“Korean Idol Groups Appeal with High Quality Music”
SHINee, an idol group to make an official debut in Japan in March, have chosen as their partner EMI Japan, a company known for producing Utada Hikaru called national singer of Japan. Miyake Akira, who discovered and promoted Utada, will also be the producer for SHINee. After attending SHINee’s solo concert, he said he’d like to promote SHINee as an all-Asian pop group. 
– Why SHINee?
“I met them in Korea twice. They were fresh. I didn’t hesitate to make my decision to work with them. They are versatile, they can do diferent genres like ballad and dance, and each member has a different musical style. There are many groups with manly and strong images, but SHINee will appeal to the protective instinct of fans with their sensitive and cute images.”
– The main target?
“Beyond the existing fanbase of Korean Wave, women of 30~50s, young women of 10~20s are showing explosive responses to them. SHINee is a rare idol group with sustainable contents such as good singing ability, purity, and creativity. It is unusual to make a successful concert even before an official debut and to fill the two and half hour concert only with performances. ”
– What is the strength of Korean idols?
“Korean idols appeal with their music, not just with constructed talents. Their musical ability and quality is much better than that of Japanese idols, and Korea has a more advanced training system. They come into the market in a perfectly prepared state.”
– Your future plan?
Only the debut date has been confirmed. What is certain is that SHINee can’t be defined just as K-pop or J-pop, but will be Asian Pop, that is, A-pop. They will make a success in the Asian pop market after taking in new things from Japan after their debut.
[from Joongang Ilbo]
Trans by jujugal
– wow!!
– Joongang Ilbo, one of three big newspaper agencies in Korea, reported on SHINee’s concert in 2 pages today. The above interview is on the right side page. Wow! I can’t stop wowing…
Subbing SHINee 
Oh my gosh! That’s a huge compliment coming from Utada Hikaru’s (I love her) producer! I am so proud of them!
“What is certain is that SHINee can’t be defined just as K-pop or J-pop, but will be Asian Pop, that is, A-pop. They will make a success in the Asian pop market after taking in new things from Japan after their debut.” Wow, that means the boys are going to get even busier.I will pray for them, I know they are amazing and they won’t disappoint. Miyake san is right when he said the boys are versatile. That is a fact. I wonder when the debut date is, since it says they already confirmed the date? Fighting boys! Shawols got your back!
It’s always mentioned “in March”… but I now wonder what is the exact date, hmm… Anyway, this is so exciting to see all this recognition before their debut… Feel so proud.
So his is the guy behind utada hikatu 😮 and he’s going to be working with shinee? WOW! I’m excited for their debut, I have a really good feeling about it 😀 I hope EMI debuted them with a brand new song, not just a Japanese version of one of their previous
Perhaps something along the lines of Stand By Me or Graze. It would be absolutely amazing if they got a high quality ballad like bolero, doushite or love in the ice 🙂 and I want them to brush up on their Japanese so that they can all communicate without the need of a translator. I hate seeing groups that have already debuted in japan, yet still speak in Korean :[ I feel like they have a bright future in japan and wish them luck 😀
i dont think shinee’s going to be promoted like SNSD and Kara as in remake their korean songs, etc,
i think they’ll be like dbsk, where they’ll come out with japanese songs and korean songs, which will be different to one another, that is a huge complement coming from someone whose produced such an awesome artist, really excited to see what shinee have to offer in their japanese debute, i’m anticipating and waiting 😀
I hope so. They’ll try to figure out the best way to introduce SHINee to the Japanese public. I get so excited to think with what songs they will debut in Japan… I need to learn Japanese, though.
i really hope so >.< i don't want sm/emi to half ass their promotions 😦 if they want to do well, they have to go full out.
With SHINee’s versatility and musical ability, I don’t think they’ll do “half-ass promotions” (as you said. hehe). You could actually see that there are a lot of buzz with SHINee in Japan. Besides, SHINee is the only idol group under EMI. I think people are wondering what SHINee could offer. EMI would sure utilize it.
not them, but their companies
some agencies tend to just send groups that have debuted for an performance or two, and not promote them properly. i really don’t want shinee to be like that D:
It won’t be the case with SHINee, don’t even worry.
SHIINee always ‘SHINE’ wherever they go, i have a strong feeling their debut in japan will be a big success, i just hope they still has times to rest, and not leaving korea permanently. I believe in EMI, they will treat our boy properly.
Seems like EMI Music Japan is promoting the boys well. I’ve heard rumors in Soompi months ago that SHINee wont be debuting in Japan but will be promoting their Korean albums in Southeast Asia. I’m kinda shocked when they made their official statement that they’ll debut in Japan. Maybe this is the reason? They’ll debut in Japan but still promote in SE Asia.
Be careful with those rumors… Not all, but some rumors are spread by SM bashers and antis… It sounds like an anti rumor…
Yeah. I’m careful with it, thus I always tagged them as rumors unless there’s an official statement. I know there are trolls roaming around SSS thread. I’m really happy for the boys. That’s a great compliment from someone who produced a national singer.
Wow, this is amazing! I’m so proud of SHINee. I can’t believe they got a compliment from Miyake Akira!! Better yet they are working with him! SHINee’s future is bright!
Thanks for translating. I am really happy they will be working with a top-notch producer in Japan. The boys have got way too much potential – I am glad even Japanese producers recognize it. I am so excited for them though a bit worried about their health.
Also the 2-page coverage of the SHINee concert in a major Korean newspaper is an acknowledgement of SHINee’s relevance and popularity. I hope someone translates the whole thing so that it can be re-posted in some English sites.
A small fun update on smtown homepage: SHINee is now listed on the main as SM’s representative brands. Before Shinee was not there. And fans made a joke about it, saying SHINee is “and so on” (like saying SM’s representatives are DBSK, BOA, SNSD, SuJu, and so on; where is SHINee? Oh, it’s in “and so on”). Now SHINee made their group name there!
Pingback: Japanese PD Miyake Akira Reveals Why EMI Japan Chose SHINee | MTV K - K-Pop, Korean entertainment, music videos, interviews, music