Electronic music website Samurai.fm celebrates 5th birthday

By James Coulson

TOKYO —

Created as a response to the lack of electronic music radio in Tokyo, Samurai.fm has gone from being an innovative, first-of-its-kind website to a widely respected electronic music institution. Allowing listeners access to free new and archived electronic music from hundreds of DJs across the genre gamut, the site is buttressed by major clubs like Tokyo’s Yellow, Berlin’s Watergate and London’s Fabric, among a swath of others.

The birthday bash at Unit — hosted by the consistently excellent Real Grooves — features Dandy Jack, a producer of engaging, intricately structured techno, vented through minimal label extraodinaire Perlon. Contemporary U.S. techno label Alphahouse’s head honcho Butane is also scheduled for a live set.

Samurai.fm’s Tokyo-based godfather Hash tells us more.

How has Samurai.fm evolved in the last five years?

Visually, it has not changed much… We’ve had a solid platform which we have extended and improved here and there, but essentially it’s the same system. Musically, we have evolved a great deal and cover a much broader selection of music and video from many great artists.

What are your personal highlights?

Some personal favorite sets are Luke Vibert, Stereo MCs, Cobblestone Jazz, Andrew Weatherall, Felix Da Housecat, and the Scratch Perverts. There are over 3,000 shows to choose from! Events have always been great, but the best thing is when people from distant countries write in and tell us how we have enriched their lives with music.

Would you say Samurai.fm has helped calibrate London and Tokyo’s electronic music scenes?

I would say that it has helped people around the world learn about new music, and consequently it has to some extent synchronized the scenes.

As the first of its kind, what have been the biggest issues?

Being the first of its kind and waiting for the Internet and music industries to catch up has held us back. Technology has been limiting, but that is less of a problem now. Licensing regulations have yet to become sensible.

Where do you see Samurai.fm heading in the next few years?

We are searching for investment to build an original and comprehensive digital music industry platform. This is even more forward-thinking now than Samurai.fm was five years ago, but this time we have worked out a model wherein the artists and consumers will form a global economy of music, protected from exploitation by its own social power. It’s complicated to explain in a short space, but anyone wanting to learn more should contact us about it.

This article originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).