“Red Bull Check Your DMs” is a series produced by Red Bull in which artists from around the world meet each other online for the first time and then work on a song together via telework. In the first episode of this series, tofubeats connects with British producer DJ Q and Dutch singer Gaidaa. Together, the three musicians create the song “All In”, which is out now. Watch tofubeats, DJ Q, and Gaidaa create “All In” below!

40 years ago legendary singer Momoe Yamaguchi held her retirement concert on October 5th, 1980 at Nippon Budokan. The announcement was quite shocking at the time, as she was only 21-years-old and was enjoying tremendous success at the height of her career.

Beginning today Momoe’s giant catalog of singles, 22 studio albums, and 8 soundtrack albums will be available for streaming. In total, this equals to more than 600 songs. Her discography will be available on popular streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify, LINE MUSIC, AWA, and Google Play.

On May 27, THE NOVEMBERS will release their new album, “At The Beginning.” The band describes the album as having a blend featuring the aggressiveness of industrial music and the beauty of hymns. yukihiro of L’Arc~en~Ciel and ACID ANDROID worked on the album’s sequence sound design and programming. Check out more information on “At The Beginning” below!

AAA member SKY-HI was originally set to release his best album, “SKY-HI’s THE BEST” on June 17. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the date has now been moved to September 23.

This interview was originally intended to coincide with the release of the best album, but SKY-HI’s actions during the pandemic have been of note. He’s held an at home concert for charity, lent his support to the #SaveOurSpace campaign, and spoke out against the proposed prosecutor retirement law.

We recently spoke to him about these topics and more, including what he think of JPop / Japanese hip hop and the possibility of AAA reuniting in the future. Check it out below!

In keeping with the times as far as how music is consumed, the Recording Industry Association of Japan has began to certify songs for streaming, just how it does for physical shipments and digital download sales.

However, unlike physical shipments and digital download sales, the streaming certifications will have their own levels, due to the higher amount of streams compared to the other two formats. They are as follows:

Silver: 30,000,000

Gold: 50,000,000

Platinum: 100,000,000

Diamond: 500,000,000

The RIAJ will give out certifications based on streaming data from Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, AWA, d Music, Google Play Music, HMVmusic powered by KKBOX, KKBOX, LINE MUSIC, Rakuten Music, RecMusic, and Spotify.

Check out the first batch of streaming certifications below!

Last July, there was an arson attack on Kyoto Animation’s studio, which resulted in the death of 36 people, with another 33 injured. Today, the suspect in the case was arrested.

Aoba Shinji, 42, of Saitama City, was arrested after being judged to have sufficiently recovered from life-threatening burns that occured during his crime.

Aoba confessed to setting the studio on fire with gasoline. Police reported that he was quoted as saying there was “no mistake” in the allegations against him. “I thought I could kill many people by using gasoline,” Aoba said. He has not apologized for his actions or expressed remorse.

Police quoted Aoba as saying he had a “grudge” against Kyoto Animation. The investigation into the motive for his crime will continue.

Fuji TV has announced that it will end the current season of its reality show “Terrace House”, “Terrace House 2019-2020”, in light of the death of cast member Hana Kimura.

“We take what happened very seriously, and will address this in a sincere manner,” a statement regarding the termination read. Fuji TV also expressed its condolences and sympathies to Hana’s family.

After Hana’s death, it was announced that the release of already filmed episodes was going to be postponed on Fuji TV, its streaming platform Fuji TV On Demand, and Netflix. Filming of the series was on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This week’s guests were Nishikawa Takanori and ASCA, who performed at home.

Nishikawa Takanori + ASCA – Tenbin -Libra-