The Man Behind Lady Gaga’s Breaking Success In Japan –Kimi Kato

Former Universal Records Managing Director -Kimi Kato

Catching up with former Managing Director of Universal Records,

Kimi Kato!

Hi Kimi, nice meeting you. Let’s talk about some of your amazing work as a managing director behind Lady Gaga -while working at Universal in Japan and your role:

I was the Managing Director of International at Universal Music Japan from 2007 where I was responsible for managing all areas of A&R, marketing and promotion to develop and break International artists in Japan. I had a team of about 65 staff who worked on all the artists signed to Universal Internationally.  During my time, I was involved in launching and breaking Lady Gaga in Japan through 4 key releases.

What did you think when you first heard Lady Gaga? Were you amazed by her incredible talent and uniqueness, like me and the rest of the world were?

I first met her at a showcase in January 2008 at the Tom Tom club in LA. It was held for the executives at Universal Music from around the world, and Lady Gaga was one of the acts performing that night. She appeared in a black cloak with black sunglasses, in her hand was a cane with a crystal rock-like object on top, and three dancers behind her all dressed in black. She performed a few songs and the first impression of her on this tiny stage was just dark and black and that of a modest one. Then I got to see Lady Gaga again in September 2008 at yet another one of Universal Music's International Marketing conference in Berlin -just after 'Just Dance' was released. She performed at a small club showcase as one of the few artists performing that evening. I was very touched when she thanked everyone for giving her a big chance. She had tears in her eyes which left a strong impression on everyone. Also, the song 'Just Dance' began to play in my head repeatedly. It was a catchy song and started to think about a possible launch. When I returned to Japan, I decided to take a shot at this project.

 

By the end of 2008, we began marketing and promoting Lady Gaga in the Japanese music market. We started with ads on MTV but the initial reaction from the listeners was weak, and there was no sign of the song catching fire at this stage. Meanwhile, she started to have a hit in Canada and Australia. It was at her first headline show at the Wiltern Theatre on March 13th in Los Angeles that made me decide to start full on promoting and marketing her music in Japan. It was an outstanding show, one of the best I had seen in years. I was convinced she would become a superstar in Japan. She was shining like a superstar already and realized that the bigger the stage you got her on, the bigger she got. She was ready to take over the world.

What was one of the biggest challenges while working on this project?

As with working with many international artists, the most significant challenges are the cultural differences and language barriers. Explaining every detail of why the artist needs to do specific things such as TV performances and interviews that no one knows or understands outside of Japan "but are very meaningful there -also, launching an artist for the first time is a challenge in that however much convinced you are that the artist will break, you still need to convince a lot of people internally and externally to get them on board -and you are never sure until that happens.

What was your favorite album of hers to work on Fame, Fame Monster, Born This Way or Art Pop?

It is a difficult question because she grew significantly after every release she did and each were inspiring in their own ways. If I had to choose one, it would be Fame as it was the start of everything.

What do you think the key is to these albums and artists reaching superstardom?

In just three years since her debut, she had sold 20 million albums worldwide, and had won 3 awards at the 53rd Grammy Awards including the Best pop vocal album" and took the world by storm. Here are my breakdowns for artists reaching superstardom:

Passion, vision and drive towards what you believe in:

I had heard Lady Gaga mention on stage that she wanted to change the definition of pop music, where the artist writes all the songs and always performs live vocals without fail. She would take her recording equipment on tour so that she could record music whenever she was inspired. She devoted herself to creating new music and wanted to continuously express herself which made her attractive as a person and as a global superstar.  

Continuous momentum:

Many artists have a hit album and take a while to come back with another, lose momentum and fan interest because of it. This was not the case for Lady Gaga. She immediately followed up with Fame Monster and took herself to the next level. What made it better was that all the songs had killer tracks. Top quality songs with continuous impact played a big part in her success:

Showing gratitude to fans and staff:

The essence of who she was did not change even with all that success. Her nature of never forgetting to show appreciation no matter how much success she had is also, I believe, what accelerated the global “Gaga” movement. There was another Universal Music International conference held in time with the Grammy Awards ceremony in February 2011"and she showed up at our meeting to thank each and every one of us for supporting her"and mentioning that she was there because we all believed in her music. As much as she was a superstar, it felt as if all she wanted to do ultimately, was to continue to fulfill fan expectations. 

 

Pure hard work:

Behind the glamorous stage that took the audience into a frenzy was a lot of hard work. Every performance was that of a different one. She would travel with over 100 people on tour and even fly in a different set of staff if she was doing a separate TV performance aside from the tour. She was terrific at all interviews and never late or showed fatigue. Every interviewer ended the meeting with a big smile. Everyone supported her all the way because we all believed that she had a clear vision in what and how she expressed her music. 

What was it like meeting Lady Gaga in person?

I have met her many times, and aside from all of the above, I have been inspired, pleasantly surprised and startled on many occasions. She is kind and very thoughtful.

Did you have any idea she would become this huge of an artist?

No! But when I saw her at The Wiltern for her very first headline show I would definitely have to say yes!