now.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

I didn't know about yukika's first label for etosetora ><

Yayoi and Yukika are fishy mofos but I still love them <3

 

Yayoi also has some other business besides music.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Can't find the edit function on smartphone but if anyone has a release by malisend it should be fairly easy to see if yukikas name is credited for executive producer.

Edit:found it lol. Also what releases did etosetora release through yukikas first label?

Edit 2: slightly off topic but has anyone ever seen a physical copy of a release by yukikas first band? Or even a picture?

[Chi 2624]

He is everywhere

also i didnt know the V.A. was published by Universal. interesting.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

And now Kuroyuri left and formed another label, which would be pretty amusing if it ended up being yet another -AINS- subsidiary lolol

 

[seikun 317]

My brain is slow today. You should have exposed the topic as an essay presenting your conclusion at the end.

[herpes 1597]

Edit 2: slightly off topic but has anyone ever seen a physical copy of a release by yukikas first band? Or even a picture?

 

idk about etc but his previous band

 

 

--

 

really interesting read, thanks. 

[inartistic 1150]

My brain is slow today. You should have exposed the topic as an essay presenting your conclusion at the end.

lol, I wish I had a conclusion to give you!

Can't find the edit function on smartphone but if anyone has a release by malisend it should be fairly easy to see if yukikas name is credited for executive producer.

Edit:found it lol. Also what releases did etosetora release through yukikas first label?

Edit 2: slightly off topic but has anyone ever seen a physical copy of a release by yukikas first band? Or even a picture?

I think ETC's first release through CLIMAX was the BLACK BOX thing, and everything previous to that was from the original label. The ones with UPC like DREC-XXX are from that label (I guess it stands for DRop cafe EtCetera). But I assume it wasn't an official company (like how bands say their label is "office XXX" or something). Wish I had some better info on that.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

idk about etc but his previous band

 

 

--

 

really interesting read, thanks. 

Yeah, I have the mp3s from all their 3 demos as well. But I just find it weird how nobody has any actual release info on their demo tapes. It feels like they should be somewhere. 

 

 

lol, I wish I had a conclusion to give you!

I think ETC's first release through CLIMAX was the BLACK BOX thing, and everything previous to that was from the original label. The ones with UPC like DREC-XXX are from that label (I guess it stands for DRop cafe EtCetera). But I assume it wasn't an official company (like how bands say their label is "office XXX" or something). Wish I had some better info on that.

Oh cool, I just bought their "Hankouki" single which has DREC code... I doubt there will be any info but I hope there's a booklet or something. 

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Having absolutely nothing to do this saturday, I decided to do some more research only to find:

鬼革命社 (Kikakumeisha):

It seems to be a sub-label of Heretic sound music where he signed his solo project with which he released 1 song. 

Actually, looking at that video I see now that the name is actually written there as well... I guess I've never payed close attention lol. 

 

Also, I never found the members for his solo project before so if anyone else is interested they were:

Vocal.雪花

http://ameblo.jp/kikakumeisya/

Guitar.魔琴

http://ameblo.jp/makotonotabi/

Bass.唯槻

http://ameblo.jp/d1u3c8k8tale/

Drums.霧華

http://ameblo.jp/genova-kirika/

 

Source: http://ameblo.jp/a-heretic-sound-music/entry-10238645067.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20090411155106/http://kikakumeisya.com/

 

EDIT: Wait, I'm confused now... Is Kikakumeisha the name of the project? Because he released this song as "Yukika" on an omnibus.. Is it possible that he was going to release it as a full band but ended up doing it by himself? (If the case that Kikakumeisha was not a sublabel)

[emmny 4139]

i have no clue how i missed this DELICIOUS thread but it answers my "wtf is ains" question perfectly, thank you inartistic ^>^

i'd love to hear the financial side of this, i dont get how it saves him any money to do the constant mergers and dropping side labels and merging again etc; then again i dont have much info on how vk record execs make money outside of that one alleged exposee article that came out years ago LOL

[vanivani 558]

Has there been any confirmation of MALISEND being part of Ains???

[seikun 317]

Is there any link between all this and the youtube channel Ains DIAURA グリーヴァ ゴシップ 黒百合と影？

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ That's the official Ains Youtube channel as far as I know.

[inartistic 1150]

Oh cool, I just bought their "Hankouki" single which has DREC code... I doubt there will be any info but I hope there's a booklet or something.

Cool! Please let me know if there's any info~

 

Having absolutely nothing to do this saturday, I decided to do some more research only to find 鬼革命社 (Kikakumeisha):

EDIT: Wait, I'm confused now... Is Kikakumeisha the name of the project? Because he released this song as "Yukika" on an omnibus.. Is it possible that he was going to release it as a full band but ended up doing it by himself? (If the case that Kikakumeisha was not a sublabel)

Wow! I didn't know about that. It seems to me that Kikakumeisha was a sublabel, just by context (plus, the 社 character means “company”). Good find

 

Has there been any confirmation of MALISEND being part of Ains???

The only official evidence is Brand X's listing for their upcoming CD. (Notice that their previous CD was not by Culminate/Ains!)

There's also some circumstantial evidence that assures me the Brand X thing isn't just a mistake. For example, they've been playing with Ains bands a lot recently. Also, you'll notice that certain posts on their blog are in the same writing style as Ains staff (eg. compare MALISEND's privilege listing to this DIAURA one).

So, imo, Culminate is a sublabel of Ains. Maybe Ains doesn't want to officially “claim” MALISEND because they are not sure of the band's success? Or maybe it is a financial scam, idk. But either way, Ains staff is certainly managing MALISEND in some capacity, at this point in time.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Cool! Please let me know if there's any info~

Wow! I didn't know about that. It seems to me that Kikakumeisha was a sublabel, just by context (plus, the 社 character means “company”). Good find

 

Well, I'm not sure because it looks like he has performed under the name as well for at least one live (it does not always mean company btw, but it's one of the meanings of the character) I guess it's possible he just re-used the name again though (like the live series ankoku sekai wa yami, which he has been hosting for at least a year before the release of the omnibus album). Anyway, it sure looks like a sub-label which is why I find it weird that he has performed under the same name... Oh well. 

 

@emmny, Regarding their financial status, I have no idea how he benefits by having tons of labels but it's written on the ains website that the capital stock for AINS is 5,000,000 JPY.

[Takadanobabaalien 3607]

Alright, so I just recieved Kuroyuri to kage's newest single "Uronnna chokoreito" and I'm pretty sure they are still under the ains label in secret.

 

1. As inartistic saw, Brand-X wrote in their new mini-album description that they are still under AINS/Yamikakumei. This was however removed within an hour and it now only says Yamikakumei. A picture of when it said AINS:

 

2. The shipping adress of the new single is almost identical to the one ains uses (meaning their offices are located door-to-door, basically).

 

3. Look at these pictures:

 

 

The first picture is from my copy of the Ankoku sekai wa yami omnibus (the latest AINS-related release I have), and the second one is from Kuroyuri to kage's new single.

 

As you can clearly see for yourself, mixed by, jacket design, artist desk manager and director is exactly the same people. These may or may not be working for both companies obviously, but Uchu (https://twitter.com/UchuAins) is highly related to ains and is as far as I'm aware basically "vice president" of the Ains label. There's obviously no proof that the executive producer (Fujioka Yuichi and Yamisan (or 闇さん if you will) are the same person, and unfortunately I can't find any other situations Yukika has called himself Yami san. But, I'd still say it's pretty safe to say that they are still operating under AINS but in ~*secret*~.

 

Furthermore, I have one mutual friend with Yukika on his personal facebook and it says on his work experience that he is operating their label Yamikakumei.

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by Uglymouth

[emmny 4139]

@seurong

this is next level tax evasion, good1 yukkika

[Chi 2624]

20 minutes ago, emmny said:

@seurong

this is next level tax evasion, good1 yukkika

 Almost a pro except for the part where people are figuring him out

[emmny 4139]

10 minutes ago, seurong said:

 Almost a pro except for the part where people are figuring him out

the stans got it but the government....NEVER!!!!!

Lets bribe him by asking for cheki or else we'll out him to the jp tax bureau or whatever

[Zeus 7997]

On 2/13/2016 at 7:56 PM, emmny said:

i have no clue how i missed this DELICIOUS thread but it answers my "wtf is ains" question perfectly, thank you inartistic ^>^

i'd love to hear the financial side of this, i dont get how it saves him any money to do the constant mergers and dropping side labels and merging again etc; then again i dont have much info on how vk record execs make money outside of that one alleged exposee article that came out years ago LOL

 

Disclaimer: I'm talking out of my ass.

 

Remember it's all about rights. Labels make good money off of licensing deals. It's a useful way of avoiding the development costs associated with nurturing artists, and at the same time labels can earn royalties from sales and build catalog. Then there's also publishing deals, which is another fat bag of money. Most record labels have publishing companies that handle the day-to-day administration of publishing, who in turn will take a commission on earnings for services rendered. This is important.

 

This entire web of labels and sub labels are nothing but legal formalities designed to make it difficult to track what is going on. It's all about who owns what. It appears as if Yukika is using each label for a different leg of his operation. One could be a shell company to move funds. Another could focus entirely on the publishing and licensing aspects. A third could handle the legal aspects. It doesn't benefit Yukika to keep AINS a secret if the goal of AINS is to sign as many artists as possible. It makes more sense if AINS is the administrative branch and now Yamikakumei handles the music, even if AINS was the musical branch before and FIREBALL the administrative one.

 

On the other hand, I notice that every time a new band is signed they get their own "label". The first thing I thought is that he is physically separating bands from one another. Maybe this is so it's easier to secure and track funds for individual bands and see who is doing well and who isn't. There is something to this. A few years ago there was an upstart label called "Dear Dolce" that signed eight unheard of visual bands within the span of a few months. A few months later, funds fizzled out and all the bands got dropped like a hot potato. Only one of those bands, RELOAD, went on to do anything noteworthy (and became Grieva). DD had hell to pay when liquidating their assets to handle their bankruptcy. 

 

Yukika dodges this problem completely. Found a new band? Start a new label and front money out of pocket. If they are money makers, sell the rights to the band's recordings to a more successful label you own for 100 yen (or maybe to someone else for a whole lot more). If they aren't, drop them, close the label, transfer enough assets from one label to another to cover debts, wash, rinse, repeat. No matter what, you rake in the money from owning royalties across all the currently active labels (you can still be a shell company that owns rights and takes commission and if both companies take commission he effectively walks away with 2x the yen) These companies/bands don't last long enough to rack up any serious debt, and I'm also sure that they're transferring more than just liquid assets from one label to another to minimize costs (for example they probably use the same building for management offices, the same studios for recording, the same producer or two for all their music needs, etc.). @Uglymouth's note about all the labels sharing the same core personnel strengthens this.

 

There's a distinction between tax evasion and tax fraud. Tax evasion is when there's a difference in the amount of income gained versus the amount of income reported. Tax fraud is a little more general, which is any attempt at not paying taxes that are due. As long as all the companies involved pay their fair share of taxes, I'm not sure if this is tax evasion or clever legal gymnastics. I do know this is fishy as hell because it's a very similar process to hiding money in offshore tax havens by passing cash through so many shell companies it's difficult to trace backwards.