Avex Inc.

Background

Avex Inc. (Japanese: エイベックス株式会社, commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex, an acronym of Audio Visual Expert), is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Avex, which was established in 1988, promotes J-pop artists like PikoTaro and Ayumi Hamasaki. Along with working with Ultra Music Festival and organizing the yearly A-nation, it has expanded into other commercial sectors like anime, video games, and live music events. Avex belongs to the keiretsu of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).

1st Logo (1993-2000)

Visuals: On a dark blue background, consisting of a faint blue orb in the center and a slowed-down, heavily edited video of lights flying about in the corner, various symbols and gear-like objects appear, disappear, rotate, and spin about as they also periodically change. A red diagonal line is also faintly seen, as the entire thing is covered in a dark blue filter. In the foreground, a silver string wildly bounces all over the screen, spanning across the entire screen, right before suddenly turning into a liquid-like mass of silver waving about. The waving thing then condenses into the center of the screen, revealing itself to be the 3D silver text "avex trax" in a font that resembles Triplex Serif and an oval containing another "a" as a cut-out. The background objects then fade out as the text "90'S DANCE MUSICをクリエイトする" ("CREATING 90'S DANCE MUSIC" in English) appears above it and the logo shines with a dark grey light.

Variants:

A still version with the print logo on a black background is seen on some Playstation games featuring their music.
A early variant of the logo has it in blue on a white background. The logo is still other than rapid shining on the logo.
An "avex globe" variant has been discovered, where the logo is hastily plastered over the original (the waving text still reads "avex trax"), has a much flatter appearance, and doesn't shine.
In 1998, the logo was brought back briefly to use as the logo for Avex Group. The text now reads the aforementioned name, and also shines like the regular version. Also, below the logo, a 10th anniversary logo appears below (described in the 2nd logo) and the tagline's in English.
Later on, the company's URL at the time fades in below. This exists for both variants.
For their events, the logo is still and have slightly different variants to them.
- Avex Rave '94: The text now reads "avex rave '94", has a stylized Japanese slogan on top, and the information "AUG. 29th TOKYO DOME" below it. There also exists an animated variant.
- Avex Dance Net '96: The text now reads "avex dance net '96" in the corporate font, with the logo on top and the info "in VELFARRE AUG. 19th~27th" below. Uniquely, the logo is actually stacked and is in 2D, the Avex portion of the text is in white, and the "VELFARRE" text is the location's logo.
An English version exists, where the text above the logo is translated to English.
Certain brands would use different logos from the company, so to not waste space, they'll be described here.
- Motorod Records (early version): On a black background, the Motorod logo at the time, being "motorod" in white and the 1st "o" being a simple red ring, fades and zooms in. Below it, "BY" in white, and a blue Avex Group logo fades in below.
- Motorod Records (later version): The camera rotates around a batch of rotating gears, covered in a dark green color along with a white sparks of electricity forming on them. Then, the Motorod logo from before, along with an enlarged red ring with a white "m" in it above the logo, appears by a "static" effect. The same credit from before appears below as well, but in white. THis logo would continued to be used well into the 2nd and 3rd logos as well, albeit with an added URL starting with the 2nd, and an updated blue logo for the 3rd.
- Cutting Edge: Contained within a blurry frame, a dim version of the Earth rotates as 2 glass letter of "c" and "e" rotate around as well, and a blue light pings on the right side. The entire thing settles back as the Cutting Edge logo, which has the "ce" letters and "cutting edge" shown in red, and an Avex Group credit in blue below it, fades in and the Earth and light fade out, leaving the rotating letters. This, like the Motorod logo, would continue to see usage for a while, adding a URL underneath it. The 2000-2008 version has the logo either horizontal or stacked.
- Jive Records: On a black background, a white line is seen quickly forming an audiograph, followed by the Jive Records logo, a diamond with lines segmenting it and the tall text "JIVE" in it, forming from it. The entire screen then warps like deteriorated film before finishing on a scratchy white background with the logo in blue and an Avex Group credit below. This also continued to see usage, gaining a URL underneath it.
- Prime Direction: Just the Prime Direction logo, which is the conjoined letters "pd" in an outlined form, along with "prime direction" to the right of it, on a black background. The first "i" in "direction" has a flipped dot placement.

Technique: A mix of 2D and 3D CGI animation.

Audio: A warp-speed descending synth tune which is accompanied by a four-note synth chime. An announcer says the company's name at the end.

Audio Variants:

Rarely the end of the commercial would play over the logo. This is more common on the early version.
The announcer is different whenever the text says something else.
Music for the label variants:
- Motorod (early): Just the end of the commercial along with a male person saying "Motorod!"
- Motorod (later): A record scratch, followed by a pair of voices saying "Motorod!"
- Cutting Edge: An ascending chime tune with 3 voices saying "Cutting Edge!" and then a voice saying "By Avex Group."
- JIVE: The sound of a film reel as a gruff-sounding person says "JIVE!"

Availability: Can be seen on Avex Trax commercials at the time for artists not associated with the listed brand names. Although it was used until 1997/98, it continued to appear in Hong Kong until 2000.

2nd Logo (1996-2000)

Visuals: Starting up in a strange, dimly-lit room, filled with a bunch of wires and contraptions, there is a pump-like device connected by a tube and the Avex logo in the style of a gauge, and the camera quickly zooms in on it as steam emits from the pipe and the gauge goes up. A brief cut to black shows electricity crackling, only to end up having the gauge suddenly break its glass cover and sparks fly everywhere. A fast-paced series of cuts show off the Avex Trax logo, now with the text smaller, spaced out and below a larger "a" logo, shown in different colors and positions, as well as the pump and more electricity before the logo is shown on a black background briefly warping and glowing a bluish tint. Finally, the logo ends up on a dark blue background, with the logo in silver and shining, and a burst of energy streams in the background flowing out. A URL is also displayed below.

Variants:

On Bust A Groove for Playstation, the logo is still and has the text smaller. Its also in pure white.
The text below the logo may vary depending on which division is being showcased. The following known variants are:
- "avex globe"
- "avex ideak", which also contains an additional piece of text reading "Presented by KADOMATSU.T".
- "avex tune"
- "avex group"
- For promotional commercial of Ayumi Hamasaki's "A Song for ××", it had "A Song For XX" below it.
A rare version has a Japanese slogan under the logo. Additional details include the URL being changed.
For Avex Dance Carnival 1997, a special logo was made for it: Over a nighttime city with an orange tone to it, the camera slowly rotates from a dutch angle as an orange meteor comes crashing down in the middle of the city. A shockwave emerges from it as it causes multi-colored fireworks to rise up and explode, including several that form the logo for the event. It consists of the Avex logo in blue, along with "dance carnival" in a thick dark blue outline, a blue oval with "~SUMMER '97~" in it, and the Velfarre logo with "AUG. 18~23" below. The logo zooms in and glows white as the background fades to black.
In 1998, the logo was given a 10th anniversary card below it. Via a stream of blue energy, a white/blue card with the Avex logo in the blue section and the text "10th Anniversary" within the white section. It also appears in the Motorod Records logo, albeit put in the upper-left corner.
More brand names would be added underneath their brand.
- Enka!!Avex: A sketchy, sepia-toned animation plays of an old Japanese man coming in through a pair of curtains reading "でん" in reverse. As he waves and smiles, the picture freezes and gains extra shading as "えんか!!" zooms out in a brush-stroke font, causing the picture to blur. The text then stops, shifts to the right to make room for "えいべっくす" in the same font, and an Avex logo containing a "え" in place of the "a" fades in as well.
Those website URLs are defunct except for the "avex.com" URL which links into the US counterpart.

Technique: Live-action mixed with computer effects.

Audio: A two-note pad synth tune that is held throughout the entire logo and has an announcer saying the company name.

Audio Variants:

The "A Song For XX" variant has the man saying the text.
Music for the label variants:
- Cutting Edge (alternate): An ascending synth note with 2 echoing female voices saying "Cutting Edge!" at different speeds.
- Enka!!Avex: The sounds of a restaurant as well as the voice of the man saying something. This is played over by a man saying "えんかえいべっくす".

Availability: Can be seen on Avex Trax commercials at the time for artists not associated with the listed brand names.

3rd Logo (2000-2008)

Visuals: On a dark blue background, the older Avex logo is seen in the middle of the screen, but this time color in white, before it fades out as it shoots out a transparent copy of itself which fills itself with a wireframe design of the logo. Behind it, it then fades into a black background with blue orbs rushing towards the center of the screen, leaving white trails, and a burst of silver metallic particles is released from the center. After the orbs disappear, a white light lined with blue rimming appears, with 2 lines extending to each side of the screen, and begins pulsating, while the letters of "avex" appear one-by-one and move into place. A serif "X" also can be briefly seen. The light then fades out as the new Avex logo is seen zooming in on the right, which contains the "a" inside of an oddly-shaped blob, and "trax" is position directed below the "avex" text. The background also fades to a midnight blue color and the white text "Next Stage Next Dream" fades in below, along with some Japanese characters and the URL below it. The logo starts off as silver and shiny, before it wipes to the traditional teal color.

Variants:

A B&W variant exists.
An Taiwanese version has the company name in spaced-out Cantonese characters below.
Like the 2nd logo, the name may be altered to refer to another division of Avex.
- "avex globe"
- "avex tune"
- "avex group"
  - A filmed version of this variant also exists.
- "avex globe"
  - A variant has the "globe" reveal sparkles.
- "avex mode"
  - A long version exists.
- "cross a"
- "A BEST 2" (Both A's are replaced with Ayumi's personal symbol, and later on, a "2" was added to the text. A Taiwanese version of this name change also exists.)
- "avex arts"
- "avex rush"
- "avex entertainment"
A few special variants exist for certain artists as well.
- Ayumi Hamasaki: The logo is colored hot pink and the logo is replaced with a stylized "A" instead, being Ayumi's personal symbol.
- Ai Otsuka: The blob is reshaped to be round and has bunny ears that twitch, and the entire background is tinted dark red with a ring of green appearing as well.
For a short time, text is added below referring to Avex Artist Academy, sharing the same color transition.
Several event-exclusive variants also exist:
- Avex Summer Paradise 2000: The logo plays out normally, but it instead features the logo for the event appearing at the end, along with A-chan and an unknown female mascot beside him positioned to the left, and the text ""8/30-31 yoyogi" in white with a teal drop shadow. The text still forms up like the original animation.
  - A variant using the Cutting Edge logo animation but with the logo replaced with this one exists.
An rare variant has the text "21" first appearing at the start as a ghostly image, slightly stretching before it disappears. It then reappears via a shine effect in the top left corner.
For their 15th anniversary, the white text "avex 15th Anniversary" flashes in above the logo with a blue tint. This also appears on the Avex Globe, Avex Mode, and Motorod logos.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: An ascending-descending 2-note synth pad tune, with a deep male announcer typically saying the name.

Audio Variants:

The divisions may have a different announcer.
- Avex Mode/Entertainment: Several Japanese different voices are heard, usually female. Several different variants exist of this.
- Cross A: A somewhat robotic-sounding male voice says the name. The music is also slightly extended.
- Avex Arts/Rush: A smooth-sounding male voice is heard.
Sometimes, the announcer is omitted.

Availability: Can be seen on Avex Trax commercials at the time for artists not associated with the listed brand names. The Avex Mode and Avex Entertainment versions has also been known to appear on DVDs of anime like Initial D, as well as on Cartoon Network airings of Cyborg 009.