Up-Front Group
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 holding company for various entertainment companies.[1] 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, and Hachama.
Native name | アップフロントグループ |
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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 |
Artists
Up-Front Promotion
All groups under Up-Front Promotion are collectively known as Hello! Project.[2][3]
Groups
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Soloists/Entertainers Trainees
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Up-Front Works
Groups
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Soloists/Entertainers
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Subsidiaries
Zetima
Zetima | |
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Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
Founded | May 1993 (as One Up Music) |
Distributor(s) | Sony Music Entertainment Japan |
Genre | |
Country of origin | Japan |
Location | Tokyo |
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.
- 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.
- Airi Suzuki
- Former artists
Hachama
Hachama | |
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Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
Founded | April 2001 |
Distributor(s) | 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 | |
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Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
Founded | April 2001 |
Distributor(s) | 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 | |
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Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
Founded | March 1995 (as Y.J. Sounds) |
Distributor(s) | 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
Up-Front Works | |
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Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
Founded | March 2004 |
Genre | J-pop |
Country of origin | Japan |
Location | Tokyo |
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 | |
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Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
Founded | May 2019 |
Genre | |
Country of origin | Japan |
Location | Tokyo |
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 | |
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Parent company | Up-Front Works Co. Ltd. |
Founded | 2003 |
Defunct | December 2009 |
Distributor(s) | Epic Records Japan |
Genre | Classic, Euro-enka |
Country of origin | Japan |
Location | Tokyo |
Chichūkai Label (地中海 Label, 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
- Noriko Katō
- Yasuko Naito
- Ruca
- Hidemi Sasaki
Former artists
Affiliated with Up-Front Promotion
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Sub-units
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Project groups
Shuffle units
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Affiliated with Up-Front Works
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Affiliated with TNX
All of the musical groups under TNX are collectively known as Nice Girl Project!.
- Nice Girl Myu
- GTT Club
- MM Gakuen Gasshoubu
- Gyaruru
- Nice Girl Project! Kenshusei
- Canary Club
- Tokky
References
- ""でき婚"辻希美の所属プロが株式上場する!?". Livedoor News. 2007-05-22. Archived from the original on 2007-05-27. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
- "所属タレント" (in Japanese). Up-Front Promotion. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
- "元カントリー・ガールズ稲場愛香、Juice=Juiceに加入 8人体制で再始動" (in Japanese). Model Press. 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
- "後藤真希、芸能界引退を考えた過去 引き止めたのは?". Model Press (in Japanese). 2018-10-27. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
- "鞘師里保に関するお知らせ". Up-Front Works (in Japanese). 2018-12-07. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
- Yuukichi Kawaguchi (2007-03-26). "加護亜依 一部報道記事について" (in Japanese). Up-Front Agency. Archived from the original on 2007-04-03.
- "Berryz工房:ニュース|ハロー!プロジェクト オフィシャルサイト". Up-Front Works (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-08-05. Retrieved 2014-08-02.
- "Berryz工房 石村舞波 卒業のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Hello! Project. 2005-09-11. Archived from the original on 2005-11-25.
- Up Front Link (2016-11-05). "[EN] Concerning Momoko Tsugunaga". Facebook. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
- "ももち、"らしさ"満点でアイドル引退 ももち結びも一夜限り復活" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
- Up Front Link (2016-08-19). "[EN] Announcement concerning °C-ute". Facebook. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
- "°C-ute解散で12年間の歴史に幕 ラストコンサートに中澤裕子・道重さゆみら駆けつける<セットリスト>". Model Press (in Japanese). 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
- "『°C-ute 村上 愛』について皆様へ大事なお知らせ" (in Japanese). Hello! Project. 2006-11-01. Archived from the original on 2006-11-03.
- "『°C-ute 有原栞菜』に関する大事なお知らせ" (in Japanese). Hello! Project. 2009-07-11. Archived from the original on 2009-10-18.
- "『°C-ute 梅田えりか』に関する大事なお知らせ" (in Japanese). Hello! Project. 2009-08-01. Archived from the original on 2009-10-03.
- Mai Hagiwara (2017-05-27). "今後について 萩原舞" (in Japanese). Ameba Blogs. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
- "Buono!ライブ2017 〜Pienezza!〜 のライブビューイングが決定!". Up-Front Works (in Japanese). 2017-05-12. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
- "嗣永桃子/夏焼雅/鈴木愛理のユニットBuono!のラストライブをニコ生中継". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
- "ハロプロエッグ 能登有沙に関してのお知らせ". Up-Front Works (in Japanese). 2009-08-10. Archived from the original on 2009-09-08.
- "ハロプロエッグ 澤田由梨に関してのお知らせ". Up-Front Works (in Japanese). 2009-08-10. Archived from the original on 2009-08-29.
- "ハロプロ新ユニット、ガーディアンズ4におまかせ" [Leave it to Guardians 4, Hello Pro new unit]. Natalie (in Japanese). 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
- "元モー娘。久住小春、所属事務所と契約終了へ 今後はフリーで活動". Oricon (in Japanese). 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
- "元モー娘。光井愛佳が芸能界引退、料理の道へ進む". Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
- "SHIPS". Up-Front Works (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-03-12.
- "吉川友、初バンドツアー開幕。"甘いきっか"と"甘くないきっか"で死角なし". BARKS (in Japanese). 2018-06-05. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
- "チャオ ベッラ チンクエッティに関しての大事なお知らせ". Up-Front Create (in Japanese). 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
- "チャオベラ、結成12周年で解散 紆余曲折の元ハロプロエッグ4人組". Oricon (in Japanese). 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-10-24.