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Suzuki Ami

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Suzuki Ami (鈴木亜美) is a Japanese pop artist whom became quite famous in the late 1990's. She was then under Sony Japan's sub-label TRUE KiSS DISC. However, she was blacklisted by the music industry in September 2000 after her parents tried to sue her management company. Ami returned to the music scene as an indie artist, and then was picked up by avex trax. Her music had a heavy dance edge to it, and her voice has been compared to that of globe's Keiko or Hamasaki Ayumi.


Profile

  • Name: Suzuki Ami (鈴木亜美)
  • Nickname: Ami-Go (あみ～ゴ)
  • Birthday: February 9, 1982
  • Birthplace: City of Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
  • Blood Type: A
  • Height: 159 cm

Information

Some may regard the lawsuit as trying to gain money but the "truth" from what is factualy known is it stems from wanting to get out of her management contract with AG Communications because the president, Yamada Eiji had been implicated with others in an elaborate tax evasion scheme. However, AG Communications did not want to release Suzuki from the contract since she was heading towards the peak of her popularity which meant lots of revenue. The reasoning behind Ami and her parents filing the lawsuit to nullify of her contract was because they felt this scandal would have a negative impact on her career. The courts even agreed and they won but that turned out to be bittersweet as the result looked almost like what they were trying to avoid in the first place (ruined career).

One of the issues that came to light was the Suzuki's had wanted access to AG Communications financial records in order to determine if they had been properly compensating her. This is for TV appearances, photo shoots, magazines, endorsements, etc. and made sense when there are some execs guilty of concealing money from the taxation bureau and nothing to stop them from under reporting the compensation due her for the appearances she had been booked for. That is where the money is made.

Jimusho's provide the direction to media outlets, content producers, and the networks from which the shows producers make their programming decisions from. An example are those who make appearances on shows like Music Station. Performers are not picked and invited by Music Station producers/execs. It is those artists agencies who dictates those appearances on the show. This is different from MTV which does their own selecting. The talents have a contract which specifies their cut when appearance fees apply but the details of what content producers are paying to the jimusho's may be privy only between those two and not the talent themselves. AG Communications refused the request to reveal that information so the Suzuki's went back to court. The court however denied this motion.

In a Japan Times article, there are some mentioning of links to government officials and politicians via their secretaries. In otherwords, there was much more to the whole story which if revealed, could have implicated many more individuals and revealed other connections. The more cynical felt this was one of the main reasons that this second suit was dismissed because it represented a broader scope of corruption. Related to this, Yamada was only fined and never had to do any jail time for what was a criminal act.

A cardinal sin in the Japanese entertainment industry is "to not make waves" which all this legal proceedings were. The result of this was 村八分 (murahachibu = ostracism) or what is better known as blacklisting. Until 2004, no one else wanted to touch her for fear of repercussions and backlash by those who have something to hide in this whole ordeal. Sony Music Entertainment Japan however did not drop her like a hot potato. Her contract with SMEJ recently ended December 2004. For the prior few years, she and Sony have been negotiating the termination of her contract which had been mutually agreed upon as SMEJ felt that they could no longer effectively promote her music given all the previous negative publicity. There were some valid legal disputes mainly surrounding copyrights for anything she had written but both parties finally reached an out of court settlement in November 2003. On January 1st 2005 Max Matsuura of avex trax, Japan's largest independent label had just signed her before her SMEJ contract expired. Her first single there, "Delightful", was released on March 24th, 2005.

Artists

  • [1999.03.25] SA #1
  • [2000.02.09] infinity eighteen vol.1 #1
  • [2000.04.26] infinity eighteen vol.2 #2
  • [2001.05.30] FUN for FAN #1
  • [2005.10.12] AROUND THE WORLD #5
  • [2006.03.29] AMIx WORLD #78
  • [2007.03.21] CONNETTA #26

Singles

  • [1998.07.01] love the island #5
  • [1998.09.17] alone in my room #3
  • [1998.11.05] all night long #2
  • [1998.12.16] white key #2
  • [1999.02.17] Nothing Without You #3
  • [1999.03.17] Don't leave me behind / Silent Stream #3
  • [1999.07.14] BE TOGETHER #1
  • [1999.09.29] OUR DAYS #1
  • [1999.12.22] HAPPY NEW MILLENNIUM #2
  • [2000.01.26] Don't need to say good bye #5
  • [2000.04.12] THANK YOU 4 EVERY DAY EVERY BODY #1
  • [2000.09.27] Reality / Dancin' In HIP-HOP #3
  • [2004.04.21] Tsuyoi Kizuna (強いキズナ; Strong Ties)
  • [2004.08.11] FOREVER LOVE #22
  • [2005.03.24] Delightful #3
  • [2005.05.25] Eventful #9
  • [2005.08.17] Negaigoto (ねがいごと; Wishes) #13
  • [2005.10.12] AROUND THE WORLD #19
  • [2005.11.19] Happiness is...
  • [2005.12.07] Little Crystal (リトル クリスタル) #22
  • [2006.02.08] Fantastic #14
  • [2006.05.17] Alright! #17
  • [2006.07.26] Like a Love? #23
  • [2007.02.28] O.K. Funky God (Suzuki Ami joins Buffalo Daughter) #47
  • [2007.03.07] Peace Otodoke!!♡ (Peace お届け!!♡; Peace Delivery) (Suzuki Ami joins THC!!) #45
  • [2007.03.14] Sore mo Kitto Shiawase (それもきっとしあわせ; That's Certainly Happiness) (Suzuki Ami joins Kirinji) #39
  • [2007.08.22] FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER (Suzuki Ami joins Nakata Yasutaka (capsule)) #32
  • [2007.11.28] Potential Breakup Song (Suzuki Ami joins Aly & AJ)

DVDs

  • [2000.12.23] AMI-GO-ROUND TOUR
  • [2001.07.01] Video Clips FUN for FAN
  • [2004.11.17] 2004 SUMMER FLY HIGH -ami shower-
  • [2006.02.08] SUZUKI AMI AROUND THE WORLD ~LIVE HOUSE TOUR 2005~

Compilations

  • [2005.09.07] Bazooka 17

External Links

  • Official Website
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