Japanese Group Supercell Blends Catchy Pop Melodies With Vocals by World's First Virtual Pop Singer for U.S. Release of Debut Full-Length Record From Sony Music Direct

NEW YORK, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Music Direct (Japan), Inc., a division of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Inc., has announced the U.S. release of the full-length major label debut from the Japanese pop group, Supercell, on Tuesday, June 21st. Supercell blends catchy pop melodies and technology-inspired vocals with captivating anime-influenced imagery and notably features the world's first virtual pop star, Hatsune Miku. The new record will be available exclusively on iTunes and Amazon.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110607/LA15753)

The album for Sony Music Direct is titled Supercell Featuring Hatsune Miku and features a striking cover illustration of the singer by renowned manga artist Shiro Miwa. The record's first single, "THE WORLD IS MINE," was released in North America on May 10th on iTunes and Amazon and placed as high as Number 4 on the iTunes World Music charts.

Supercell is a group of multimedia creators and artists led by composer/lyricist Ryo. Hatsune Miku, whose name means, "first sound of the future," is a digital female avatar and the most popular of the Vocaloid Character Series software originally created by Crypton Future Media using Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 engine to create synthesized vocal tracks.

Supercell Featuring Hatsune Miku features 12 upbeat tracks that are driven by the singer's bright vocals supported by lush electronic, pop and rock-inspired melodies. "Because Hatsune Miku is portrayed as a 16 year-old girl, I wanted to compose love songs that would be believable for a teen like her to sing," says Ryo.

He adds, "I'm very intrigued with the new possibilities for creativity that vocaloid technology and virtual personalities like that of Hatsune Miku present. This is the ultimate hybrid of organic human creativity combined with the latest technological innovation to produce a whole new kind of pop group. I'm very excited at the prospect of U.S. audiences discovering Supercell!"

In Japan, Hatsune Miku is a major national phenomenon appearing in many popular video games and music videos. She's also played several sellout "concerts," where she performed on stage as a 3D hologram backed by a live band. Her international notoriety is spreading to North America, where she's currently featured in a new commercial for the 2011 Toyota Corolla. Hatsune Miku is also scheduled to perform her first U.S. concert with an event called "MIKUNOPOLIS in LOS ANGELES," at the 2011 Anime Expo in Los Angeles, CA July 1-4. Information on the concert is available at: http://mikunopolis.com.

More information on Supercell is available at: http://www.facebook.com/supercell.JPN.

About Sony Music Direct

Sony Music Direct (Japan), a division of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), and manufactures and distributes the music of both Japanese recording artists and the legacy catalogs of other top international artists across a variety of genres.

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SOURCE Sony Music Direct