Music Firm Finds Harmony in Difference
Daisuke Hinata and Jonathan Platt met while working on a soundtrack for a French television show. Hinata, a Japanese music producer, and Platt, an independent record label owner, decided to form a company that specializes in bringing successful overseas music artists to America. Hinata, the firm’s producer, and Platt, its president, said they have used their cultural differences to their advantage when working in Asia and in the U.S.
Platt: Because we represent Japanese artists, we could face a lot of miscues because the Japanese way of doing business is very different. But working with Japanese partners for three years has given me a good understanding of how Asian relationships work.
Hinata: An American may go to Japan or another Asian country and meet with lots of people and think it’s been a great trip and everything they did was successful. But a Japanese company’s executives will meet and socialize with you even if they aren’t interested in doing business. In Japan, when you hear silence, that means “no.” But Americans think it means “yes” because no one is arguing with them. An American might see a Japanese executive not saying anything, just smiling a little, and decide that the guy is agreeing to a deal when actually he’s not.
Platt: That used to happen to me. I got so much respect and everyone was so polite to me, I thought we had had a great meeting and then Daisuke would tell me later that the company I’d met with wasn’t interested at all in my proposal. Another misstep that Daisuke helped us avoid was coming into a deal with a Japanese company and handing them a 50- or 100-page legal contract. He told me that that becomes a turnoff rather than a constructive thing.
Hinata: In Japan, once you come to an understanding with someone over business, you start trusting each other right away. You don’t make them sign a huge contract because that’s seen as an insult, that you don’t like them enough to trust them.
Platt: When it comes to negotiating, most Americans working in Asia expect to negotiate like they would here. But Daisuke told me that if I went in with a bullish attitude and said, “Take it or leave it,” a lot of times the Asian companies would leave it.
Hinata: But when we are in negotiations and the timing is right, when we do reach the point where we really have to push something, then I tell Jon, “Go for it.” Having an American partner that I can really push forward in certain situations helps me because he can be much more direct and close a deal faster.
Platt: We have also learned to mesh cultural styles in our own company. We have our employees all working in a large, open room, and we found that creates a “we” mentality. It took a while to get used to, but working like we do, without a major authority figure, has been preferable because everybody’s happier. Hinata: The four partners work on a consensus basis too. We talk about pros and cons and come up with one or two conclusions, then we’ll ask everybody what they think. If the majority says one thing and the other person can’t convince them, then we’ll take the majority’s decision. Even if it fails, we don’t blame each other later.
Platt: I think for the Japanese partners, it was different for them to hear me giving my honest opinions on things in the straightforward way that I do. But they realized it was important to express themselves more openly too.
Hinata: We just try not to take it personally!
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AT A GLANCE
* Company: Hyper Group Inc.
* Owners: Jonathan Platt, Daisuke Hinata, Shinnosuke Sorimachi and Setsuko Yamashiro
* Nature of business: Music production company
* Location: 3000 Olympic Blvd., Suite 2510, Santa Monica, CA 90404
* Founded: 1995
* Employees: 15
* Annual revenue: $700,000
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