asQme and Steve Aoki Help Musicians Connect With Fans Across Language Barriers
asQme is bridging the divide between Japanese fans and English-speaking artists in the first stage of what has the potential to be a very successful site. asQme takes an "Ask Me Anything" aka AMA approach across language barriers with Steve Aoki the first artist on tap. It will be a chance for fans to ask questions in Japanese and have the English language response translated into Japanese. Variations on that theme are planned suggesting possibilities that are much bigger.
asQme is an AMA-style platform that connects artists and fans across language barriers. That's a huge opportunity and I'll be surprised to not see others enter the space cause it's just such a great idea. asQme is starting out connecting musicians and fans from Japan and the English-speaking world with Japanese-American dj Steve Aoki symbolically connecting Japan and the U.S. for the first asQme session.
asQme: スティーヴ・アオキに直接聞いてみよう！
J.T. Quigley at Tech In Asia does his own bit of bridging with what I think is the first web coverage in English of asQme.
It's a joint project of Japanese nightlife info site iFlyer and Alive, "a service that brings foreign artists to Japan based on crowdsourced user requests." Alive sounds pretty cool too but I'll come back to that unique opportunity.
Basically asQme presents the musician in a livestream with translated subtitles. Here's the landing page for Steve Aoki's debut event. That takes place on Tuesday Oct 7.
They're also going to do the reverse with Japanese artists and English speaking fans but the opportunity is much bigger as Alive's head of operations Sam Mokhtary told Tech In Asia:
"AsQme’s ability to help solve language localization problems makes it attractive for any internationally-minded artist…In fact, we’re already in discussions with some major Japanese artists about helping them connect with their international audiences."
"Furthermore, we are looking at also hosting campaigns for celebrities across the board – from actors, to sports players, and even politicians. A film studio with a new release for example, could run an AsQme with one of their stars to gain publicity before a show, or a K-pop idol could use it to grow their audience in the United States and Europe."
Definitely one to watch and perhaps to connect with.
More:
- 8 Mind-Blowing Facts About Music Business In Japan
- Music Without Musicians Pt. 2: Live Performances By Digital Pop Stars In Japan
- Getting "Big in Japan" With Rallye Label
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) recently launched DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
