L’Arc~en~Ciel may have just reached their 25th anniversary, but they are at risk of splitting up due to label troubles. The story revolves around financial “alchemy” by the head of the label, using profits he secretly took without informing the band members.
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The band members have long been dissatisfied with the pay they received from the label, which is led by Oishi Masahiro (age 57), For instance, top selling artists normally receive a musician’s fee of 3 to 5% per million albums sold, but L’Arc’s members have only received 2.5%. Oishi always explained this by saying the label was “in the red,” but always refused to show relevant financial documents to the band members.
However, in truth, Oishi’s label makes over 1.5 bilion JPY per year and consistently produces over 20 million in JPY profits. According to Oishi, the money saved by underpaying the artists has gone into 2.2 bilion JPY of Tokyo real estate, notably a building in Hirakawacho and a penthouse in Ebisu.
Learning these facts has created an undeniable trench between the members and the label. However, the four independent members are not monolithic. They are divided, rather like SMAP, who have disbanded.
According to our research, Oishi claims that “contract negotiations are under serious discussion.” When asked directly about disbanding and these troubles, the band leader, tetsuya, replied “No comment. I just don’t want to make the fans sad.”
– Further details about Oishi’s real estate dealings and L’Arc~en~Ciel’s label are available in our print edition.
