Columbia Looks for a Golden Egg
 
Yomiuri Shinbum, May 16, 2007
 
The music CD market is still in a slump, but Columbia Music Entertainment, Inc. reported record profits since U.S. investment company Ripplewood Holdings LLC (now RHJ International) became major shareholder in October 2001. The result owes to a favorable string of smash hits achieved by Hikawa Kiyoshi, Hitoto Yo and Kimura Kaera. The three hitmakers made their recording debuts at two years intervals starting from 2000. Columbia Music Entertainment CEO Sadahiko Hirose is confident of finding a new “golden egg,” saying, “I think it’s about time for the fourth big artist to emerge.”