Bizarre relationship between Western music and J-Pop

J-Pop, what the heck is it?

I rarely listen to Japanese pop music (Japanese people usually call it "J-POP"), which isn't really my taste. However, thinking about J-POP help you think about the whole culture of Japan.

Copycat, or just influenced?

The reason I seldom listen to J-POP is that most of them are so similar to some of the US and UK music. I can't count how many times I was like, "Oh, she is the Japanese Britney Spears!" "Well, this tune is almost exactly the same as OASIS," and I usually don't feel any originality in their music. The fact that those pop bands or singers cannot be famous all over the world seem to verify my comment.

Puffy is famous in the US, but not as a musician.

However, they are not always by very well- known US or UK bands. Sometimes, they are influenced by musicians people hardly know. In this case, J-POP plays a role of importing music from the states or UK and their tastes for music determine whether they will be popular or not. After listeners like a J-POP artist's tune, they will try to listen to the US or UK artists that influenced the Japanse artists.

The Brilliant Green seems to be strongly influenced by the UK pop.

Tsunku is not just good at producing tennnage girls. His tastes for music are various. That's why he has been a millionaire.

There is many things I would like to say about the relationship between US/UK music and J-Pop, but I can't mention all today. Next time, more details will be informed.