Seto Yukio (瀬戸由紀男) is a Japanese music producer, the former representative director and president of UP-FRONT GROUP, and former president of UP-FRONT WORKS and UP-FRONT BOOKS (now ODYSSEY BOOKS).
Biography[]
Seto Yukio was born in 1953. When he was in junior high school, he wanted to become a professional guitar player, but he was not exceptionally skilled at it.[1] He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University.
In 1979, Seto got a part-time job at Warner Pioneer (now Warner Music Japan), which he worked in the production field. He was in charge of Yazawa Eikichi until he moved to Toshiba, then Moritaka Chisato for the rest of his time at Warner. Around 1997, he joined UP-FRONT GROUP, starting as recording director for artists such as Sharam Q.[1]
In 2002, he became the fourth representative director and president of UP-FRONT GROUP, succeeding Yamazaki Naoki, who became chairman.
The company often worried about recruiting young talent who had compulsory education or had to move from the countryside because they could not move and transfer schools alone. As a result, Seto made it a condition to recruit talent who were able to move to Tokyo with at least one guardian. School lessons or events of course took priority over their work. In addition, the company would threaten members to quit Hello! Project if their school grades were low, and would make them study during work breaks with a tutor hired by the company.[1]
In a 2013 interview with the Japanese Visual Industry Guild, the executive secretary of UP-FRONT GROUP, Yoshida Katsuya, described Seto as a tremendously creative person: he thinks creatively of everything, not just music, and is keen to experience the latest things. Yoshida had asked Seto if he bought the new iPad mini, and Seto told him he bought it as soon as it was released.[1]
At the end of March 2019, Seto stepped down from his position as UP-FRONT GROUP'S representative director and president. He was succeeded by Kageyama Shigeki, who was the representative director of J.P ROOM.
Profile[]
- Name: Seto Yukio (瀬戸由紀男)
- Birth Date: 1953
- Hobbies: Music, jazz guitar, driving[1]