Nippon Columbia, one of Japan's oldest record companies, launched Neo Kobushi on 1 October, a label for what it calls "cyber enka": the vocal style of traditional enka set against fast dance beats. In its announcement on PR Times, the company says generative AI is used throughout, from songwriting and singing voices to visuals and music videos. Three songs went out on streaming services the same day, each with an AI-made video on YouTube.
The roster mixes human and synthetic performers. Luca Mochizuki, a Columbia enka singer who won a newcomer award at the 63rd Japan Record Awards, sits alongside Hikari Kodama, a virtual singer the label says was created with AI, and Enka Girls Revolution, a five-member idol group Mochizuki produces. Kodama sings "Yobeba, Hikari", while Mochizuki and the group each release a version of "Neon Shigure"; the writing credit on all three goes to Neo Kobushi. The videos run from a fully generated palace in the clouds to live footage of Mochizuki set inside a generated cyberpunk city.
Club DJ Mandokoro Takano is the label's producer. In a statement, the label says it is not out to tear down the genre but to help enka last another hundred years, and describes AI as a tool and partner for reaching places people could not reach alone, not a substitute for them. The account of how the music was made is the company's own.
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