Major music company Avex held its annual meeting and concert for shareholders at the Saitama Super Arena yesterday. Attendance at the event was 9,679, said to be the biggest ever gathering of shareholders in a Japanese business. Despite being hit by several scandals, the company was able to announce record income of ¥117.8 billion for the financial year which ended in March, the highest since the Avex was founded in 1988. This obviously took some of the heat off company management, who had to deal with questions about recent problems. Regarding the arrest and trial of musician and producer Komuro Tetsuya (50), president Matsuura Masato (44) said that the ¥30 million that Avex paid for his bail bond had been repaid. He said that he personally had paid back the ¥500 million that Komuro had swindled from an investor, plus the roughly ¥150 million in damages and fees. There was no mention of the financial implications of a recent guerrilla marketing event for top artist Hamasaki Ayumi that was held without prior police approval. Matsuura said, “We will be doing our best to educate staff and keep moving forward.” Hamasaki is currently on tour and didn’t perform after the meeting, but shareholders got to enjoy a concert by ten Avex artists, including Koda Kumi (26), Otsuka Ai (26), Mizutani Yutaka (56) and Blue Man Group. US singer Elliott Yamin (30) was the first foreign artist to perform at the annual show.
Earlier stories:
Komuro Gets Off With Suspended Sentence (May 11, 2009)
Guerrilla Event Lands Avex, Tokyu in Trouble (June 10, 2009)