Taku is the mastermind behind TCY, the electro web radio & label based in Tokyo. He is also one of Japan’s top djs, the most in-demand remixer for the likes of Calvin Harris, Lady Sovereign and The Ting Tings, and a million record selling artist with the hip hop group M-Flo. Interview below:

Hello Taku, please introduce yourself/your project?
TCY Radio Tokyo is a radio program that introduces electronic music to the Japanese audience. We play new and exclusive tunes so people can be up to date with the scene.

How has Fairtilizer helped your career?
In Japan, Dance music program like this is very hard to find. We believe that it is important to have a radio to introduce good music to the Japanese audience. The good thing about Fairtilizer is you can listen to them not only in a big city like Tokyo, but also all other places where you can hardly get the information for this music.

It’s a difficult time for the music industry: how do you see the future of it?
Industry wise, I think it is going to get more difficult. The world’s economy has gone down, thus the record sales are going down. I think the way we play “game” is changing drastically. It is important to adapt to the change we are facing. In terms of music as an art, I think it is a great era though.

How do you use & see the web today, how do you see it evolving in the coming years? And how do you see the future of the internet?

I get all the information thru the web. I believe it is the quickest way to get the latest information. At the same time I have to be careful not picking the false information and rubbish. Internet has changed our aspect for publishing. Back then you had to be involved in certain organization to publish music or broadcast a show to the mass, but today you have several ways to do that using internet. Internet today is mainly for PC’s and smart phones, but I think the width will increase to home appliances and audioware in the future.

What would be your dream online music service?
It’s already here. Technology will still grow, but I think now is a good time to focus on the quality of the contents.

Servicing promos / Selling music: digital or physical?
Both. I prefer digital, but lot of people (such as radio directors and shops) still prefer physical. I think Japan will be the last country to sell CD physically.

Do you think a label is still relevant in 2010? What expect from a label today?
The role of the label obviously depends on the size of the market. It is always good to have someone take care of the paperworks and getting promotions and sometimes booking. lol. Important thing is that the artist do things independently too.

Distribution: DIY or aggregator?
Aggregator with the DIY spirit.

How much money you could save by using more digital in ur day to day operations ?
Never counted…In terms of broadcasting my stuff are almost free. Really appreciate Fairtilizer.

You have some buzz in an emerging country but no way to monetize it, would you give away ur music for free to keep growing it?
Yeah, making money is nice, but the main reason Im doing music is because I love it.

How do you deal with / prevent / use an (un)official leak?
Physically I think it is impossible to prevent it. You should use it wisely for the promotion. I would just officially leak the low bit versions.

Could you you tell us what is the most important source of income today?
DJing. But also have to come up with something else. Right now, publishing music is shifting to promotion and DJ and live gigs are the place where you earn monery. But, somehow I think this style will break down in the future too.

Is there any feature/service we could build for you?
iPhone app will be really nice. We really want Fairtilizer to be more mobile. People listen to radio more on cars or on trains, than sitting in front of the PC. Lots of kids in Japan use cellular phone listening music. It will be even better if we can listen to it on non-smartphones.
Also, live streaming will be nice.

Is it also important for you to use digital services to have a smaller impact on the ecology of the planet?
Im not a scientist so I do not know how efficient it will be using more digital. But I try to avoid printing as much as possible .

Recommended music site (services, shop, blogs…)?
Ustream is getting really big in Japan, but I like how Fairtilizer is sticking to audio only.

Visit Taku Takahashi Myspace

Visit TCY Records Myspace
Visit TCY Records website
Visit TCY Radio Fairtilizer profile