At this very moment, thousands of young musicians throughout Japan are busy pursuing the same elusive goal: pop stardom. Some are driven by the need to express their artistic vision; others by the perks of stardom; and still more of them by the simple desire to support themselves by playing the music they love.

For most, it's some combination of the above. Yet whatever their motivations, these young (and sometimes not-so-young) hopefuls are all striving to turn avocation into vocation. An important milestone in the pursuit of that goal is landing that first recording contract. This, preferably with a major company, can spell the difference between getting by with day jobs and occasional weekend gigs on the local live-house circuit, and becoming a full-time, self-supporting musician.

Enter the talent scout. These music-business pros, usually on a record company's payroll, stake out smoke-filled live houses on almost a nightly basis, looking for unknown performers with the critical combination of talent, energy, passion and stage presence that characterizes top musicians.