Promoting Overseas Musicians in Japan

Buffalo Records

If you’ve been to Fuji Rock over the last few years, chances are you’ve seen some of the artists Douglas ALLSOPP and Buffalo Records have helped make popular in Japan. Launched in 2000 and based in the laid-back setting of Kamakura, Buffalo Records is a record label that primarily licenses albums and releases them in Japan, as well as working with promoters to bring their artists over to Japan for festivals such as Fuji Rock and for concert tours.

Buffalo specializes in independent American Roots Music with acts ranging from jam bands, jug bands and acoustic swing, to blues artists, singer-songwriters and New Orleans funk and brass bands. The label has helped introduce Japanese audiences to acts like the String Cheese Incident, Asylum Street Spankers, Janet KLEIN, and Hot Club of Cowtown.

But, how did it all begin for Buffalo Records? “I met some Blues/Country buyers at key Tower stores, and found that there were quite a few CDs they found in US music magazines that they wanted to order, but couldn’t because the CDs weren’t in regular CD distribution channels, even in the US,” Buffalo’s founder Douglas ALLSOPP says while explaining how Buffalo Records came into being. “So, I started importing a bit, and after about six months I felt that there was enough interest that starting a label would be worthwhile.”

It took two years before Douglas could give up his day job, but eight years on from its foundation and Buffalo Records has a healthy list of artists who are mostly self-released or on small US labels. The company has also had many artists tour successfully in Japan, with a highlight for Douglas being the Asylum Street Spankers’ Japan Tour in 2004 that took in 10 shows in 10 cities, pulling in sell-out crowds in almost all venues.

Not everything, however, has been easy. In the early days of Buffalo Records the main difficulty Douglas faced was finding stores that would take a chance on his artists. “I’d play music for buyers, and they’d say, ‘Well, I like it personally, but it won’t sell,’” he explains. “Slowly, though, I found buyers who would give selected CDs a try, and they found that it did sell better than they expected.”

Today, Buffalo Records has a strong client base, but the music industry as a whole has to deal with falling CD sales. “With declining sales, the stores are giving less attention to those CDs that they don’t expect to be mega-sellers,” Douglas says of the situation.

Despite these challenges, however, Douglas is upbeat about the future for Buffalo Records and is hoping to be able to bring more of the company’s artists to Japan. “If more people can see more bands perform live, I am confident that the bands and genres we are working with will become more popular.”

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