Crypton Future Media

Crypton Future Media, Incorporated
クリプトン・フューチャー・メディア株式会社
Type Kabushiki gaisha (unlisted)
Industry Software, Internet
Genre Music
Founded July 1995
Headquarters Dunlop-SK Bldg., 10-4-16 Ōdōri Nishi, Chūō-ku, Sapporo 060-0042 Japan
Area served Japan
Key people Hiroyuki Itō (伊藤 博之), President
Products
Services
Employees 30 (June 2008)
Divisions
  • Media Phage
  • FX and BGM libraries
  • Mobile Contents Service Provider
Website Official website (Japanese)
References: [1]

Crypton Future Media, Inc. (クリプトン・フューチャー・メディア株式会社 Kuriputon Fyūchā Media Kabushikigaisha?), or Crypton, is a media company based in Sapporo, Japan. It develops, imports, and sells products for music, such as sound generator software, sampling CDs and DVDs, and sound effect and background music libraries. The company also provides services of online shopping, online community, and mobile content.

Contents

Overview

Crypton started business of importing audio products in 1995, and has been involved in the development, import, and sales of sampling CDs and DVDs, sound effect and background music libraries, and musical synthesizer applications. Its main business partners in Japan include musical instrument shops, computer stores, and software distributors.

The company has licensed software to the following organizations:[1]

Crypton also operates a number of Japanese mobile websites, mainly for i-mode of NTT docomo, EZweb of au by KDDI, and Yahoo! Keitai of SoftBank Mobile[1], to distribute ringtones, sound effects, and voice ringtones (chaku-voice), including:

Crypton imports products from more than 50 international suppliers based in Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [1]

In 2010, Crypton Future Media were announced as the no.1 company for sound related software, bringing a share of 21.4% of the market for their related product.[2]

Vocaloid products and services

Crypton is best known for production and sales of speech synthesis software for computer music. Its products use the Vocaloid singing synthesis engine developed by Yamaha Corporation, they were also charged with finding and contacting English Studios in order to gain recommendations for the English version of the Vocaloid software.[3] The company released Meiko in 2004 and Kaito in 2006. The release of the first Character Vocal Series Hatsune Miku, which uses the upgraded engine Vocaloid 2, greatly raised Crypton's profile. The second and third Character Vocal Series are Kagamine Rin and Len and Megurine Luka. Because the popularity of these Vocaloids grew, Crypton launched a website Piapro to upload fan-made content and its own music label KarenT to sell Vocaloid songs.

Vocaloid products

Kaito was the only one sold using the Vocaloid 1.1 engine; the previous Vocaloids before him were sold as Vocaloid 1.0, which he was also supplied with. However, he needed the additional Vocaloid 1.1.2 patch to work on the Vocaloid 1.0 engine.[4] A patch was later released to update all Vocaloid engines to Vocaloid 1.1.2, adding new features to the software, although there were differences between the output results of the engine.[5] Even though Kaito and Meiko were Japanese and sung using Japanese phonetics, the main interface was in written using English for both English and Japanese Vocaloids.

Due to the success of placing a character on the box art of Meiko, the concept was carried over to her successor Kaito and later Vocaloids to encourage creativity, however neither Vocaloid's box art originally had the intention to represent that Vocaloid.[6][7] Though Meiko experienced good sales, Kaito was the only one who initially failed commercially, causing less demand for male voices for a while after Kaito's initial release.[8] However, sales eventually picked up and Kaito later won the Nico Nico Douga second best seller award of 2008.[9] Meiko and Kaito are reported to be in discussion for an update.[10] Several updated vocal expressions have already been recorded for Kaito.[11][12][13] In April 2011, it was confirmed six vocal expressions had been recorded for Kaito, two of which were dropped and the remaining four were being brought forward with one having reached alpha stage already. The Character Vocal (Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin/Len and Megurine Luka) series Appends had been created from vocal performances of their voice providers, however the new Kaito Appends were created by adding echo, force and tension to the samples.[14]

Product Language Sex Voice sampled Release date
Meiko[15] Japanese Female Meiko Haigō November 5, 2004
Kaito[16] Male Naoto Fūga February 17, 2006

Vocaloid 2 products

Crypton released Hatsune Miku, on August 31, 2007. The second of the Character Vocal Series is the first dual Vocaloid Kagamine Len and Kagamine Rin, a Japanese male and female, released on December 27, 2007. On July 18, 2008, the updated edition of Kagamine Rin and Len, named "act2" was released.[17] For a period of time, users who had bought the old version were allowed to get the new version for free. On June 18, 2008, beta demonstration songs using the new version were released on the company's official blog.[18] The expansion disc is an entirely different software and does not affect the original Kagamine Rin/Len installation in any way, giving the user options to either use the old or new voice sets exclusively or combine their usage. Crypton Future Media have now retired the sale of their old Kagamine Vocaloid and it is now no longer possible to buy the software from them.[19] This was also the very first Vocaloid update to be done for any Vocaloid.

On April 30, 2010, an updated version of Miku called Hatsune Miku Append was released containing a package of six different tones of Miku's voice: Soft (gentle, delicate voice), Sweet (young, chibi voice), Dark (mature, heartbroken-like voice), Vivid (bright, cheerful voice), Solid (loud, clear voice), and Light (innocent, heavenly voice).[20] Crypton Future Media also released Kagamine Rin/Len Append on December 27, 2010.[21][22]

The third product of Crypton's Character Vocal Series is Megurine Luka, the first bilingual Vocaloid.

According to Crypton, a petition started on Facebook exceeded the needed 39,390 members in November 2010 to join Hatsune Miku's account for an English version to be released; an announcement is due to be released from Crypton.[23][24]

Released products

Product Language Sex Voice sampled Release date
Hatsune Miku (CV01)[25] Japanese Female Fujita, SakiSaki Fujita 2007-08-31August 31, 2007
Kagamine Rin and Len (CV02)[26] Japanese Female (Rin)
Male (Len)		 Shimoda, AsamiAsami Shimoda 2007-12-27December 27, 2007
Kagamine Rin and Len (CV02) Act 2[17][19] Japanese Female (Rin)
Male (Len)		 Shimoda, AsamiAsami Shimoda 2008-07-18July 18, 2008
Megurine Luka (CV03)[27] Japanese and English Female Asakawa, YūYū Asakawa 2009-01-30January 30, 2009
Hatsune Miku Append[28] Japanese Female Fujita, SakiSaki Fujita 2010-04-30April 30, 2010
Kagamine Rin and Len Append[29] Japanese Female (Rin)
Male (Len)		 Shimoda, AsamiAsami Shimoda 2010-12December 27, 2010

Upcoming products

Product Language Sex Voice sampled Release date
Kaito Append Japanese Male Naoto Fūga TBA
Megurine Luka Append Japanese and English Female Yū Asakawa TBA
Meiko Append Japanese Female Meiko Haigō TBA
CV04[30][31] Japanese Male TBA
Hatsune Miku[23] English Female Fujita, SakiSaki Fujita TBA

See also

Further reading

References

This article incorporates information from this version of the equivalent article on the Japanese Wikipedia.
  1. ^ a b c d "Company Information". Crypton Future Media. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/pages/aboutus/company_info.jsp. Retrieved December 22, 2011. 
  2. ^ link
  3. ^ Utaenai (August 13, 2010). "It's a toy!". Vocaloid Creativity Community. http://vocaloid-creativity.totalh.com/index.php/vocaloid-news/15-qits-a-toyq. Retrieved September 5, 2010. 
  4. ^ "VOCALOID ENGINE製品サポート（KAITO） [Vocaloid Engine Product Support (Kaito)]" (in Japanese). Crypton Future Media. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/do/support/prod?id=27720. Retrieved December 18, 2010. 
  5. ^ "VOCALOID Software Update version 1.1". Yamaha Corporation. http://www.vocaloid.com/en/download/en_1.html. Retrieved December 18, 2010. 
  6. ^ "[Vocaloid2情報] 出張終了のお知らせ。 [Vocaloid 2 News Official Tour End Notification]" (in Japanese). Crypton Future Media. September 29, 2007. http://blog.crypton.co.jp/mp/2007/09/vocaloid2_15.html. Retrieved October 17, 2010. 
  7. ^ "KAITOのプロフィール・仕様 [Kaito's Profile and Specifications]" (in Japanese). Weekly Vocaloid Ranking. http://www.vocaloid-rank.com/rank/vocaloidinfo/kaito/kaito-1.html. Retrieved October 17, 2010. 
  8. ^ "クリエイターを支えるクリエイターでありたい クリプトン・フューチャー・メディア社長 伊藤博之氏（前編） [I Want to be a Creator Who Supports Creators: Crypton Future Media President Hiroyuki Itō (part 1)]" (in Japanese). Internet Watch. May 12, 2008. http://internet.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/president/2008/05/12/19477.html. Retrieved January 1, 2011. 
  9. ^ "出た!「2008年ニコニコ市場年間売上ランキング」でKAITOが2位! [It's Here! Kaito Got Second Place in the 2008 Nico Nico Market Yearly Sales Ranking]" (in Japanese). Hatsune Miku Miku. January 18, 2009. http://vocaloid.blog120.fc2.com/blog-entry-2664.html. Retrieved January 1, 2011. 
  10. ^ "ミクの英語版や『リン・レン Append』が!? ミクの日感謝祭の上映イベントをレポ [Miku's English Edition and "Rin and Len Append"!? Report on the Miku's Day Festival Event]" (in Japanese). Dengeki Online. ASCII Media Works. September 6, 2010. http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/295/295998/index-2.html. Retrieved October 14, 2010. 
  11. ^ "Crypton's Twitter page" (in Japanese). Twitter. http://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/14657406248157184. Retrieved December 15, 2010. 
  12. ^ "Crypton's Twitter page" (in Japanese). Twitter. http://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/14658658822529024. Retrieved December 15, 2010. 
  13. ^ "Crypton's Twitter page" (in Japanese). Twitter. http://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/13136290778185728. Retrieved December 15, 2010. 
  14. ^ "Crypton's Twitter page" (in Japanese). Twitter. April 12, 2011. http://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/57953674210709504. Retrieved April 19, 2011. 
  15. ^ "MEIKO（音楽ソフトウエア） [Meiko (Music Software)]" (in Japanese). Crypton. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/do/prod?id=25220. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  16. ^ "KAITO（音楽ソフトウエア） [Kaito (Music Software)]" (in Japanese). Crypton. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/do/prod?id=27720. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  17. ^ a b "ボーカロイド市場、「初音ミク」の対抗馬登場で激化 [Vocaloid Market "Hatsune Miku" Rivalry Intensifies]" (in Japanese). BCN Ranking. BCN Inc.. September 1, 2008. http://bcnranking.jp/news/0809/080901_11641.html. Retrieved July 14, 2010. 
  18. ^ "Rin/Len act2 beta demonstration songs released" (in Japanese). Crypton. June 18, 2008. http://blog.crypton.co.jp/mp/2008/06/vocaloid2_act2_1.html. Retrieved June 24, 2008. 
  19. ^ a b "KAGAMINE RIN/LEN act2（音楽ソフトウエア） [Kagamine Rin/Len act2 (Music Software)]" (in Japanese). Crypton. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/do/prod?id=30121. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  20. ^ "初音ミク・アペンド（Miku Append） [Hatsune Miku Append (Miku Append)]" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00305HJKQ. Retrieved April 30, 2010. 
  21. ^ "『VOCALOID2 鏡音リン・レン』の追加音声『鏡音リン・レン・アペンド』本日発売。 [The Additional Voice of "Vocaloid 2 Kagamine Rin/Len", "Kagamine Rin/Len Append", Is Released Today.]" (in Japanese). Crypton Future Media. International Business Times. December 27, 2010. http://jp.ibtimes.com/press/article/34277/. Retrieved January 16, 2011. 
  22. ^ "鏡音リン・レンの追加音声「Append」発売 [Kagamine Rin/Len's Additional Voice "Append" To Be Released]" (in Japanese). IT Media. November 26, 2010. http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/1011/26/news098.html. Retrieved December 4, 2010. 
  23. ^ a b "英語シンガー初音ミクがついに始動したようだ [English Singer Hatsune Miku Has Finally Seemed to Have Started]" (in Japanese). IT Media. August 31, 2010. http://blogs.itmedia.co.jp/closebox/2010/08/post-faa4.html. Retrieved October 9, 2010. 
  24. ^ "Crypton's Twitter page" (in Japanese). Twitter. http://twitter.com/vocaloid_cv_cfm/status/5076931619848192. Retrieved November 18, 2010. 
  25. ^ "CV01 初音ミク [CV01 Hatsune Miku]" (in Japanese). Crypton. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv01.jsp. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  26. ^ "CV02 鏡音リン・レン act2 [CV02 Kagamine Rin/Len act2]" (in Japanese). Crypton. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv02.jsp. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  27. ^ "CV03 巡音ルカ [CV03 Megurine Luka]" (in Japanese). Crypton. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv03.jsp. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  28. ^ "CV01A　MIKU APPEND" (in Japanese). Crypton. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv01a.jsp. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  29. ^ "CV02A Rin/Len Append" (in Japanese). Crypton Future Media. http://www.crypton.co.jp/mp/pages/prod/vocaloid/cv02a.jsp. Retrieved December 27, 2010. 
  30. ^ "New Append For Kagamine Len!". Vocaloidism. January 14, 2010. http://www.vocaloidism.com/2010/01/14/new-append-for-kagamine-len/. Retrieved July 4, 2010. 
  31. ^ "クリプトンの「新しい男声VOCALOID」を聴いてきたよ [We Listened to Crypton's New Male Vocaloid]" (in Japanese). IT Media. October 21, 2009. http://blogs.itmedia.co.jp/closebox/2009/10/vocaloid-a779.html. Retrieved July 4, 2010. 
  32. ^ "Crypton's Twitter page" (in Japanese). Twitter. June 7, 2010. http://twitter.com/project_if_cfm/status/15684228554. Retrieved July 4, 2010. 
  33. ^ "Crypton's Twitter page" (in Japanese). Twitter. June 7, 2010. http://twitter.com/project_if_cfm/status/15683680493. Retrieved July 4, 2010. 
  34. ^ "Crypton's Twitter page" (in Japanese). Twitter. June 7, 2010. http://twitter.com/project_if_cfm/status/15684689042. Retrieved July 4, 2010. 

External links

Studios
Yamaha Corporation  · Zero-G Ltd  · Crypton Future Media  · PowerFX  · Internet Co., Ltd.  · AH Software  · Bplats  · Ki/oon Records
Voice providers
Miriam Stockley  · Meiko Haigō  · Naoto Fūga · Saki Fujita  · Asami Shimoda  · Gackt  · Yū Asakawa · Megumi Nakajima  · Miki Furukawa  · Kiyoshi Hiyama  · Michael King  · Frank Sanderson  · Yuri Masuda  · Kuniko Amemiya  · Piko
Related articles