Up-Front Group
Kabushiki gaisha
Native nameアップフロントグループ
IndustryMusic, entertainment
Foundation14 January 1983 (age 43) (as Up-Front Agency Co., Ltd.)
Tokyo, Japan
LocationAzabu-koei Building
28-12 Higashi-Azabu Ichichōme, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 106-0044
Key peopleNaoki Yamazaki (chairman and representative director)
Yukio Seto (president and executive director)
Junichiro Iwata (managing director)
SubsidUp-Front Promotion
Up-Front Works
Up-Front Books
Up-Front International
Up-Front DC
Up-Front Hawaii
etc.
Homepagewww.ufg.co.jp

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 entertainment company specializing in artists' development, management,[1] and production.

It is structured as a holding company for various entertainment companies[2] that represent various areas within the industry and work with each other.

Its subsidiaries include the talent agency Up-Front Promotion that trains and manages female idol singers[3][4] and the music and video production company Up-Front Works that operates such record labels as Zetima, Piccolo Town, Hachama, Rice Music.[5]

Up-Front Promotion idols release their music through Up-Front Works' in-house labels. Moreover, Up-Front Works issues idols and non-idols affiliated with other talent agencies belonging to Up-Front Group, such as J.P Room and Up-Front Create.

Subsidiaries

  • Up-Front Promotion
  • J.P Room
  • Up-Front Create
  • Up-Front Trend
  • Up-Front Works

etc.

Up-Front Promotion

Up-Front Promotion Co., Ltd. (株式会社アップフロントプロモーション) is a talent agency formerly known as Up-Front Agency.[6] All musical artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion are collectively known as Hello! Project.[7][8]

The list of artists under Up-Front Promotion includes:

Groups

Soloists

  • Moe Kamikokuryō
  • Rika Shimakura

Trainees

J.P Room

J.P Room Inc. (ジェイピィールーム) is a talent agency headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo. The list of artists under J.P Room includes the following former Hello! Project members:

Soloists

Former

Up-Front Create

Up-Front Create Co., Ltd. (アップフロントクリエイト) is a talent agency headquartered in Tokyo. The list of artists under Up-Front Create includes:

Male groups

Female soloists

Ex-Hello! Project

Ex-Hello! Pro Egg (ex-Ciao Bella Cinquetti)

Female (partnership)

Up-Front Trend

Up-Front Trend Co., Ltd. (アップフロントトレンド), formerly Up-Front Style, is a talent agency headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo that specializes in voice actors.

Up-Front Works

Up-Front Works Co., Ltd. (株式会社アップフロントワークス) is a music and video production and sales company that works with artists affiliated with Up-Front Group and its partners.[9] It was created in 2004 by merging the record labels Zetima, Hachama and Piccolo Town. All three continued to operate as Up-Front Works' in-house labels.[10][5]

The list of artists whose music is released by Up-Front Works includes those under the talent agencies Up-Front Promotion, J.P Room, Up-Front Create, etc.

Up-Front Works operates or operated the following record labels:

Zetima

Zetima
ParentUp-Front Works Co. Ltd.
FoundedMay 1993 (as One Up Music)
DistributorSony Music Entertainment Japan
GenreJ-pop · rock · kayōkyoku · enka
CountryJapan
LocationTokyo

was originally founded in May 1993 as , 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.[citation needed]

Artists
Former artists

Hachama

Hachama
ParentUp-Front Works Co. Ltd.
FoundedApril 2001
DistributorPony Canyon
GenreJ-pop · rock
CountryJapan
LocationTokyo

has a distribution deal with Pony Canyon.

Artists
Former artists

Piccolo Town

Piccolo Town
ParentUp-Front Works Co. Ltd.
FoundedApril 2001
DistributorPony Canyon
GenreJ-pop · folk · children's
CountryJapan
LocationTokyo

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
ParentUp-Front Works Co. Ltd.
FoundedMarch 1995 (as Y.J. Sounds)
DistributorPony Canyon
GenreKayōkyoku · enka
CountryJapan
LocationTokyo

was originally founded in March 1995 as . 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

Up-Front Works (record label)

Up-Front Works
ParentUp-Front Works Co. Ltd.
FoundedMarch 2004
GenreJ-pop
CountryJapan
LocationTokyo

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

Up-Front Indies

Up-Front Indies
ParentUp-Front Works Co. Ltd.
FoundedMay 2019
GenreJ-pop · rock · soundtrack
CountryJapan
LocationTokyo

is Up-Front Group's indie in-house label founded in May 2019.

Artists

Chichūkai Label

Chichūkai Label
ParentUp-Front Works Co. Ltd.
Founded2003
DefunctDecember 2009
DistributorEpic Records Japan
GenreClassic, Euro-enka
CountryJapan
LocationTokyo

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
  • Yasuko Naito
  • Ruca
  • Hidemi Sasaki

Former artists

Affiliated with Up-Front Promotion

Sub-units

Project groups

Shuffle units

Affiliated with Up-Front Works

Affiliated with TNX

The company was created by Tsunku in 2006. Later the artists under TNX were collectively known as Nice Girl Project![citation needed] and were noted for assisting in Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven series.[citation needed]

References

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