As the title says,what is more popular?
I think indeed metalcore and kirakira
In small portion ‘90 bands still active and still trying—/revival after long time
And then kote homage
Are you happy how it’s evolved vk trough the years?
Personally I rarely like new bands
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personally i get the feeling 20s kei is very bright, crisp, fresh - loose strings, single coils, a ‘cool’ sounding vocal that’s closer to natural than past decades
that’s just my imho tho!
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The young kids all wanting to do djent stuff it seems with no knowledge of older vk just a kind of “if I do this ill be popular” have had some guys say as much to me, but musicality is second to the idol aspect for lots of bands so even some of the indie labels here do not even give musical support(recording etc) to bands but only visual stuff.
lots of girls just want to move around (again similar to idol lives) so darker stuff like metal core or djent etc is more popular, fits the fashion too. Plus it is easier to pay some metal core guys to be your ghostwriter also, kirakira ghostwriters exist of course but from my experience the bearded metalcore guys making songs for younger bands is more prevalent. $$$
neo kote kote oldschool stuff has lots of older fans who are kind of scary and scare off some younger fans who may be interested to go to gigs but they dont wanna deal with that so thats really just a small niche.
So basically if you look like some anime host guy even if your songs suck and its all overproduced crap it is more likely to be popular but not to the point where you dont have to do some sketchy things on the side to make money, thus all the scandals haha.
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ngl it’s one of my dreams to buy a track from a vkei ghostwriter & see how well i can execute on it
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haha it can be done!
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The metal/-core/loud bands, I find are most prevalent, at least for foreigners over the past 15 years. If I name-drop any bands I find recognizable to the largest swathe of people, they’re likely going to fit that category, straddling the line between “traditional” and Western metal sub-genres. Two-fold, I also find that the perception of success has changed from “making it” in a domestic sense, to making it in the West. Somewhat parallels how a number of breakout vk bands have become less “visual kei” has they go major, etc. If your sole intent is to grow in popularity, you either appeal to the lowest common denominator or go broke.
As for everything else in Visual Kei, its current state is very difficult to judge at the moment. For the past nearly-two years, the catalysis for new bands, being multi-band live-shows, has been disrupted. It’s easy to overlook, but there are a number of bands that are still on “pause”, and it’s like the Schrodinger’s cat of statuses. I feel like “indefinite hiatus” is more definitive than going radio silent on social media. As a result of that, less popular vk-subgenres, particularly on the lighter side of things, have over the last year, diversified in idol groups, YouTube, etc. There has been much improvement since 2020, but I think bands have started to see the benefits of trying other activities for financial stability, or rather just “stability”.
So, with that spiel out of the way, TL:DR:
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metal/-core/loud are the most popular and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
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If you’re in kirakira or koteosu (but not B.P), beyond just lives, utaite, idol-groups, YouTube, and streaming are all good options. Go as animu as possible (like mentioned in other posts.)
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Oldschool, tanbi, or anything ft.KISAKI is what keeps the 35+ alive, so go ham.
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Menhera is what keeps everyone younger alive/mentally questionable also go ham.
*Forgot to clarify, I consider “metal/-core/loud” to be an umbrella from bands like DEVILOOF all the way to ones like ACME, the similarities being dark-but-not-gothic with tinges of the quoted metal subgenres. (I wish there was a better term to use.)
*Also, like previous music generations, each subsequent one re-appropriates/re-contextualizes the previous. I notice “visual kei” has started to be thrown around for pure aesthetics, like an artist or group “going” visual kei, but they just have pastel hair and eyeshadow.
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MIDI drums
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i mean… recording drums i such a thing, either you have to pay to rent a drumset to record, or you transport your own one, meanwhile what you need for a guitar or bass? not a lot
so i kinda understand the usage of midi drums
(but i gotta admit that my ears are kinda deaf to bad midi drums)
why they are all bearded? 
They gotta pay their bills somehow too XD
Wasnt that always and everywhere a thing? Good looking people can sell their stuff easier that “ugly” ones
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The thing is now it is easier than ever to record drums, especially in Tokyo.
Go to Noah rehearsal studio, choose “drum recording mic set” which is only 5$ an hour, if you need a multitrack recorder/interface that is only a few bucks too there. With only 2 or 1 person the room fee is also super cheap, so basically you could record drums here in Japan for like 30-40$ for one song with high quality equipment. If you are a band without a drummer: Fiverr,can get a pro to record a song for that same amount. So if they are willing to pay 1k for clothing but zero effort for the actual music they instantly loose my respect tbh.
Good looking people can sell there stuff easier but now it is completely about image not content, Look at them Laputa boys and other 90s vk bands, not all are some plastic lookin types but their music will last on because the focus was not just on appearance and quick sales >.<;
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I think that while you have solid points, blaming “the new kids” for the focus in image is a bit unfair. After all, it’s the labels opened and owned by 90’s artists pushing the Idol-kei image.
Vkei has ALWAYS been full of dudes trying to live the rockstar life and get girls and some minority very dedicated to the craft, even if they showcase it in different styles.
Music evolves and expecting everything to keep sounding like 90’s kotekei (which I never liked so personally I’m thankful) the scene would still be as stale as lynch’s discography. The “good ol’ times” also had a bunch of repetitive uninspired copycats that are barely remembered nowadays.
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I’m not sure what’s really popular nowadays…
Bands play whatever they want and if they look hot and cute people like it anyway, music doesn’t really matter that much.
It’s also about the “magical” story around a band and how they present themselves.
Sometimes a band really sounds amazing but if their “image” is somehow lacking something it’s not going to work.
I’m glad music is developing but it’s lacking people who really care about music.
And not just want to look handsome and pretend to be wanting to be a bandman and give up after a few years trying.
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while it’s easy to view me as some hardliner, I am not, I always say: “if that kind of stuff makes you happy, find happiness in anything you can in this short life.”
however I am an artist who moved to a whole different country and gave up their life for VK so of course I am going to have some rather heavy views from a production viewpoint and being in the scene but im not some hardliner/gatekeeper.
The taste of the new kids pushes what the labels will fund and yah idols are easy money, hell I just paid rent this month making girl and men’s idols songs and our singer is a major male idol. I am cool with all that stuff. But even then I’ve seen the painful face of a label owner saying “I put 100man into that band and only got 30man back…” some of those older guys want to push out more artistic stuff but the reality of what the young kids like is there like a brick wall ^v^ which is normal too! ages change, tastes change. however I will say even the 90s~00s mid level bands were alot more interesting and varied than lots of the top newer bands and will stand by that, but again that is just my subjective opinion ^v^
assuming i am one of those 90s kote kei freaks is weird too, im not so much,
early 00s~ I think was peak VK. I actually despise all the neo 90s kote kei cheap wigs low level midi drums crap and view it as a cheap pop (to use wrestling terms) and am not one to go “oh do you know this crap 90s kotekei band that released one tape?” i dont care haha.
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Ah, sorry if it seemed like I was assuming stuff. It’s just a lot people I see whining about “neo vk” consider stuff like Missalina Ray to be peak art excellence and anything different to be downright awful, so I have a semi-recyclable pre-made argument for those 
I think healthy criticism is good and blind worship not so good. I just get easily annoyed when the discourse seems to turn to “everything now is shit and MY teenage taste is better”. And that’s on me 
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yah it’s best to be realistic.
overall music quality worldwide has gone down due to ease of creation with computers + human laziness. VK has that same problem. Plus the ghostwriter stuff haha…
sometimes someone is like “but this new band is great!” and im like “oh god… dont tell them some old vk guitarist guy from freewill wrote it…” so sometimes people are actually saying they like oldschool vk composers without knowing it haha.
those 90s indies bands are great to study, but im not really going out of my way to revisit them often or thinking they are god tier besides the actual legends like Laputa etc. those elitest niche types are in any genre, punk and metal especially, best to ignore them.
as it is best to ignore the neovk “this band is my entire personality” types.
but stuff like early Vidoll, oh god, as a composer my soul orgasms at the thought.
or the mixture of so many styles in that 00s era for bands really pushing against eachother in the last great era.
Competition breeds quality and sadly even if you like this current era you have to admit there is very little of it. and very little variety T_T thus I love young people being confused by my music when we play with younger bands xD
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btw… that idol vocalist… how many of his fans do actually support your band?
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currently its a rule of keeping the two worlds separate with his idol record label deal ^v^ but eventually there will be natural crossover, he just cant actively promote it, but i met with his label president and he is ok with him doing the band ^v^ i actually made a song for their halloween event coming up. but no worries~ we are way way in the green profits wise~
plus idol groups dont last forever so.
Japan music biz stuff is tricky! like ive made stuff for famous games i could never talk about due to NDA haha lots of fun stuff and its under some japaneezer dudes name. PAIN! SORROW! haha
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Wa- that’s another Asia.Japan thing “keeping the two worlds separate”
So his idol fans aren’t allowed to visit your gigs, even if they find it out that he is also in a visual band? o.o
Ghostwriting is a big thing isn’t it. But as long it pays well, oh well, why won’t you 
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they are of course allowed ^v^ he just cant promote us during the idol activities or on their label controlled accounts etc~ he is always working really hard so i often worry about him T_T himb is a good bebe.
right? gurlll gear isnt cheap
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What is really appreciated in vk nowadays?
Depends on who you ask. Some only like VK because of pretty boys. Others because of the edgy fashion, underground appeal, or perhaps they just like thrashing around to dumb djenty power chords or whatever.
For me, the only thing that really matters in any form of audio art is Sincerity.
I.e. How much does the band believe in what they’re communicating through music, and how good are they in conveying that message?
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Not changing your sound for 20 years?
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