Software replaces singers in pop songs
There's only a bit about Gackt and Gackpoid at the end. It talks about using voice synthesizer programs to create songs. Gackpoid was just mentioned in passing. The whole article is talking more about a software called "Hatsune Miku" which propelled another band to fame. Info under the cut if you wanna read. It's an English article.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Software replaces singers in pop songs
Voice synthesizer software with which users can make a virtual idol sing a song in a feminine voice has been changing the Japanese music scene.
A piece of software called "Hatsune Miku" that hit the market in August 2007, can synthesize humanlike voices and features a virtual idol of the same name. By entering lyrics and melodies into the computer, users can make the 16-year-old character sing their songs.
Some songs written by unknown musicians using the software have become popular on video-sharing Web sites, with some songs even being released as CDs.
Among such songs, "Sakura no Ame" (Rain of Cherry Blossoms), which portrays the bittersweet feelings of students before graduation, has been the subject of a rush of requests from schools hoping to sing the song at their commencement ceremonies. More than 80 schools nationwide will use the song at their graduation ceremonies.
At a commencement concert held Tuesday at the Yachiyoshoin High School in Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture, three members of "absorb," a band that made its major label debut in November with the song, sang it on stage together with about 2,000 students in the school's gym.
"I didn't even think that would happen one year ago," band member Haruyoshi Mori said.
The band members posted the song they had written using Hatsune Miku software on the video-sharing Web site "Nico Nico Douga" in February last year when they were still unknown.
The band continued playing, but the members were unable to make a living from their music and had to work part-time to make ends meet.
They wrote the song using Hatsune Miku software without any particular motive other than wanting to write a song that would suit a female voice. The song drew a terrific response from listeners on the video-sharing Web site, with people posting messages saying such things as "The song made me cry," and "It's great! This song gave me goose bumps."
The video drew more than 1 million hits in eight months after it was posted in February last year, leading to the band getting the chance to make the major label debut they had been longing for.
"The Hatsune Miku software and the Nico Nico Douga video-sharing Web site gave us a big chance, even though we were unknown musicians," Mori said.
Many songs written using the software have attracted attention on the Internet, and some have been made into CDs by record companies.
Music duo "livetune" released an album "Re: package," that reached No. 5 on the Oricon pop charts in September 2008. The duo plans to release two albums next month. One of the albums, "Vocarhythm," contains 15 songs written using the software, and these songs have already proved popular on the Internet.
Crypton Future Media, Inc, the Sapporo-based company that developed Hatsune Miku, allows purchasers of the software to post their works using the software on the Internet. "If users are restricted by copyright-related issues, culture will never be nurtured," the company president Hiroyuki Ito said. "I hope the software and video-sharing Web sites benefit new talented people."
Besides Hatsune Miku, other voice synthesizer programs have been released including "Gackpoid," which produces a voice similar to popular singer Gackt. "More than 100,000 people are estimated to have written songs using such software," an official at Yamaha Music Media Corp. said.
"In the Japanese music industry, many musicians belong to major labels and wait to make their debut. However, the Internet and music software such as Hatsune Miku can change the traditional way [of doing things]," said Toshiaki Endo, a music critic also familiar with Internet-related issues. "While there are some cases in other countries in which people become a star through the Internet, Hatsune Miku software attracts people with its character, which I think is a tendency unique to Japan."
(Feb. 27, 2009)
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090227TDY03103.htm