Hello! Project (ハロー!プロジェクト)
Hello! Project (ハロー!プロジェクト) is the umbrella name for the all-female idol Japanese pop recording artists that are under contract with UP-FRONT GROUP Co., Ltd. and managed by UP-FRONT PROMOTION.
Most Hello! Project artists' recordings are published by UP-FRONT WORKS on the zetima, PICCOLO TOWN, or hachama record labels. Iida Kaori's Mediterranean-styled works were released under the Chichuukai label, and Maeda Yuki's under the Rice Music label. Many early Hello! Project groups, such as Country Musume, Coconuts Musume, Sheki-Dol, and Heike Michiyo, had their early works released on other labels, though all eventually moved to zetima.
The "mother ship" group of Hello! Project is Morning Musume, having co-founded Hello! Project with former soloist Heike Michiyo. Morning Musume is featured foremost in many aspects of the company because of their history of success. Due to the number of graduating members over the years, Morning Musume was surpassed in seniority for the first time in late 2014 by Berryz Koubou and ℃-ute, but returned to the position in mid-2017, after both groups had left Hello! Project. As of November 2023, the role of Hello! Project's leader is currently incumbent following Fukumura Mizuki's graduation.
Since its creation in 1998, the main producer and songwriter of Hello! Project was Tsunku, the lead singer of Sharam Q, until he resigned from his position as the general producer in October 2014.[1] While Tsunku continues working with Hello! Project as a songwriter, UP-FRONT WORKS' chief director Hashimoto Shin became in charge of Hello! Project's overall music direction.[2] Three recording directors are also assigned to work on different groups with the occassional exception: Taisei, the keyboardist of Sharam Q, is in mainly charge of ANGERME and Juice=Juice; Yamao Masato is mainly in charge of Tsubaki Factory; and Kamata Koji is mainly in charge of Morning Musume '24 and all other songs written by Tsunku.