Dai Ogasawara's fledgling online label Ano(t)raks has released music from six Japanese artists from the Kansai region since the summer. However, Ogasawara, who lives in Aomori Prefecture, has yet to meet any of them.
"I visited Kansai back in the 1990s when I played for a band called Candy Eyes," he tells The Japan Times at a cafe in Tokyo's busy Shibuya district, adding that he hasn't been back west since. "I just meet artists through music-sharing site SoundCloud or I find out about them when they follow me on Twitter."
Ogasawara's Ano(t)raks netlabel is one of a few that have helped create a surge in Japanese indie-pop this year. Such netlabels resemble traditional record labels in that they release music, but they don't take on other roles such as distribution to stores or large-scale promotion. While bands can use websites such as Bandcamp and SoundCloud to put their music online, there are too many musicians for fans to wade through. Hubs such as Ano(t)raks act more like curators, making sure the best acts get the attention.