Up-Front Group
Japanese entertainment company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Up-Front Group Co., Ltd. (株式会社アップフロントグループ, Kabushiki gaisha Appu-Furonto Gurūpu) is a Japanese entertainment company specializing in artists' development, management,[1] and production.
Tokyo, Japan
Native name | アップフロントグループ |
|---|---|
Company type | Kabushiki gaisha |
| Industry | Music, entertainment |
| Founded | 14 January 1983 (as Up-Front Agency Co., Ltd.) Tokyo, Japan |
| Headquarters | Azabu-koei Building 28-12 Higashi-Azabu Ichichōme, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 106-0044 |
Key people | Naoki Yamazaki (chairman and representative director) Yukio Seto (president and executive director) Junichiro Iwata (managing director) |
| Subsidiaries | Up-Front Promotion Up-Front Works Up-Front Books Up-Front International Up-Front DC Up-Front Hawaii etc. |
| Website | www |
It is structured as a holding company for various entertainment companies[2] that represent various areas within the industry and work with each other.
Its subsidiaries include the talent agency Up-Front Promotion that trains and manages female idol singers[3][4] and the music and video production company Up-Front Works that operates such record labels as Zetima, Piccolo Town, Hachama, Rice Music.[5]
Up-Front Promotion idols release their music through Up-Front Works' in-house labels. Moreover, Up-Front Works issues idols and non-idols affiliated with other talent agencies belonging to Up-Front Group, such as J.P Room and Up-Front Create.
Subsidiaries
- Up-Front Promotion
- J.P Room
- Up-Front Create
- Up-Front Trend
- Up-Front Works
etc.
Up-Front Promotion
Up-Front Promotion Co., Ltd. (株式会社アップフロントプロモーション) is a talent agency formerly known as Up-Front Agency.[6] All musical artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion are collectively known as Hello! Project.[7][8]
The list of artists under Up-Front Promotion includes:
|
Groups
|
Soloists Trainees
|
J.P Room
J.P Room Inc. (ジェイピィールーム) is a talent agency headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo. The list of artists under J.P Room includes the following former Hello! Project members:
Soloists
|
|
Former
Up-Front Create
Up-Front Create Co., Ltd. (アップフロントクリエイト) is a talent agency headquartered in Tokyo. The list of artists under Up-Front Create includes:
|
Male groups
Female soloists
|
Ex-Hello! Project |
Ex-Hello! Pro Egg (ex-Ciao Bella Cinquetti) Female (partnership)
|
Up-Front Trend
Up-Front Trend Co., Ltd. (アップフロントトレンド), formerly Up-Front Style, is a talent agency headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo that specializes in voice actors.
Up-Front Works
Up-Front Works Co., Ltd. (株式会社アップフロントワークス) is a music and video production and sales company that works with artists affiliated with Up-Front Group and its partners.[9] It was created in 2004 by merging the record labels Zetima, Hachama and Piccolo Town. All three continued to operate as Up-Front Works' in-house labels.[10][5]
The list of artists whose music is released by Up-Front Works includes those under the talent agencies Up-Front Promotion, J.P Room, Up-Front Create, etc.
Up-Front Works operates or operated the following record labels:
Zetima
Zetima (ゼティマ) was originally founded in May 1993 as One Up Music (ワン・アップ・ミュージック, Wan Appu Myūjikku), a joint venture between the Up-Front Group and Warner Music Japan. In April 1998, Up-Front merged One Up with Y.J. Sounds to form Zetima. At the same time, Up-Front ended its distribution deal with Warner Music Japan and switched to Sony Music Entertainment Japan.[citation needed]
- Artists
- Shoko Aida
- Beyooooonds
- Camellia Factory
- Hello! Project shuffle units
- Akira Inaba
- Jōjō Gundan
- Kan
- Aya Matsuura
- Chisato Moritaka
- Morning Musume
- Takui Nakajima
- Yuko Nakazawa
- Ocha Norma
- Pink Cres.
- Rosy Chronicle
- Airi Suzuki
- Former artists
Hachama
| Hachama | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
| Founded | April 2001 |
| Distributor | Pony Canyon |
| Genre | |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Location | Tokyo |
Hachama (ハチャマ) has a distribution deal with Pony Canyon.
- Artists
- Former artists
- Alma Kaminiito
- Eric Fukusaki
- Gatas Brilhantes H.P.
- Yuubi Matsui
- Peaberry
Piccolo Town
| Piccolo Town | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
| Founded | April 2001 |
| Distributor | Pony Canyon |
| Genre | |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Location | Tokyo |
Piccolo Town (ピッコロタウン, Pikkoro Taun) had a distribution deal with King Records from April 2001 to August 2013, when it switched to Pony Canyon in September 2013.
- Artists
- Bitter & Sweet
- Former artists
Rice Music
| Rice Music | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
| Founded | March 1995 (as Y.J. Sounds) |
| Distributor | Pony Canyon |
| Genre | |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Location | Tokyo |
Rice Music (ライス・ミュージック, Raisu Myūjikku) was originally founded in March 1995 as Y.J. Sounds (Y.J.サウンズ, Wai Jei Saunzu). After being absorbed into Zetima in 1998, the label was resurrected in September 2004 to focus on Kayōkyoku and enka. Like Piccolo Town, Rice Music had a distribution deal with King Records from September 2004 to August 2013, when it switched to Pony Canyon in September 2013.
- Artists
- Hirofumi Banba
- Takao Horiuchi
- Akira Kagawa
- Jirō Sugita
- Gen Takayama
- Masayuki Yuhara
- Former artists
- Akira Fuse
- Sanae Jōnouchi
- Yuki Maeda
- Nori Yamaguchi
Up-Front Works (record label)
Up-Front Works (アップフロントワークス, Appu Furonto Wākusu) is Up-Front Group's in-house label that specializes in limited edition releases that are sold either online or exclusively at music chains such as Tower Records. The label previously had distribution deals with Pony Canyon, Daiki Sound, and Universal Music Japan before 2019.
- Artists
- Natsumi Abe
- Akira Inaba
- You Kikkawa
- Hello! Project
- Kamiishinaka Kana
- Sayumi Michishige
- Karin Miyamoto
- Chisato Moritaka
- Saki Nakajima
- Asahi Tasaki
- Temiyamn
- Maimi Yajima
Up-Front Indies
Up-Front Indies (アップフロントインディーズ, Appu Furonto Indīzu) is Up-Front Group's indie in-house label founded in May 2019.
- Artists
Chichūkai Label
| Chichūkai Label | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Defunct | December 2009 |
| Distributor | Epic Records Japan |
| Genre | Classic, Euro-enka |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Location | Tokyo |
Chichūkai Label (地中海 Label, lit. 'The Mediterranean Sea Label') was founded in 2003, with music inspired by those of the countries by the Mediterranean Sea, most prominently France, Italy and Greece, or even cover versions of songs from those countries. The label was handled by Epic Records Japan until December 2009, when Up-Front consolidated it with Zetima.
- Former artists
- Shoko Aida
- Kaori Iida
- Akira Inaba
- Yasuko Naito
- Ruca
- Hidemi Sasaki
Former artists
Affiliated with Up-Front Promotion
|
Sub-units
|
Project groups
Shuffle units
|
Affiliated with Up-Front Works
|
|
Affiliated with TNX
The company was created by Tsunku in 2006. Later the artists under TNX were collectively known as Nice Girl Project![citation needed] and were noted for assisting in Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven series.[citation needed]
- Nice Girl Myu
- GTT Club
- MM Gakuen Gasshoubu
- Gyaruru
- Nice Girl Project! Kenshusei
- Canary Club
- Tokky