Libera's Official Fan Club in Japan

[TullyBascombe]

What is the point of joining a club if you're not eligible for the benefits?

[fan_de_LoK]

It is free to create yourself a Japanese mail address, using a mail forwarding company, so you can become eligible for some of the benefits.
So far it gave me access to buy the special Fan club version of the CD 'Beyond', which come with a special 36 pages photobook, as well as access to exclusive photos and videos.
Well, ok, joining the Japanese Fan club is mainly just crazy collector madness but it is also a challenge and fun to succeed

[fan_de_LoK]

So far the Japanese fan club is a bit disappointing

It lacks of dynamism. The last change on the fan club website is more than one month old.

It is said to be a fan club, but it is not a club, it is just a one-way website. Only the webmaster can publish something. Fans can't do anything, there is no space where fans can express themselves.

If at least the webmaster was a bit active, it could be ok, but every day I check for some news, and everyday it is the same result, no change, nothing new, the website is totally idle.

I start to believe that the fan club is not animated by a real fan, someone that looks closely to libera news with the will to entertain the fans regularly.
It is likely animated by a Sony employee that has no special interest in libera, and only reports on the website was his management tells him, from time to time.

They are supposed to work on a 2019 calendar reserved for the fans, but they give no visibility on the progresses.

Today they sent an email for apologize because the members card are delayed due to a processing issue.

Thank to them for the update but personnaly, what I'm more expecting than the member card is a dynamic community manager that makes the fan club to be alive, and not updated just during libera tours in Japan...

[aoba]

When announced the establishment of the fan club of Libera, I was afraid that it would be a lack of contents and updated inactively. I also had doubts about how to use their/our funds. For that reason, I was deeply distressed as to whether I should pay annual fee or not and whether I should join or not. In the end, I joined it on the day of the concert, for the commemorative photo. I was very satisfied that.
However, unfortunately, in fact the fan club is a non-active simple website. Some Japanese fan club users (my Twitter followers) are also disappointed. Actually, because I was expecting this situation, I'm not disappointed. Now, Some of them inquire of the staff about the contents of the fan club by e-mail, but I think they will not get a "good" reply.

The Japanese fan club of Libera is managed by Sony Music Marketing. Other than Libera, they also run many fan clubs of artists who are relative to Sony Music group. My guess is that their staffs are doing "the work" of several fan clubs in parallel. In the fan club of artist whose concerts are to be held in the near future, or it holding a large number of members, their updating work may be given priority.

I have no choice but to think that paying the annual fee is donating for the next Japan tour. However, as long as the fan club exists, I hope that it will be meaningful and a lively community.

[fan_de_LoK]

Funny coincidence,
Right after we complained about the lack of activity on the Fan Club website, two news were published.

One is a new short Q&A video, this time about the preferred song and why, answered by Leo, Tadhg and Ben B.

The second is the link to order the 2019 libera calendar reserved for FC members.
It looks to be nice but it is surprisingly small, just 10*15 cm, meaning about the size of a postcard.

Sorry to not share any visual here, the FC rules state that sharing any material is strictly prohibited

[aoba]

The second is the link to order the 2019 libera calendar reserved for FC members.
It looks to be nice but it is surprisingly small, just 10*15 cm, meaning about the size of a postcard.

Sorry to not share any visual here, the FC rules state that sharing any material is strictly prohibited

Anyone, including those who are not the FC member, can see a few (only January) samples of the 2019 FC calendar in here (FC page).
Yes, it's a small desk calendar.
If you access the purchase page, you need a membership.

[Surpinto]

Funny coincidence,
Right after we complained about the lack of activity on the Fan Club website, two news were published.

One is a new short Q&A video, this time about the preferred song and why, answered by Leo, Tadhg and Ben B.

The second is the link to order the 2019 libera calendar reserved for FC members.
It looks to be nice but it is surprisingly small, just 10*15 cm, meaning about the size of a postcard.

Sorry to not share any visual here, the FC rules state that sharing any material is strictly prohibited

If you don't mind telling us in writing, what were the responses by those three?

[james010101]

Funny coincidence,
Right after we complained about the lack of activity on the Fan Club website, two news were published.

One is a new short Q&A video, this time about the preferred song and why, answered by Leo, Tadhg and Ben B.

The second is the link to order the 2019 libera calendar reserved for FC members.
It looks to be nice but it is surprisingly small, just 10*15 cm, meaning about the size of a postcard.

Sorry to not share any visual here, the FC rules state that sharing any material is strictly prohibited

If you don't mind telling us in writing, what were the responses by those three?

Leo: How shall I Sing Thy Majesty / Mysterium
Tadhg: Voca Me
Ben B: Orinoco Flow

[andmar]

I'm pretty sure the Japnese FC is not a real fan site but it is a pure commercial project, which is run by a professional company (Sony Music Marketing). Possibly, it is a part of the contract with Libera, so Libera is obliged to provide some exclusive content, which is meant for the Japanese market only.
For us, who live elsewhere, this may be disappointing in whole, as being eager to get any news from our favourite choir, we don't have access to the exclusive stuff. But from the business perspective this is quite normal. And the FC is nothing else as just business.

Personally, I am a little bit sad that Libera goes that much into commercial stuff. On the other hand it is certainly a deal, which brings much money to Libera (and possible even more to the Japanese companies involved) as they care very much that Japanese fans have many options to spend their money for.

[fan_de_LoK]

For us, who live elsewhere, this may be disappointing in whole, as being eager to get any news from our favourite choir, we don't have access to the exclusive stuff.

This is not exactly true
Anyone who really wants it can be member of the Japanese Fan Club, even if not living in Japan and not reading/talking Japanese.

True, the language difference creates difficulties, it may be costly, but for someone that has motivation and time, applying to the Japanese FC is doable. There are at least 3 non-Japanese members of LD that are already FC members, possibly 5, just among people I know

[andmar]

For us, who live elsewhere, this may be disappointing in whole, as being eager to get any news from our favourite choir, we don't have access to the exclusive stuff.

This is not exactly true
Anyone who really wants it can be member of the Japanese Fan Club, even if not living in Japan and not reading/talking Japanese.

True, the language difference creates difficulties, it may be costly, but for someone that has motivation and time, applying to the Japanese FC is doable. There are at least 3 non-Japanese members of LD that are already FC members, possibly 5, just among people I know

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough in expressing my thoughts. I know that non-Japanese can join the FC if they have enough determination, as you state it.

My point is different. I have very, very ambigous feeling about such a "Fan Club". From the commercial perspective I understand it fully. It is just business targeted for the Japanese market with the goal to earn money for the company and hopefully for Libera too.
On the other hand, personally I don't like the idea of such a "Fan Club" designed for one certain market only. There are Libera fans all over the world who support them by buying the music, attending concerts and donating. And now they feel excluded or at least neglected.

So, I understand it's just business. Do I like it? No, I don't. I wouldn't like it either, if such a "Fan Club" was designed for the European market. Because it divides the fans instead of joining them.

[Surpinto]

Leo: How shall I Sing Thy Majesty / Mysterium
Tadhg: Voca Me
Ben B: Orinoco Flow

Thanks!

[kinda_k00l]

Personally, I am a little bit sad that Libera goes that much into commercial stuff. On the other hand it is certainly a deal, which brings much money to Libera (and possible even more to the Japanese companies involved) as they care very much that Japanese fans have many options to spend their money for.

This is exactly what I want to say.

On the other hand, personally I don't like the idea of such a "Fan Club" designed for one certain market only. There are Libera fans all over the world who support them by buying the music, attending concerts and donating. And now they feel excluded or at least neglected.

So, I understand it's just business. Do I like it? No, I don't. I wouldn't like it either, if such a "Fan Club" was designed for the European market. Because it divides the fans instead of joining them.

And this is exactly what I feel. You can read my mind or something?


But despite saying/feeling so, I don't oppose it. As you've said it brings money to Libera, so yeah...

[fan_de_LoK]

The Japanese Fan Club will soon deliver to its members the 2018-2019 Yearbook.

Only one issue will be sent to each member and there is no sign that any extra copies will be sold afterwards.

Here the visual :

Yearbook 2018-2019.jpg (129.43 KiB) Viewed 9339 times

Yearbook 2018-2019.jpg (129.43 KiB) Viewed 9339 times

The description of the yearbook is not detailed.
It mentions a wide variety of content, including interviews, unincorporated photos and music introduction corners for memories sent by fans.
The size and and number of pages is not said.


If you are not already a Japan fan club members and you feel the soul of a collector, there is still time to register and receive the yearbook.
Application limit for that is before Tuesday April 30th 23:59 Japan Time.


If you consider to register, a few things to know or to remind :

1) Although the Japan fan club is not exclusively reserved for Japanese people, it is designed for be used by Japanese only, so there is nothing written in English. Registering as a member must be done knowingly that we foreigners have to adapt ourselves and one must be prepared to take on the difficulties that this represents for non-Japanese. Mainly, you will have to do a lot of copy-pastes of texts to an online translator like Google Translator.
Nothing undoable, as a few foreigners here on LD are already members of the Japanese FC, including yours truly.

2) The Fan Club registration is not free, there is a yearly membership fee of 6000 yens (about $45). Foreign credit cards can be used.

3) Membership requires a mail address in Japan, as anything sent to the members by the fan club will be shipped to Japan only.
For the foreigners, this need of a mail address in Japan can be solved using a mail forwarding company. There are many. I personally use tenso.com since years. I use them when I buy things from Japanese auctions or flea market and the Japanese seller ships only to Japan. Using such proxy company is perfect for foreigners, but it has a cost. When something arrives to that company under your name, to have it sent to you abroad you will have to pay the international shipment and a fee for their service.

The URL of the Japanese fan club : https://liberafc.jp/s/n75

Unregistered people can browse some pages and read the news, but the exclusive contents and links to exclusive goodies only display once you are logged in.

[Surpinto]

Thank you, fan_de_LoK. I am sure that there are plenty of fans who will take advantage of this information and will appreciate the help you always offer on such matters. While personally tempting I do not have, as you say, the "soul of a collector" so I'm not as interested in this. Photos and interview videos are nice, but my primary concern with this club and similar Japan-only initiatives is the restriction of certain songs to the Japanese market or maybe to the club itself. This was already the case with "For the Future" on the the Japanese version of Beyond which required ordering a Japanese version of the CD - although we were lucky and the Japanese version was on iTunes for a brief while before it was removed. I somehow doubt that a song would be recorded exclusively for the Japanese club, but something like that would be the only reason I would consider joining personally.