All employees acknowledge, honor, and cooperate with the group
companies’ efforts and challenges.
Report on the general assembly “xeva live,”
a live stage performance filled with enthusiasm

In July 2024, Avex Group’s “Employee General Assembly for the Employee by the Employee” titled “xeva live 2024” was held at Tokyo Dome City Hall.

In this article, we report the employee recognition award “Really! Mad+Pure Award,” which was presented for the first time in three years, the live performances by the affiliated artists, the event’s program filled with excitement and unity, and lastly, the interview of Ami Suzuki and Maki Goto, who were the emcees of the event. In the upcoming article, we shall talk to the junior employees who took part in organizing this event to look back on it.

Embodying the “Really! Mad+Pure”
The idealism of Avex Group’s employees

The general assembly of the Avex group is also known as the “Employees General Assembly for the Employee by the Employee”. It is a place where the striving spirits of all employees, the enthusiasm and achievements of individuals who continue to take on new challenges, and the future possibilities of entertainment that they thrive to explore all embody. Just as the name “xeva live” implies, immersed in the live concert-like atmosphere at times, before they know it, courage and confidence that will continue to motivate them to take on new challenges dwell in the hearts of all the employees.

After the opening video was shown, Ami Suzuki and Maki Goto, the hosts of the event, entered the stage.

The impressive opening video unraveled Avex’s history up until now, along with their hit songs.

The event started with the award ceremony for the “Really! Mad+Pure Award,” which recognizes the achievements of employees who will continue to weave this history.

The “Really! Mad+Pure Award,” which is awarded for the first time in three years, is presented to commendable individuals and teams who took on new challenges and actions that follow the tagline “Really! Mad+Pure” and is granted in three separate categories: the “individual award,” the “team award,” and the “rookie award.”

Regardless of their position and department, all employees are eligible to be awarded, and more than 100 employees and teams were nominated through self-vote and votes from their colleagues. Candidates ranged widely from managers and producers of artists who stand on the frontlines leading the industry, promotion managers, and even business management and accounting teams who work behind the scenes, showing a high level of interest in this award.

CFO Hayashi, who presented the trophies for the awards, reflected on this year’s award by commenting, “This award follows Avex’s tagline “Really! Mad+Pure” as a principle, evaluating daily work performances through votes within the company. I think a company that can praise the work of other colleagues is great, and I also thought it was wonderful to see young people going up on stage to express their gratitude. I hope to see a countless number of candidates coming up next year again too.”

Experiencing artists performances up close
Employees roll up their sleeves once again

Next on the agenda is the presentation of this year’s focus IPs, introduced by each company and division. Each representative from the music sector and anime/film sector presented their IPs along with their thoughts on the projects.

But what’s “unique about Avex’s” general assembly is that they not only hear about the project, but the employees see the performances firsthand.

In this article, we direct attention to the performances that took place.

In Avex Management Inc.’s announcement, they introduced a talented singing group Bi-ray, with an average age of 13, who will be debuting this fall with a song produced by YOSHIKI.

Emi (Bi-ray) expressed her thoughts by saying, “I feel happy to be standing here as an Avex artist. I believe the best way to return this favor is to have as many people listen to our singing voices.”

In the presentation by Avex Management Agency Inc., they introduced a identical triplets "sato triplets" who perform synchronized acrobat. They exhibited their skilled performances and moved around the stage freely from right to left.

Additionally, the company’s affiliated actress Marie Iitoyo appeared on the stage as a surprise guest and talked about her debut stories, how she began acting, and her love of work. Furthermore, she lightened up the atmosphere by sharing her favorite relaxation methods and some compliments to employees.

From Avex Clan Inc.’s presentation, SHOW-WA, a Showa-era pop music group produced by Yasushi Akimoto, finally made their long-awaited major debut, and MATSURI, who continuously aims to work towards their major debut, performed on the stage.

In Avex Music Creative Inc.’s presentation, ONE OR EIGHT, an eight-member group, who debuted in August this year after completing their training period in both Japan and Korea. Their performances included “KAWASAKI,” which reached 10 million views in just ten days after its release on YouTube. SOUMA (ONE OR EIGHT) shared his enthusiasm by saying, “We’ll do our best to be successful on the world stage. We appreciate your support.”

Keeping the high energy on the stage from ONE OR EIGHT’s performances, Aina the End, an “expressionist” who continues to be a remarkable solo artist, dancer, and actress since the disbandment of BiSH, the “punk band without an instrument,” appeared on the stage. She performed her popular songs, such as “Frail” and “Love Sick,” one after the other, showing a spectacular performance incorporating dance that brings to life a unique worldview.

During the MC between songs, she said, “I’ve liked the divas of Avex since my youth, and I loved singing in the car or at karaoke. Now that I am being taken care of at Avex, I’ve recognized, not to mention the team who are always there for me like a family as well as the existence of people who are working hard where I cannot see. All of those people are my “treasures”.” And she closed the stage with the song “Takaramono,” which she wrote and composed herself.

The main players are all the employee,
who continue to build history and
convert the unknown into excitement

The four-hour program of the general assembly is drawing to a close. Finally, the group representatives recapitulate.

“This present time is not something that suddenly appears, but it is the result of the accumulation of history. As we have seen the performances of future potential artists and projects today, our job is to encounter talented individuals and bring them out into the world. And that is not something that we will accomplish out of the blue, but it is necessary to nurture them and to create history. And within that process, I would appreciate it if you could enjoy developing together.”

“In 2022, avex vision 2027 Medium-term Management Plan, we announced the return to our roots as a company that creates IPs such as music, films, and animation. Two and a half years have passed since, and I feel that it is gradually taking shape in all various directions. Nonetheless, the buds have merely sprouted, and it remains to be seen how big each flower will bloom. And how big the flower will bloom will largely depend on the passion of every single employee. In the entertainment industry, unexpected and unpredictable things are bound to happen, and that’s the real pleasure of this type of job. I once again feel that I want to make this company into a place where we can feel excited for the unknown.”

“Watching today’s general assembly, I was reflecting on the time of our foundation. When we look back to when we barely kept the business going every month, our current situation still feels like a dream. Needless to say, in the company’s history, there have been good times and bad times, and in my humble opinion, I strongly feel that there is still a lot to be done. However, we now have over 100 artists, and I was able to feel that each employee is working hard and thinking about the artists. As I mentioned in the last general assembly, I’m thinking “I’ll leave the main work to you guys,” but seeing all your efforts today, I frankly feel “it must be fun working directly” after all. Nonetheless, the future of Avex will be created by everyone here. I will be supporting all of you from behind the scenes, so I hope that everyone will work hard to achieve the goals you’ve set for this year and be able to look forward to dreaming again next year.”

A company where all employees can
share their strong passions as a team and
within the company to go toward their dreams

At the end of the event, while the excitement was still high, we interviewed the emcees, Ami Suzuki and Maki Goto about their thoughts on the day. As they both work for Avex, what did they think of “xeva live 2024”?

Goto, “Avex has so many artists and performers, and even more, I felt that they are all accumulated with different types. I am excited to see how everyone will do in the future. I felt that each employee has a deep passion for their artists, performers, and projects they are working on.”

Suzuki, “As time goes on, I think the expected level of entertainment will get higher and higher. I felt that all the performances we saw today would not have existed in the past. Everyone has a distinct personality, and they all have something outstanding, so it was surprising and very fun to see. Through this general assembly, I was able to see how entertainment itself is evolving.”

Goto, “I think being able to see live performances up close in a general assembly is a great experience, and I am sure that all the employees were able to get a new sense of motivation yet again.”

So how does the company Avex look to the two of them now?

Goto, “Ami and I were both originally from different agencies before joining Avex, but the initial impression I had of Avex was that it was some distant entity that was leading the whole music industry… With that image in mind, I was a bit frightened when I joined Avex. But now that I have been with Avex for over 10 years, I feel that all the staff and the artists are very motivated, and each team has the power to motivate others. That’s the impression I have of Avex now.”

Suzuki, “I agree. It’s like no artists are walking alone, and I think that’s a big appeal of Avex, too. They always talk about anything, they’re like a real family, making things together and making the same dream come true. The staff feel that way too, and being in that environment often helps me, too. It’s like they help artists and performers notice their attractiveness that they haven’t noticed yet. They look for hints to help you bloom. And I believe that’s probably because each employee loves entertainment from the bottom of their heart.”

And lastly, we asked the two about their hopes for the future of Avex.

Goto, “I want people to think of Avex when they think of music, and I hope that everyone involved in this company will continue to have a great time. Since I also sing, I look forward to working on that myself. ”

Suzuki, “Nowadays, since we have not only music artists but also many other performers, I want the company to be more familiar to everyone through television and social media.”

Goto, “Also, I think Avex’s strength is that there are various teams within the group, and they can work together as one. So I want each team to have the same goal and work together to achieve it, and then I want them to continue to have that chain of power that spreads throughout the company to bring about greater unity.”

When everyone who is involved with the company understands the continuous efforts and challenges that everyone is going through day to day, regardless of one’s position, and connects across departments and job types, there will be more possibilities apparent.

There must have been many employees who have realized this through this general assembly, “xeva live 2024.”

In the next article, we will hear from the junior employees who were involved in running “xeva live 2024” about the pride and spirits they felt as Avex Group’s employees.