Universal Music Japan now directs fans of Kaito Takahashi's solo work to the hashtag #KAITO_SALTBOY, following a dispute with fans of Crypton Future Media's Vocaloid KAITO over the shared name KAITO.
Kaito Takahashi, a member of King & Prince, began solo activities under the name KAITO with the digital single "swim?" on October 5. The music video passed 1 million views. The name is the same one used by Crypton Future Media's voice-synthesis software. On October 5 Crypton issued a statement about the collision, saying overlapping names and hashtags cannot be fully prevented and asking supporters of both to respect each other. Crypton treated the problem as a search and tagging issue, not a legal one.
Eleven days later, on October 15, Universal Music Japan asked fans to stop using the hashtag #KAITO for Takahashi's solo work and use #KAITO_SALTBOY instead. The label posted the request alongside the announcement of his 1st EP, SALT BOY. The request followed two weeks of dispute with Vocaloid KAITO fans over the shared name.
Both statements address the same collision from opposite sides. Crypton left the resolution to user etiquette. Universal chose a distinct hashtag to separate Takahashi's solo material from the Vocaloid. The EP announcement is the only release detail the stories give; no release date, track list, or further activity is stated.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every fact links the story it came from.
Structured graph also available as JSON at /public/entities/kaito-takahashi.
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Universal Music Japan issued a statement on October 21 about how it will handle information for KAITO, the solo name of King & Prince member Takahashi Kaito. The label said official posts use the hashtag #KAITO_SALTBOY to separate him from the VOCALOID KAITO. It also opened an official X account for the solo project. The first EP, SALT BOY, is set for November 25.
Universal Music Japan asked fans on October 15 to stop using the hashtag #KAITO for King & Prince member Kaito Takahashi's solo work and use #KAITO_SALTBOY instead. The label posted alongside the announcement of his 1st EP, SALT BOY. The request follows two weeks of dispute with fans of Crypton Future Media's Vocaloid KAITO over the shared name.
Crypton Future Media issued a statement on October 5 about King & Prince member Kaito Takahashi launching solo activities under the name "KAITO," the same name as its voice-synthesis software. The company said overlapping names and hashtags cannot be fully prevented, and asked supporters of both to respect each other. Takahashi released his first digital single, "swim?", on October 5, and the music video passed 1 million views.