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NEWS: Tofu Records to Re-Organize




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slickwataris



Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 1334
Location: Carol Stream, Illinois
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:58 pm Reply with quote
Ah that's what I feared. They sent out a bulletin on myspace this week about hosting an ice cream social with Oreskaband.
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Viga_of_stars



Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 1240
Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 6:00 pm Reply with quote
the what band? whos are they? are they even jpop/rock/hip-hop

i was reading theyre forum and everyone is sad that its closing and will miss it. i hope ANN would never do something like that. it would like....scare me.
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Wing_Goddess



Joined: 28 Oct 2006
Posts: 75
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 7:12 pm Reply with quote
Ohhh.. i was wondering why the sudden no updates.

I've never been through this before. One of my forums closing *tear* *tear*
The feeling around there isn't really a happy one right now. I really do hope everything turns out okay for Tofurecords, and that they will be able to open the forum again. The forum now had at least 50 spambots joining every day. It was bloody annoying -__-;;

I'm worried more about Tofurecords in general than just the forum. Because of Tofurecords, they brought over some great bands from Japan. Because of them, i got to see Hyde Anime smile;;;

I saw the bulletin on MySpace for some sort of ice cream social thing with Oreskaband but.. i've never heard of them before.
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omnistry



Joined: 03 Mar 2005
Posts: 1019
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:36 pm Reply with quote
The reason why they had to shut down the forums was because there were too many spammers on there posting sites for porn and viagra; and if Tofu had monitored the boards much better they wouldn't have had to go this far.
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haruhifan1200



Joined: 02 Dec 2006
Posts: 91
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:38 pm Reply with quote
Oh, I hope they're okay! They have a lot of great bands in their lineup, many of which I love (Larc', Angela Aki, Puffy AmiYumi).
Ganbare, Tofu Records!
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Lenks



Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 139
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:43 pm Reply with quote
Viga_of_stars wrote:
the what band? whos are they? are they even jpop/rock/hip-hop


Oreskaband. They did a closer for Naruto during the filler episodes. They play ska, as seen in their band's name. This is their first time here in the US.
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slickwataris



Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 1334
Location: Carol Stream, Illinois
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:22 pm Reply with quote
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shirokiryuu



Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 714
Location: Northern California (SF Bay Area)
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:31 pm Reply with quote
No wonder they haven't been releasing things in so long. Awwww.. Tofu records was my number one place for Laruku, and i hope things will sort out. They also do things like get HYDE to perform here in CA. Anime cry

I also hope the reorganization will possibly bring more releases and better quality products.

About the forum, I posted there quite a lot around the HYDE U.S. Tour, but it wasn't moderated as strictly as this forum, and but I left as I got tired of the pile of mean elitist fangirls. Otherwise there were fun topics. It's fan however, when any forum shuts down.
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Wing_Goddess



Joined: 28 Oct 2006
Posts: 75
PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 9:43 pm Reply with quote
shirokiryuu wrote:

About the forum, I posted there quite a lot around the HYDE U.S. Tour, but it wasn't moderated as strictly as this forum, and but I left as I got tired of the pile of mean elitist fangirls. Otherwise there were fun topics. It's fan however, when any forum shuts down.


yea, same here. I posted a lot around the time Hyde was coming here, but there are a few real stuck up people on there ^^; But instead of getting involved in it, i just went into lurking mode.

A forum being run with no mods was bound to get swamped with spambots, and random fights amoung members that NEVER ENDS.

Either way, i don't care about the forum as i care more about actual Tofurecords themselves and their future
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Zoe



Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Posts: 898
Location: Austin
PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:36 pm Reply with quote
omnistry wrote:
The reason why they had to shut down the forums was because there were too many spammers on there posting sites for porn and viagra; and if Tofu had monitored the boards much better they wouldn't have had to go this far.


They're not just having trouble with the forums.

E-mail from Tofu wrote:
I would like to thank all of you for supporting Tofu Records through out the years. Without your support and interest in our company we would not have been successful. Everyone at Tofu Records appreciates all of your help and dedication.
Tofu Records will be undergoing many changes this year due to the U.S. music market trend, leaning heavily towards digitally releasing music instead of packaged CDs. We have decided that the strategies to bring J-pop music to the U.S. through packaged CDs needs to be reviewed and revised as well as the role and purpose of Tofu Records. As a result, Tofu Records will be on hiatus until further notice. Thank you again for all of your hard work and support; we couldn’t have done anything without our fans. I hope you continue to support J-pop and the artists Tofu Records represents. Please check our website for further details.
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Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 1252
PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:01 am Reply with quote
Zoe wrote:
omnistry wrote:
The reason why they had to shut down the forums was because there were too many spammers on there posting sites for porn and viagra; and if Tofu had monitored the boards much better they wouldn't have had to go this far.


They're not just having trouble with the forums.

E-mail from Tofu wrote:
I would like to thank all of you for supporting Tofu Records through out the years. Without your support and interest in our company we would not have been successful. Everyone at Tofu Records appreciates all of your help and dedication.
Tofu Records will be undergoing many changes this year due to the U.S. music market trend, leaning heavily towards digitally releasing music instead of packaged CDs. We have decided that the strategies to bring J-pop music to the U.S. through packaged CDs needs to be reviewed and revised as well as the role and purpose of Tofu Records. As a result, Tofu Records will be on hiatus until further notice. Thank you again for all of your hard work and support; we couldn’t have done anything without our fans. I hope you continue to support J-pop and the artists Tofu Records represents. Please check our website for further details.


If they do come back and stop releasing their music on CDs, then I'll stop buying it. Too bad; I really liked being able to get cheap Japanese music...
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Neverwhere



Joined: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 351
Location: socal
PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:04 pm Reply with quote
This news makes me very sad. I had such a good experience with the kind people at Tofu Records last year during the Hyde tour and Anime Expo, and I loved that all the staff I talked to seemed to really enjoy their work and were dedicated to bringing as much J-rock to the States as possible. I really hope they are able to stay in buisiness. I've bought several cds from them, and I certainly wouldn't mind buying a few more to keep them alive. Smile
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FullmetalCJ
Industry Insider


Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 62
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:18 pm Reply with quote
Josh7289 wrote:
If they do come back and stop releasing their music on CDs, then I'll stop buying it. Too bad; I really liked being able to get cheap Japanese music...


Um, why? Is it just the media that you have a problem with?

I like having a physical CD as well, but going digital just makes sense for a label like Tofu Records with the way the market is for J-music. It eliminates the cost associated with getting a packaged CD to stores--stores that might not even have any J-music customers to sell it to. Regrouping and coming back with a concentrated iTunes or Sony Connect initiative eliminates that packaging/distribution cost and puts it in a place where most likely, your customers are going to find you. It allows people to sample other artists. Like it or not, if there is a way that US fans are going to get *more* J-pop, it's going to be through digital means.

Just look at how a label like Avex is currently handling their releases here -- slowly increasing the number and frequency of releases. We're still behind Japan, but we're getting things faster, with a wider variety of artists, and for cheaper than ever before (99 cents a song, how is that bad?).
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Zoe



Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Posts: 898
Location: Austin
PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 1:54 pm Reply with quote
NewtypeCJ wrote:

Um, why? Is it just the media that you have a problem with?


I know you're not talking to me, but that's precisely the reason I wouldn't. I have no interest in digitally distributed media (games are a different story), and I don't see myself purchasing any of that unless I had no other options. Nothing can beat the ease of use you get from a physical disk, not to mention any other incentives such as packaging.

Though to be honest, I've never bought any of Tofu's releases anyway. If I cared enough about the release, I would have already bought the Japanese version, and none of the artists appeal enough to me to have duplicates in my collection.
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FullmetalCJ
Industry Insider


Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 62
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:58 pm Reply with quote
Zoe wrote:
Nothing can beat the ease of use you get from a physical disk, not to mention any other incentives such as packaging.


I can understand that, but for me, it's the opposite. It's far more convenient to be able to bring my entire music collection with me in the car, on planes, to work, etc. I think I've bought all of 2 physical CDs in the past three years, but lots more digitally. And any CD I do buy gets MP3'd straight away. I hardly look at CD booklets for more than a minute anymore.

Quote:
Though to be honest, I've never bought any of Tofu's releases anyway. If I cared enough about the release, I would have already bought the Japanese version, and none of the artists appeal enough to me to have duplicates in my collection.


It had to have been very difficult for Tofu for exactly that reason. You're a label desperately trying to carve out a business for J-music in the US. But you're competing with the faster release of imports (official Japan and "Asian" releases), which your potential customer base is probably already buying. It's an uphill battle. You can't go back to your parent company and justify that things need to be released in the US faster or that bigger artists need to be represented if no one's buying what's already out. And you're counting on the support of fans who may or may not see the benefit in your cause.
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