Avex Inc.

Background
Avex Inc. (Japanese: エイベックス株式会社, commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex, an acronym of Audio Visual Expert), is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Avex, which was established in 1988, promotes J-pop artists like PikoTaro and Ayumi Hamasaki. Along with working with Ultra Music Festival and organizing the yearly A-nation, it has expanded into other commercial sectors like anime, video games, and live music events. Avex belongs to the keiretsu of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).

1st Logo (1993-1998)
Logo: On a dark blue background, consisting of a faint blue orb in the center and a slowed-down, heavily edited video of lights flying about in the corner, various symbols and gear-like objects appear, disappear, rotate, and spin about as they also periodically change. A red diagonal line is also faintly seen, as the entire thing is covered in a dark blue filter. In the foreground, a silver string wildly bounces all over the screen, spanning across the entire screen, right before suddenly turning into a liquid-like mass of silver waving about. The waving thing then condenses into the center of the screen, revealing itself to be the 3D silver text "avex trax" in a font that resembles Triplex Serif and a oval containing another "a" as a cote-out. The background objects then fade out as the text "90'S DANCE MUSICをクリエイトする" ("CREATING 90'S DANCE MUSIC" in English) appears above it and the logo shines with a dark grey light.

Variants:
 * A still version with the print logo on a black background is seen on some Playstation games featuring their music.
 * An extremely rare early variant of the logo has it in on a white background. The logo is still other than rapid shining on the logo.
 * An "avex globe" variant has been discovered, where the logo is hastily plastered over the original (the waving text still reads "avex trax"), has a much flatter appearance, and doesn't shine.
 * In 1998, the logo was brought back briefly to use as the logo for Avex Group. The text now reads the aforementioned name, and also shines like the regular version. Also, below the logo, a 10th anniversary logo appears below (described in the 2nd logo) and the tagline's in English.
 * Later on, the company's URL at the time fades in below. This exists for both variants.
 * For their events, the logo is still and have slightly different variants to them.
 * Avex Rave '94: The text now reads "avex rave '94", has a stylized Japanese slogan on top, and the information "AUG. 29th TOKYO DOME" below it. There also exists an animated variant.
 * Avex Dance Net '96: The text now reads "avex dance net '96" in the corporate font, with the logo on top and the info "in serif AUG. 19th~27th" below. Uniquely, the logo is actually stacked and is in 2D, the Avex portion of the text is in white, and the "VELFARRE" text is the location's logo.
 * A very rare English version exists, where the text above the logo is translated to English.
 * Certain brands would use different logos from the company, so to not waste space, they'll be described here.
 * Motorod Records (early version): On a black background, the Motorod logo at the time, being "Impact" in white and the 1st "o" being a simple red ring, fades and zooms in. Below it, "BY" in white, and a Avex Group logo fades in below.
 * Motorod Records (later version): The camera rotates around a batch of rotating gears, covered in a dark green color along with a white sparks of electricity forming on them. Then, the Motorod logo from before, along with an enlarged ring with a white "Impact" in it above the logo, appears by a "static" effect. The same credit from before appears below as well, but in white. THis logo would continued to be used well into the 2nd and 3rd logos as well, albeit with an added URL starting with the 2nd, and an updated blue logo for the 3rd.
 * Cutting Edge: Contained within a blurry frame, a dim version of the Earth rotates as 2 glass letter of "c" and "e" rotate around as well, and a blue light pings on the right side. The entire thing settles back as the Cutting Edge logo, which has the "ce" letters and "cutting edge" shown in, and a Avex Group credit in below it, fades in and the Earth and light fade out, leaving the rotating letters. This, like the Motorod logo, would continue to see usage for a while, adding a URL underneath it. The 2000-2008 version has the logo either horizontal or stacked.
 * Jive Records: On a black background, a white line is seen quickly forming an audiograph, followed by the Jive Records logo, a diamond with lines segmenting it and the tall text "serif" in it, forming from it. The entire screen then warps like deteriorated film before finishing on a scratchy white background with the logo in and a Avex Group credit below. This also continued to see usage, gaining a URL underneath it.
 * Prime Direction: Just the Prime Direction logo, which is the conjoined letters "pd" in a outlined form, along with "prime direction" to the right of it, on a black background. The first "i" in "direction" has a flipped dot placement.

Technique: 2D animation and CGI.

Music/Sounds: A warp-speed descending synth tune which is accompanied by a four-note synth chime. A male announcer says the company's name at the end.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The announcer is different whenever the text says something else.
 * Music for the label variants:
 * Motorod (early): Just the end of the commercial along with a male person saying "Motorod!"
 * Motorod (later): A record scratch, followed by a pair of voices (one male and one female) saying "Motorod!"
 * Cutting Edge: A ascending chime tune with 3 voices saying "Cutting Edge!" and then a male voice saying "By Avex Group."
 * JIVE: The sound of a film reel as a gruff-sounding man says "JIVE!"

Availability: Extinct.

2nd Logo (1996-2000)
Logo: Starting up in a strange, dimly-lit room, filled with a bunch of wires and contraptions, there is a pump-like device connected by a tube and the Avex logo in the style of a gauge, and the camera quickly zooms in on it as steam emits from the pipe and the gauge goes up. A brief cut to black shows electricity crackling, only to end up having the gauge suddenly break its glass cover and sparks fly everywhere. A fast-paced series of cuts show off the Avex Trax logo, now with the text smaller, spaced out and below a larger "a" logo, shown in different colors and positions, as well as the pump and more electricity before the logo is shown on a black background briefly warping and glowing a bluish tint. Finally, the logo ends up on a dark blue background, with the logo in silver and shining, and a burst of energy streams in the background flowing out. A URL is also displayed below.

Variants:
 * On Bust A Groove for Playstation, the logo is still and has the text smaller. Its also in pure white.
 * The text below the logo may vary depending on which division is being showcased. The following known variants are:
 * "avex globe"
 * "avex ideak", which also contains an additional piece of text reading "Presented by KADOMATSU.T".
 * "avex tune"
 * "avex group"
 * One commercial had "A Song For XX" below it.
 * A rare version has a Japanese slogan under the logo. Additional details include the URL being changed.
 * For Avex Dance Carnival 1997, a special logo was made for it: Over a nighttime city with a orange tone to it, the camera slowly rotates from a dutch angle as a orange meteor comes crashing down in the middle of the city. A shockwave emerges from it as it causes multi-colored fireworks to rise up and explode, including several that form the logo for the event. It consists of the Avex logo in, along with "dance carnival" in a thick dark blue outline, a oval with "serif" in it, and the Velfarre logo with "AUG. 18~23" below. The logo zooms in and glows white as the background fades to black.
 * In 1998, the logo was given a 10th anniversary card below it. Via a stream of blue energy, a white/ card with the Avex logo in the section and the text "10th Anniversary" within the white section. It also appears in the Motorod Records logo, albeit put in the upper-left corner.
 * More brand names would be added underneath their brand.
 * Enka!!Avex: A sketchy, sepia-toned animation plays of a old Japanese man coming in through a pair of curtains reading "でん" in reverse. As he waves and smiles, the picture freezes and gains extra shading as "えんか!!" zooms out in a brush-stroke font, causing the picture to blur. The text then stops, shifts to the right to make room for "えいべっくす" in the same font, and an Avex logo containing a "え" in place of the "a" fades in as well.
 * Those website URLs are defunct except for the "avex.com" URL which links into the US counterpart.

Technique: Live-action mixed with computer effects.

Music/Sounds: A two-note pad synth tune that is held throughout the entire logo and has an announcer saying the company name.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The "A Song For XX" variant has the man saying the text.
 * Music for the label variants:
 * Cutting Edge (alternate): A ascending synth note with 2 echoing female voices saying "Cutting Edge!" at different speeds.
 * Enka!!Avex: The sounds of a restaurant as well as the voice of the man saying something. This is played over by a man saying "えんかえいべっくす".

Availability: Extinct.

3rd Logo (2000-2009)
Logo: On a space background, the Avex logo without any text and just the A oval is seen before dissolving into multiple scenes creating the new Avex Trax logo on a dark blue background.

Variants:
 * The logo may be changed to others such as "Avex Mode" and "Avex Tune".
 * On commercials for easter, the Avex blob is changed to a bunny.
 * For Cross-A, "avex trax" is changed to "cross-a".
 * For A-Best, the A is changed to a Japanese symbol and "avex trax" is replaced to "A BEST" or "A BEST Impact".
 * For Avex Trance, a different animation is played. We see a ray then the ray is actually the A-Trance logo.
 * One commercial for AAA and Move in 2007 included a hint to search these bands.
 * A Taiwanese version has spaced out Chinese letters.
 * Channel-A:
 * Early version: On a white background, A-chan, a guy with blonde hair, red shirt, white skin, blue pants and shoes, green eyes, the mascot for Channel-A, dances in the screen. Below it is an Avex logo forming "Channel" and a satellite dish spinning until it halts to a stop.
 * Mid version: The Channel-A logo first appears as a shadow in an orange background. Two rectangles that cover the height of the screen in another shade of orange turns the Channel-A shadow into full color.
 * Late version: On a city, we see a 1950s car, and we cut to different sides on it. A man is driving the car and a woman is relaxing until the car goes to a cracked road which causes to play a siren sound and results both the couple be shocked, while the cracks lead to a red fog. Text emotions appear until the car falls into a large crack. The Eiffel Tower with a satellite dish that contains the Avex logo, which turns. Then we cut to various words of media including the tower, moving in various speeds, as well as a billboard that contains a screen that plays a random clip. When the tower goes too near to the screen, the promo ends. This is only seen in Taiwan.
 * The long version has realistic people and has another segment, this time the tower jumps and resizes and the camera pans to what would be the tower on the bottom right.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A two-note pad synth tune with another different announcer saying the company name.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The "Cross A" variant has the man saying the text and the tune is slighty extended.
 * Channel-A:
 * Early version: An energetic, joyful theme with a female echoing voice saying "Channel-A!"
 * Late version: A hiphop theme and sounds according to the logo as well as an announcer.

Availability: Extinct.