"Connecting people all over the world with music" ... What is "becoming someone" that the creator of the music SNS "nana" has been searching for?

Music collaboration SNS "nana" boasts 10 million registered users. 70% are users in their twenties or younger, and half are foreign users, who are deeply supported across national borders, especially among the younger generation. This time, we interviewed Mr. Akinori Fumihara, CEO of nana music Co., Ltd., the operating company of nana. Aiming to become a singer or F1 racer from an early age when he is not good at self-expression, he has always been searching for "I want to be someone", the process until nana receives support from many users and his realization He talked about what it takes to make what he wants to do as a business, and a message to readers who also want to be someone.

Singer, racer, and manager. Until nana music was born

-It seems that you founded nana music by yourself, but by then you had various experiences such as aiming to be a singer and a professional racer.

That's right (laughs). It all started when I was a teenager and became interested in music. At that time, I was a fan of Stevie Wonder and thought, "I want to be able to sing as powerful as he!", So when I was about 15 to 16 years old, I started studying singing on my own.

I got a car license when I was 19 years old, but when I got the license, driving became more interesting and I gradually started to watch motor sports. At that time, it was around 2004, and I had a longing for Takuma Sato, an F1 driver.

I'm from a technical college, so I'm graduating from school at the age of 20, but at this time I chose to become a singer or a racer. As a result, although the singer can be no matter how old he is, the racer is a sport like a motor "sport", so he thought that he could only challenge when he was young, so he went on to become a racer.

I was actually devoted to motor sports from 19 to 24 years old. I made some money by working part-time at a gas station and entered Suzuka Circuit School in 2008. Although I entered the school with the highest grades at the time of admission, only young people aged 16 to 17 years old with more than 10 years of racing experience, and when I graduated with about 3 years of experience, there was a difference in ability. rice field.

In 2009, I managed to collect money and participated in the S-FJ class, but motor sports is a very expensive competition. I decided to give up the race activity because I could only participate in 3 of the 5 races. After that, I managed to continue my activities while undertaking the work of hosting motor sports events and selling parts as a sole proprietor, but gradually I began to feel the limit to working as a racer.

-How did you change your policy from there?

Around that time, I started using Twitter. While interacting with various people's mutters on Twitter, I had the opportunity to connect with Tech companies in Tokyo. Until then, I had no knowledge of IT at all, and somehow I thought that IT was just an information product and an affiliate, and it was a world with a smoky smell (laughs). However, I learned that this is not the case, and that we are creating services to improve society one after another.

And many of the people I connected to on Twitter are starting businesses, and I've come to want to start something with my own hands.

Under such circumstances, the 2010 Haiti earthquake will occur. You came across the charity video "We are the world for Haiti YouTube edition" while receiving various support from all over the world. I was impressed that the world is connected by music and this is the power of the Internet. On the other hand, only artists from several countries are still connected. I wanted to make full use of not only the power of music but also the power of the Internet to realize a world where people can connect with each other.

At that time, I had just purchased the iPhone 3Gs and was doing something like playing alone leaving a song in the voice memo app on my smartphone, but via my smartphone, I put each person's song online and everyone made a sound there. I felt that it would be interesting if I could put it on. Until now, if you wanted to do that, you needed a computer and special equipment, but you can easily participate with just one smartphone in the pockets of many people. And being able to participate casually means that you can put the sound on the clap instead of using an instrument. I started to get excited to realize that the connection can be expanded more and more with smartphones.

It was at this time that I gave up my dream as an F1 racer at the age of 24, but when I met what I wanted to achieve, I felt that my fever had returned to my cold self.

-That happened.How did you set up the company from there?

I am neither an engineer nor a web designer. First of all, I thought that I had to gather friends. However, I hadn't met in my hometown, so I tried to attend a Tech study session held in Tokyo. I realized that the people I met there would continue to do what I wanted to do.

Then, during Golden Week 2011, I will meet an engineer living in Tokyo. It was a strange encounter, but at that time, the bath at my friend's house where I was staying in Tokyo broke down and I had to go to a public bath, but I muttered on Twitter if there was any good public bath. If so, he was the one who responded to it (laughs). After that, when I had the opportunity to meet in Shibuya and talk about what I wanted to do for 6 hours, I decided to "try it because it looks interesting". He was actually the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) later, but he was a server-side engineer, and then he found a designer and an iOS engineer and set out to start the business.

Even if you start a business, you need funds first. Therefore, we participated in the incubation program of MOVIDA JAPAN Co., Ltd., whose president is Taizo Son, the younger brother of Masayoshi Son, the chairman of the SoftBank Group, and was selected for the first time. Therefore, we received an investment of 5 million yen and moved to Tokyo at this time.

-Aiming to be a racer, and this time, I started a business that connects people with music.I think I've gone around and returned to the world of music, but what kind of emotional change was there during that time?

I seem to have a slight temperament towards things (laughs). I think that the more you dislike at first, the more you like it later, or that many children have been fond of music since they were in elementary school, and I think they were excited about music in the classroom, but at that time I was totally wondering why I listen to music. i didn't understand. But when I was in the second year of junior high school, I became interested in it and wanted to talk about my friends (laughs). At that time, GLAY and L'Arc-en-Ciel were popular around me, but I didn't like it with everyone. After all, the first CD I bought was B'z's "barely chop", a child like that.

At that time, I heard Stevie Wonder's song on the CM of "FIRE" of canned coffee, and I was impressed and wanted to sing like this.

The same was true for F1 racers who wanted to come after that, and my brother liked cars enough to race, but when he saw that, he wondered, "What's interesting?" However, when I got my driver's license, this was a lot of fun.

There was also recently. The arrival of the era of Web3.0 * has become a hot topic, and attention is focused on interacting in the world of Metaverse via avatars. Although the world view and ideologically that we should aim for have not changed since the time when it was called 2.0, there was a tone that I dared to express up and down, and there was a repulsion there, but in reality Web3.0 It was very interesting to know the techniques around me, and I am now captivated.

In this way, I have been working from a singer to a racer and aiming to establish a service for the world, but I think that it is a bad temperament if you are not always excited.

Until junior high school and high school students, I was a type of student who was swept away by the atmosphere of the place, but as a result of thinking what I am living for and what my value is, I want to prove something. I think the underlying reason is that I have always wanted to be someone.

* Web3.0 era and Web2.0 era The Web1.0 era is an era when WWW (World Wide Web) became widespread and it became possible to create websites and disseminate information. In the Web 2.0 era, SNS will become widespread so that two-way communication can be taken. In the Web3.0 era, it is possible by using blockchain technology that allows multiple users to share information, aiming to disperse the power monopolized by GAFAM.

I want to deliver excitement and excitement to many people.A business that has grown while being supported by fans

-That's how you started your business.On the other hand, at that time, there were not as many users as SNS, and because it was an unprecedented service, it was a difficult challenge to commercialize even though friends gathered.

Actually, at the beginning, I wasn't very conscious of "commercialization". From around 14 to 15 years old, I was completely absorbed in the world of the Internet and saw the net culture that was born there, such as personal sites, chats, games, and Nico Nico Douga. And with the advent of SNS, a world where anyone can express their opinions has arrived, and I have become very excited about it.

Certainly, at the time of commercialization, there were not as many SNS users as it is now, but there was no doubt about its value, and I also felt the excitement and possibility of using an iPhone that can do more and more PC-level things. I did.

From there, I want to create the service I drew, I have friends to make it, I have to create an organization if my friends get together, and I have to incorporate it because I need some funds, etc. It means that the means to realize it was commercialization.

You mentioned that "We are the world for Haiti YouTube edition" is the starting point of this concept, but you thought it was a primitive impression. It's an impression that directly appeals to people's instincts. That's why I was unwavering in believing that this effort was absolutely valuable.

I spent more than a year gathering friends, but every day was refreshing, such as coming out of my hometown of Kansai to Tokyo and connecting with new people. So I didn't think it was too difficult.

-It's about commercialization as a means, but even so, you have passed the incubation program and you had to establish it properly as a business.

That's right. For example, if I wanted to do something like nana, there would have been a way to gather sponsors as a one-off project and realize it, but I wanted to make it a continuous service. I wanted to create a platform where people can connect with each other through music. We needed funds to continue, so we designed it as a joint-stock company from the beginning.

The passage of the incubation program is something that so-called seed investors are not asking for an elaborate numerical plan at this point. Of course, we emphasize the logic to get that number, but more than that, when an investor asks a business plan, whether we can think properly and answer it, and how to achieve that business. I think that it was important to have a team and, above all, not to give up.

In the case of Taizo Son, I think it was especially important to have his passion and big dreams. However, I still occasionally review the business plan at that time, but that was terrible (laughs).

-It started in that way and has been going on for 10 years now. Not many companies have been in business for 10 years.What kind of efforts were you doing during this time?

It's difficult to devise and work on, but I think it's still a long way to impress and excite many people who wanted to realize it from the beginning. However, my motivation has not dropped because there are things I want to achieve.

With that motivation as the base, I have to make money in a realistic place. I passed the incubation program, but after that, I asked more investors to "help me because I want to do this kind of business" and asked them to talk to me. The CEO's job is to do whatever is necessary to realize the vision and to collect what is needed.

Of course, it wasn't all good. In February 2013, there was a time when the funds were short-circuited and I was forced to operate a bicycle for about 10 months. However, we asked investors who sympathized with the vision to invest 50 million yen. In addition, we have received a business plan from a user who wants us to continue this business. However, there were times when I couldn't use three of my four credit cards.

And in 2017, it was once acquired by the DMM.com group. At that time, the background was that the founders of pixiv evaluated it as a highly probable internet culture. However, this is an option for business continuity. Since our founding, we have continued our business with a lot of people investing in it, but we still need a lot of money to realize our dreams, so we joined the DMM.com group.

Then, in January 2021, we conducted an MBO * to buy back all the shares and started to move to boost the business again.

* Abbreviation for MBO Management Buy-Out. Management (or employees) acquiring their own shares or some business units to become independent.

-You have been supported by enthusiastic fans, haven't you?Now that we have over 10 million users, why has so many registered users?

I think that the background to the increase in the number of registered users was the "culture I tried to sing" that started with Nico Nico Douga and Vocaloid. For those who want to easily sing the artist's songs, they don't need a computer, audio equipment, or microphone, so they sympathize with the fact that they can deliver their singing voice to the world with just one smartphone. It is.

In addition, I think that being able to collaborate with various sounds on top of the songs I uploaded was also a point for more people to participate.

-It seems that 70% of users are in their 20s or younger. Furthermore, half of the users are foreigners. It seems that young people 10 years ago and young people now have different feelings, and why has it been so long supported not only by Japanese people but also by foreigners?

I think that the joy of singing and the longing for a singer are common to all ages, regardless of generation or nationality. Everyone wants to be someone. I think that the desire is especially strong for young people in their teens and 20s.

The platform has diversified compared to when the service started, but the distributor App Store has distributed it to the world, and if it supports languages, the number of overseas users has naturally increased. Then, the number of users increased little by little, and as the number of contributors increased, influencers also appeared, and the number of registrants increased steadily.

Some of them are in their 50s, and among them there are 6 core users, but I have actually come to the office. Two of them became employees, and they also brought us a business plan when the funds were shorted earlier. You wrote a monetization plan on A3 paper and made a presentation.

Many people in their 40s and 50s used to play music, and they say that it's fun for young people to be happy with the songs they play.

-It was said that people all over the world want to realize a world where they can connect with each other through music.What kind of state can we call such a world?

There are users in every country in the world, and they are collaborating across cultures to produce wonderful works one after another. In some countries, it has not been used yet, and in reality, many local songs from each country are posted, so it is a mechanism and plan to reach people in more countries and connect them side by side across countries. I want to think about it.

-You want to grow into a service that is loved by many users, and you want to have active users all over the world. What is the secret to growing the service so far?

It cannot last without a strong belief in what you want to achieve. There are various entrepreneurs in the world, but the motives for starting a business vary from person to person. Some people calculate from the market and think about the business, while others like me value the original experience.

But each must have a strong will to accomplish something. If it is weak, it will quickly deflate even if you are motivated for a moment.

Also, in the early days of any business, it often flies low. After a couple of years, I can finally become independent and fly properly. And in order to be in that state, you have to keep connecting the friends at the start. However, as the business grows, these friends will be replaced at some point.

-What do you need to keep your friends together?

After all, it's solid, but I think there are three main types.

The first is "vision." It's about what you're trying to achieve, whether you're excited or sympathetic to it. This is a major premise.

The second is "people." Will you want to work with this person? Business connections alone will not work.

And the third, realistically, is "reward." No matter how much you sympathize with us, it is natural that people should not live by eating haze. I think it is necessary to pay attention to compensation, such as appropriate salary and incentive design when the business goes well.

What you like, what you are looking for, what society wants.To be someone

-Finally, Mr. Bunhara wanted to be someone and was sought after in various ways to launch nana music.Some readers may likewise want to be someone, but what do they need to do?

Because I am from a technical college, I sometimes give lectures to students at a technical college, but at that time, I have all three things, "what I like," "what I am suitable for," and "what society wants." He tells us that what he has is his vocation and what he needs to be to be someone.

"My favorite things" are things that I think "this is a little interesting" or "this is good" in my daily life. I want you to cherish the feeling at that time as to what you think so. On the other hand, even if you like it, it won't last unless you get results. Humans are delighted to be evaluated.

Therefore, we must also look for "what is suitable" at the same time. What is suitable is that the surroundings evaluate it. In my case, I'm the type who wants to stay at home all the time (laughs), but as CEO, I involve various people, form a team, and raise funds. I didn't realize it myself, but it seems that it was better to involve people and form a team to proceed with things, rather than creating and executing something by myself.

I think that "what I like" and "what I am suitable for" is a suitable job for that person, but if I want to maximize returns, I have to be aware of "what society wants". .. In other words, do something with a high degree of "rareness" in society. People who can only do what everyone can do are less rare, but recently, for example, engineers who have deep knowledge of machine learning and blockchain related things are useful. So is the skill to make an avatar. This is because it will be indispensable for the era of Web3.0 and Metaverse. You can know what society wants if you carefully purchase information such as media.

-It seems that you can find "what you like" and "what society wants", but how can you find "what you are looking for"?

I think that "suitable things" for students and those who have little experience as a member of society can be found almost by chance. Ten or twenty years ago, there was a tendency that you shouldn't just play games, but now there are people who make money as professional gamers and people who are active as YouTubers. So, I think it's inappropriate to say that this is "suitable", and I think it's better to stop labeling such things first.

For example, when you were a member of the school festival executive committee, when you were the secretary when you went on a trip with a friend, or if you had the experience of being praised by others, it may actually be suitable for management. ..

In order to find out what is suitable for you, please try to go outside, touch something, and experience it as much as possible. Besides, even if you think that the company you joined as a new graduate or the work you were assigned to does not suit you, it is not the time to spend time at the same company until retirement age. In such a case, it may be good to travel around for about a year to face yourself.

[Nana music Co., Ltd.] The nana project was launched in April 2011 with the founding members. In October of the same year, it was adopted as the first incubation program of MODIVA JAPAN. Then, after being incorporated in the United States as nana music, Inc. in December, the iOS version of nana was released in Japan in August 2012. Established nana music Co., Ltd. as a Japanese corporation in April 2013. Operates the music collaboration SNS "nana", boasting a total of 100 million posts and 88 million collaborations, and the total number of registered users is 10 million worldwide (of which 5 million are foreign users). Not only individuals can upload songs and performances and collaborate, but also artists'new song campaigns (an effort by users to collaborate with songs on the sound sources of new songs announced by artists) and users who cannot go to the artist's live due to corona swords will be at the live venue. By collaborating the singing voice with the official accompaniment of the song played in, and posting it with the specified hash tag, it is also used as a chorus project for artists and fans that the singing voice will be played at the live venue. In addition, it is attracting attention as it is used for discovering artists from the Internet and auditions.