"For me, music is art and a way of life, but so much more. It's a mission. To learn more about how I understand life and life around me." - Kitaro

Legends in music are born from a burning desire to chart their own path. For Grammy and Golden Globe Award winning Kitaro, his path would lead him into the heart of the New Age music, yet go far beyond any such label. A true genius of composition, Kitaro's works have expanded into many genres, but at their core is a wondrous spiritual understanding for expressing the depth of human emotions.

His credits are vast, from his scores for the film "Heaven and Earth", his "Silk Road" series to more recent "Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai" series and his score to the upcoming film "442 - Live With Honor, Die With Dignity." There seems no end to his ability to fill our world with music that moves the heart.

"I want to know myself. I want to be someone who sees the world, and can see herself within the world. I also want to write for other people. I write songs in all different styles." - Ai Takekawa

Having the ability to compose songs in both English and Japanese has made Ai Takekawa globally accessible. Not only is she a talented singer-songwriter, she is also a "Music Discoverer" for the English-language Japanese pop show J-MELO, broadcast internationally on NHK WORLD. It is due to her involvement in the series that she has managed to make her vocation a vacation, and on July 2, 2010 she performed in Europe for the very first time at the Japan Expo in Paris, followed by the first ever J-MELO fan meeting in London two days later, which will air on September 13, 2010.

It's no wonder she's a natural at turning her life experiences into melodic songs, her father is none other than singer-songwriter Yukihide Takekawa who fronts the popular group Godiego, best known outside of Japan for writing and recording the opening and closing theme tune to the classic 1970s TV series Monkey (aka Monkey Magic/Saiyuki). For Ai, music is her life, and it's her gift to the world.

"It's very difficult to describe our own music, and we don't want people to think that we can only do certain things. We hope to challenge many things and create our own STEREOPONY sound." - STEREOPONY

From the first time we heard their debut song Hitohira No Hanabira we knew the group with the oh so cute name was something we wanted to hear more of. With the good fortune of having that song featured on the popular anime show BLEACH and the backing of Sony Music, these three gals from Okinawa have been able to craft a style of music full of emotion and pop.

So come learn the story of the group who says, "All of our lyrics are about our honest feelings, so we never tried to be positive or expressed positivity too much as that wasn't necessary what we were feeling."

"At first, we didn't think to release our works until we signed with a major company or label. But we got many comments and messages from our fans and friends asking us questions like "where can I buy your songs?" We decided that we'd produce our songs by ourselves and release them on iTunes." - tomo

The digital revolution in music has been both a blessing and a curse for musicians. For tomo and emi of the fledgling group RAINASH it has provided an international bridge for their fans to enjoy their music as the duo perfect their craft. First brought together while searching for other band members on a website, it only took one session together to realize they were a perfect match for each other.

With a musical style they describe as being both "heavy and dark" with an emphasize of maintaining a catchy pop flavor, we think these two are a duo to keep an eye on.